Alabama - California - Florida - Georgia

The battle for its space among the talent-producing states may be more

interesting than where its talent is ranked. Louisiana -- with Hurricane Katrina

well in its rearview mirror -- is back to being among the most densely packed

areas for major college prospects, jumping into the conversation with Georgia

for a spot just outside the Big Three states. Both have elbowed past Ohio in

national recognition.

Former River Ridge (La.) John Curtis running back Joe McKnight was the

No. 2 player in the class of 2007 and has gone on to moderate success at USC and

in the NFL with the New York Jets. He leads the pack of high school prospects to

come from the state over the last dozen recruiting classes.

HOW FARRELL RE-RANKS THEM

From the class of 2002 -- when Rivals.com established the Rivals100 -- to the

class of 2013, there have been 11 states to have double-digit players earn

five-star rankings. This week, it is time to turn back the

clock and put those players in order based on what they did in high school.

None of the players identified as midseason five-stars for the class of 2014 is

considered for this ranking. Each is subject to change through the regular

season and all-star game evaluations.

Louisiana has had just 13 players rated as five-stars over the last dozen

classes, but the list figures to grow this year, with sure-fire five-star player

Leonard Fournette among those being discussed by analysts.

Mike Farrell leads the Rivals.com team of analysts. He has been

a fixture in the industry for nearly two decades, and he has seen the rise and

fall of players and locations.

He believes Louisiana is back to churning out players.

"If Georgia made a push at the Big Three in 2011 and 2013, Louisiana has made

the push now as well in 2011 and in this year's class," Farrell said. "In fact,

the battle between Georgia and Louisiana for that No. 4 status is an epic one."

While the two states are on a similar plane for producing talent, they share

another trend in that the players often have not lived up to the hype.

While McKnight, Rueben Randle and Early Doucet have made the

NFL, none of the trio has developed into the major, impact player many expected

out of high school. The jury is out on several others.

"McKnight gets the nod over Randle, and while both had good careers and are in

the NFL, neither lived up to the hype," Farrell said. "The same can be said for

Doucet and Chad Jones as well -- although baseball was a distraction

for Jones. The verdict is still out on La'El and Landon Collins as well

as Freak Johnson, but all look promising, while Jarvis Landry hasn't

lived up to the hype yet."

Another trait binding the states is troubled stars. Ryan Perrilloux was

suspended from the LSU football team as a sophomore before being kicked

off as a junior. He finished his college career at Jacksonville State, where he

also had disciplinary actions taken against him. Janzen Jackson was on

his way to stardom at Tennessee before being arrested for armed robbery

as a freshman and then dismissed following his sophomore season for undisclosed

reasons. He finished his career at McNeese State.

Both are in the Canadian Football League. Most -- including Farrell -- expected

NFL fame.

"Perrilloux checks in at No. 6 on this list and obviously became his own worst

enemy," Farrell said. "Overall, Louisiana has had a nice share of five-stars,

and this latest group could redeem a few guys who didn't shine as brightly as we

thought they would."

One player who rose above the rest but is not included on the list is former

four-star player Glenn Dorsey.

Now a San Francisco 49er, Dorsey was a decorated college athlete and the fifth

player taken in the 2008 NFL draft. Farrell says his 6-foot-1 frame was

worrisome in high school but in hindsight his talent should have shone through.

"Dorsey was No. 47 overall back in 2004 but clearly emerged as a much better

prospect in college," Farrell said. "Top 50 is very good, but concerns that he

was a bit sawed-off seem kind of foolish now."

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