On Friday, August 4th, coach Brian Kelly just about shored up his wide receiver group for the class of 2024. While the Tigers already had three commits at the position, there was one more domino left to fall. That domino was Houston, TX, stud Jelani Watkins, who has officially announced his commitment to play for LSU football.
Jelani Watkins announces his commitment to the Tigers on Friday
For coach Brian Kelly, picking up a commit like Jelani Watkins was likely the frosting on top of the cake. The Tigers now have a claim to four different four-star receivers in their class of 2024 group.
Interestingly enough, Watkins is the only wide receiver commit who plays high school ball outside Louisiana. Still, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s leaving home. The four-star wide receiver was born in Louisiana and grew up an LSU fan, so in a way, this is a bit of a homecoming for him.
According to 247 Sports, Watkins is No. 112 nationally and No. 22 among wide receivers in the class of 2024. In addition to football, the stud wide receiver plans on running track in college. In his junior season, he ran a 20.54-second 200-meter, which was good enough for first place at the Texas 6A state championship.
LSU football is getting a star in its most recent class of 2024 addition
With a track background comes plenty of speed. In addition to being one of the top wide receivers in Texas, he’s also one of the fastest in the country, regardless of position.
This helps him in a major way, both with route running and creating separation. That’s particularly important for Watkins, as he stands at just 5-foot-9, 160 pounds. Still, despite his slightly smaller frame, he has no problems excelling on the football field.
For the four-star wide receiver, he could turn into an immediate impact kind of player. Whether it be on offense or special teams, you don’t find speed like his often.
Add in the fact that he has excellent hands; it’ll be difficult for coach Brian Kelly to keep him off the field early on.
Coach Brian Kelly has an excellent mix of players with their wide receiver group!
With brand new commit Jelani Watkins on board, LSU football has one of the best receiver rooms in the class of 2024. He was the fourth commit at the position overall. The other three are four-star Kylan Billiot, four-star JoJo Stone Jr and four-star Michael Turner Jr. Turner Jr, while listed as an athlete, projects as a wide receiver primarily due to his combination of size, speed and hands.
When looking over the group, it’s hard not to be excited about the potential.
Kylan Billiot, who stands at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, is a threat whenever his team is near the endzone. With size and hands like his, he should be hard to stop in the purple and gold.
The group also has its shifty route runner, with JoJo Stone Jr. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound wide receiver doesn’t have top-end size, but his quick feet allow him to be one of the top route runners in Louisiana.
Finally, there are the speed demons of the group, with Michael Turner Jr and Jelani Watkins. Both four-star recruits run track in addition to football and excel at both.
With the group that coach Brian Kelly has put together, the future of “WRU” is bright. If he manages to keep each commitment, this is and should continue to be one of the best wide receiver groups in the country.
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