BATON ROUGE, La. -- As eight editions of national signing day have gone to show, LSU brings a lot of talent into its program under coach Les Miles.
The Tigers have routinely finished in the nation's top 15 classes during Miles' stretch, going as high as No. 1 in 2009 and No. 6 in 2007.
But with a healthy seven other Miles recruiting classes to draw from, it's interesting to piece together what that talent has done. Or will do.
Some of the highest-rated players of Miles' tenure failed to deliver on their lofty star rankings, while others have delivered. Some of LSU's best players in the recent past didn't even begin their careers at their positions.
With that in mind, here's a look at four key positions for the Tigers in 2012, and how LSU has fared at recruiting to each spot.
Offensive line: Offensive guard Vadal Alexander is considered one of the Tigers' top gets of 2012, and it's interesting to note the strange path taken by many of Miles' top linemen.
The Tigers haven't signed many top prospects along the offensive front, but the ones that developed into stars often came from the defensive side of the ball. All-SEC tackle Joseph Barksdale and 2011 All-American guard Will Blackwell came into the program as defensive tackles in 2007. Barksdale was considered a five-star talent.
Other eventual starters such as Josh Dworaczyk and P.J. Lonergan showed up as unheralded three-stars. The two main success stories of the Miles era would have to be tackles Ciron Black and Chris Faulk, who arrived as four-star offensive linemen and went on to distinguished careers.
In addition to Alexander, the Tigers are also hoping for big things from last year's five-star tackle pickup, La'El Collins. Neither has been in the program long enough to factor against hisrecruiting ranking, but it will be interesting to see how they fare.
Cornerback: It's interesting to see the varying amounts of success the Tigers have had filling this position in the past few years, and where those players have come from.
LSU has seen it all in the defensive backfield. The Tigers have plenty of experience with top-notch talent at cornerback. Patrick Peterson came to Baton Rouge as the nation's top corner in 2008 and delivered on that ranking with All-America recognition and a Thorpe Award.
Just two years earlier, Jai Eugene pledged to LSU with the same amount of hype and failed to deliver. The Destrehan, La., product played four years for LSU, but failed to distinguish himself as much more than a role player.
The Tigers' most recent infusion of talent took a different path altogether. Heisman Trophy finalist Tyrann Mathieu was a three-star prospect from New Orleans and the Tigers were the only major team to offer him a scholarship. And current Thorpe Winner Morris Claiborne showed up in 2009 as a three-star wide receiver before making the switch. Rising junior Tharold Simon, who has made waves in his first two years at cornerback, inked with the 2010 recruiting class as a safety.
Miles has to be hoping for more of that unexpected success in 2012. LSU added three new prospects at cornerback this year, but missed out on several bigger names such as Tracy Howard, who committed to Miami.
Pickups such as Dwayne Thomas and Jerquinick Sandolph aren't well known, but they're talented. With turnover in the defensive backfield, they could have a chance to continue the trend of diamonds coming from the rough.
Running back: If there's one position that has been pretty cut and dried for Les Miles, it has to be running back. And that's good news for Jeremy Hill.
Since 2005, LSU has lured eight running backs to Baton Rouge who were four- or five-star prospects. With the exceptions being 2005 commits R.J. Jackson and Antonio Robinson, the other six went on to star for the Tigers.
Five-star back Keiland Williams was featured for four years at LSU, racking up 1,972 total yards and 19 total touchdowns. Teammates Charles Scott and Stevan Ridley went on to be feature backs for LSU, each notching 1,000-yard seasons and first-team All-SEC awards during their careers.
The Tigers' current crop of talent comes in the trio of Spencer Ware, Michael Ford and Kenny Hilliard -- all of whom featured prominently in the Tigers' powerful 2011 ground game.
If Hill can keep pace with that kind of production, he should be in good shape.
Linebacker: This will be an important point if the Tigers' defense is going to maintain the high level of play its enjoyed the past few seasons.
With three linebackers from the ESPNU 150 in Kwon Alexander, Ronnie Feist and Lorenzo Phillips, Miles said last week that this is the best crop of linebackers he has ever landed.
Looking at past classes seems to back up that assertion. Prior to this year, the Tigers had landed just two linebacker prospects considered as four-star prospects, and no five-stars. LSU's only other heralded linebackers have been outside linebacker Ryan Baker, who just finished a two-year stint as a starter with 178.5 total tackles, and middle linebacker Kevin Minter, who returns as the Tigers' only experienced starter for 2012.
Miles' method to this point has been to make the most of three-star talents such as Kelvin Sheppard and Darry Beckwith, and it has worked, with both players earning All-SEC accolades during their careers. The Tigers have also had measures of success moving safeties Karnell Hatcher, Stefoin Francois and Harry Coleman into linebacker spots.
But this fall looks to be the first time in Miles' tenure that he will have a full corps of top-notch linebackers to work with. It will be interesting to see what kind of trend develops.
David Helman covers LSU sports for GeauxTigerNation. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @HelmanESPN.