LSU had a good signing day Wednesday.

But …

It wasn’t everything the Tigers had hoped for.

They had the No. 3-ranked class leading up to Wednesday’s start of the Early Signing Period, but they dropped to No. 5 behind Ohio State and Georgia.

It’s not the first time LSU has slipped behind Ohio State recently, and that other slippage worked out fine, so there’s no reason to get too worked up over this. And judging by the SEC Championship Game, Georgia has even more catching up to do.

The Tigers still have one of the elite classes in the country, behind only Alabama and Georgia among SEC schools, and this class isn’t complete. They have 19 players who have signed national letters of intent, and 2 more are considered hard commits.

The most significant losses for LSU came when 5-star wide receiver Rakim Jarrett changed his mind on his commitment and signed with Maryland, 4-star wide receiver Jermaine Burton signed with Georgia and 4-star safety Malcolm Greene signed with Clemson, which he had visited last weekend.

Here are the 5 most important storylines from the first day of the Early Signing Period:

1. DBU class incomplete

The defection of Greene to Clemson left LSU lacking in signees in the area for which it is best known.

The Tigers did land 5-star CB Elias Ricks and 4-star S Jordan Toles, and 4-star CB Lorando Johnson remains a hard commit.

https://twitter.com/Eliasricks2020/status/1207296501300510720

But they’re one short of what they expected in an area that was already young and will see multiple significant departures.

Kristian Fulton is a senior, Grant Delpit is almost certainly headed to the NFL early and JaCoby Stevens might join Delpit.

There’s still work to be done here.

2. Lots of pass catchers

Jarrett and Burton were big losses, but the Tigers are going to be in good shape with their receivers.

Joe Burrow will be gone, and WR Justin Jefferson will probably follow him to the NFL, but the Tigers have top-flight wide receivers returning in Ja’Marr Chase and Terrace Marshall Jr.

LSU signed two 4-star receivers. On top of that, the Tigers’ top signee is the No. 1 tight end in the country — Arik Gilbert, the highest-ranked tight end 247Sports has ever had.

Whoever succeeds Burrow will have plenty of talented receivers with a superb blend of youth and experience.

3. Strengthening the trenches

Despite LSU’s ascension to the top spot in the CFP rankings this season, it still has work to do in order to match Alabama and Clemson’s strength in the trenches on an annual basis.

This class should move LSU closer to where it’s trying to get.

The Tigers signed four defensive linemen — including 337-pound Jacobian Guillory and 6-foot-7 Ali Gaye — and three offensive linemen — including 6-5, 305-pound Marcus Dumervil.

4. National brand

Ed Orgeron, like all LSU coaches, builds his recruiting from the inside out.

The first priority is keeping as many of the elite players from Louisiana at home as possible. Then, the Tigers branch out to fill certain needs.

But this year is different.

Only 5 of the 19 players who signed with LSU on Wednesday are from Louisiana.

The Tigers went national, signing players from 10 states besides Louisiana, including as far away as Colorado, California and Washington.

Orgeron has done a good job of keeping most of Louisiana’s best at home, and he has created a greater margin for error by strengthening the Tigers’ foothold around the country.

5. Waiting on Evans

The Tigers are still hoping to land the No. 1 running back in the country — Zach Evans from Houston.

LSU has been considered the front-runner to get Evans, but he recently postponed the announcement of his choice until the Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 2.

Georgia and especially Texas A&M have made inroads with Evans recently. The Tigers are still considered a strong contender to get Evans, but not as strong as they once were.