LSU is no stranger to winning battles on the recruiting trail but the Tigers’ biggest recruiting win this offseason may have come months after the 2020 recruiting class signed to play in Baton Rouge.

Don’t be surprised if LSU’s most significant newcomer on next year’s team proves to be North Dakota State graduate transfer, Jabril Cox. The former FCS All-American for the dominant North Dakota State program picked the Tigers over a host of other FBS offers, including offers from Alabama and Tennessee, to finish out his college career playing in the nation’s toughest conference.

Just how good of a player is Cox? Soon after officially signing Cox, Ed Orgeron was asked to discuss LSU’s newest defender during his Tuesday teleconference.

“I’m glad to talk about it, he signed so we can finally talk about him,” Orgeron said during the call. “We feel he’s going to be an immediate impact player. We’ve done a good job of graduate transfers here. We are glad we got him.

“We’ve talked to some NFL people, they felt he was going to be a No. 1 draft choice if he went out. Obviously, we lost some linebackers, we got some good young linebackers coming back but this guy should be an immediate impact player for us.”

That’s a bold comment but not a complete surprise considering Cox’s resume at North Dakota State.

The three-time All-American has been named Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and was named Player of the Year in 2019 after registering 92 tackles for North Dakota State. Now he’ll have an opportunity to prove himself at college football’s highest level before making the jump to the NFL.