Still plenty of talent in La. state ranking

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With five-star prospects such as Chris Davenport and Rueben Randle emerging out of the state of Louisiana in the class of 2009 and with potential five-star lurking in the shadows ready to emerge in the class of 2011 like La'El Collins, Anthony Johnson and Jarvis Landry, the class of 2010 in the state of Louisiana was supposed to be a down year. With the spring and the summer in the rear view mirror, it has become clear that that is not the case.

The release of the Preseason Top 50 in the state of Louisiana is devoid of five-star talent, but that is not to say that it is devoid of talent. Led by Trovon Reed out of Thibodaux, the state of Louisiana has five players in or near the Rivals100. Reed, a high school quarterback whose speed and elusiveness will be used at wide receiver in college, is followed by Jordan Allen out of West Monroe.

Eric Reid out of Dutchtown is the third Rivals100 member from within the state as a big, hard-hitting safety. He is followed by two of the more dynamic prospects in the state if not the country in Ronnie Vinson and Tharold Simon.

Outside of the five elite players at the top, Elliott Porter and Ivan Robinson also grace the Rivals250 as they continue the state of Louisiana's long line of jumbo talent along the line of scrimmage.

Curtis Carter of Stonewall (La.) North De Soto emerged from near obscurity to a nationally-recruited prospect with some phenomenal camp performances. Debuting at No. 8 on the list, Carter may be the fastest player on the list.

While Carter may play cornerback at the next level, he also has the ability to play in the slot on offense. Carter aside, there is a slew of very talented cornerbacks in the state of Louisiana this year. Atop that list at No. 10 is Tyrann Mathieu out of New Orleans (La.) St. Augustine.

Mathieu had a phenomenal performance at the Tennessee prospect camp and later performed well enough at LSU to earn a scholarship offer and commit. Mathieu is joined by a group of big athletic cornerbacks starting with O.P. Walker's Urell Johnson at No. 13. RobDonovan Lewis at No. 15, Vanderbilt commit Andre Hal at No. 20, Texas Tech commit Brandon Smith at 21 and NUC Ultimate 100 standout Leon Francois at No. 27 all are big-time prospects that should make an impact in the defensive backfield on the next level.

Predictably, the list is dominated by LSU commitments. The Tigers have nine players on the list, including five of the top six prospects, and all of the top five committed players. Texas A&M has made a clear push to become a factor in Louisiana and the Aggies have commitments from four of the Top 50, including two players in the state's top 10.

More states: Rivals.com unveils the preseason rankings for four states in addition to Louisiana on Tuesday. Wide receiver Kyle Prater (Illinois), offensive tackle Andrew Rodriguez (Nebraska), defensive end Chris Martin (New Jersey) and defensive end Bronson Kaufusi (Utah) take the preseason top spots in their respective states.

Rivals.com will continue with the preseason state ranking releases on Wednesday with California, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.

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