Speaker 1: Are the Raging Cages trying to bolster up their defensive
line room let's talk all about it here on Rage
and run Down. What's good, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome
into another episode here on Rage and Rundown, the show
where you would know all things ul sports. And in
today's episode, we are talking about the football team as
Louisiana has received another commitment in the twenty twenty seven
class from defensive lineman Kobe Smith and also they have
a transfer portal target, so they are not exactly done
just yet. That's also on the defensive line. So Louisiana's
attacking things in the trenches. They've added some proven production
already and now they're locking in on the future as well.
So let's start off with the transfer in this class
that they have made an offer to. They have an
extended offer to him and they are trying to get
in the works with him and potentially get a commitment
out of him as they are continuing to try to
bolster up that roster. We're talking about mister Desmond Thompson Junior.
He is a six foot three, two hundred and fifty
five pounds defensive lineman from the Bronx in New York.
He's played at Benedict College the past two seasons. He
picked up an offer from the Cajuns on March twenty third,
that's when he tweeted about it on his social media platforms.
He has other offers from the likes of Jackson State
and Old Dominion and fam You and University of Incarnate
Word and others like that. So you are in a
competitive battle for this transfer portal target for sure.
Speaker 2: And he also has two years of eligibility remaining.
Speaker 1: And he also mentioned that he has not burned his
red shirt year, so if the Cajuns decide to bring
him in and he's not going to play right away,
he can read shirt and then they can still have
him for two more seasons.
Speaker 2: So he's an.
Speaker 1: Experienced player, he's productive, and he's still ascending. So he
is currently a sophomore after just wrapping up his second
year there and beniting. So in the two seasons that
he's played there, he had forty four tackles, eight tackles
for loss, and eight sacks and also two block kicks,
which is huge from a special team standpoint because maybe
he doesn't break the rotation for you as a pass rusher.
Maybe you can use them on special teams, but right
now the Cajuns are trying to continue to bolster up
their defensive line room. So this is a good point
to add this young man here. This isn't a developmental guy.
This is somebody that you can instantly insert into your
rotation that can be able to help you. He has
ability to disrupt in multiple ways. Some of the film
that I saw of him on his socials he was
used a lot in twist and te stunts and all
those things like that. He has really really good ball
get off and that's important for the way the Cajuns
utilize their defensive line. So the type of edge player
that he is, think more in the likes of Jordan
Losson rather than a Cam Wittfield. Cam Whitfield was more
of the jack position for them, which is almost like
an outside linebacker, or it is an outside linebacker, but
he plays predominantly with his hand in the dirt. So
this young man, mister Desmond Thompson, is more of like
a Jordan loss In kind of that four eye are
playing over the tackle, four to five type of defensive
end that you can.
Speaker 2: Be able to add to that room.
Speaker 1: That's a pretty young room because when you look at
the depth chart right now, or you look at what
they're returning, you've got guys like Lance Williams and.
Speaker 2: Jeremiah Holtz and Priest ash.
Speaker 1: And you've got Finzger Old West and Maxie Bodlin and
Ashton Wright.
Speaker 2: And Chase Edwards and Chase Howard.
Speaker 1: Like there are a lot of guys there in the
mix that are gonna need to step up very early
because you know, in terms of a lot of playing experience,
you don't have a lot of that. And so I
guess theccajunds feel like that they still need to add
a little bit more depth to the defensive line room
to help coach Dennis Thomas out to continue to have
guys because he likes to play a.
Speaker 2: Lot of guys out of the defensive line rooms.
Speaker 1: So that's huge, Like I mentioned, a big depth piece
for them. He has some pass rushed juice, So you're
talking about, hey, we need to throw in another rotational
guy in there that can go and just get a sack,
that can come in and get twenty thirty snaps, maybe
even ten to fifteen snaps in the game and can
maybe be a special team piece with the way that
he had those two block kicks for you as well.
He has good size, good versatility, needs proven ability to
be able to finish through plays. So this is the
kind of under the radar addition that can win you
games when you get laid into the season in late
October early November as you're chasing a championship. So we'll
keep an eye on them this young man, as I've
reached out to him, he has not set a date
for when his visit will be with the Cajuns because
obviously he has other offers other schools that are pursuing
him as he's actively still getting recruited. But we're going
to continue to keep our eyes on that to see
if the Cajuns can hone in on him, can potentially
add them add him to their defensive line as they
get into the summer months, and then he would be
available there in fall camp. So I mentioned about how
we have this young man, Desmond Thompson from Benedict that
is a target for them out of the portal. But
the Cajun's also received a big pickup in the high
school ranks that they are adding to their twenty twenty
seven class We're gonna take a quick time out and
when I come back, I'll introduce you to mister Kolbe
Smith and talk a little bit more about him. We'll
talk about it when we come back here on Rage
and Rundown. Hey, guys, thank you so much for tuning
in to another episode here on Rage and Rundown. We're
gonna get back into the action in just a second,
but if you can, please do me a favor. If
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us a review, because that will help us get in
front of more Aging Cajun fans just like yourself. We
talked about Desmond Thompson, who is a transfer portal target
for the Cajuns currently out of the defensive line room,
but recently as of today, we're recording here on Thursday night.
But Wednesday, the Raging Cagents received their second twenty twenty
seven class couldmit, which was a defensive lineman Kobe Smith
from Avoyles High School. From my old neck of the woods.
I worked in that market for two years and also
went to school there in the Pineville area, so I'm
very familiar with this school. The head coach is there
as well. I know him as well, and so it's
an end state win for you.
Speaker 2: You know. I saw someone talk about it on social media.
Speaker 1: How so many people get passed up in the state
of Louisiana world, the Cajuns have no problem like going
after players that are in the state, and this is
a perfect example of that. So to give you some
background about Kobe Smith, he got an offer back in
February and he committed on Wednesday, So you got a
quick relationship that you built with him and you were
able to close fast, which is huge in recruiting. Like
even though we are in the transfer portal era where
you have nil and rev share and all those things
like that, Coach Dez and his staff are very much
about building relationships first, and that's what they were able
to do with Kobe and that's why he was able
to get a quick commitment. He also visited the team
last weekend while they were practicing on Saturday for spring practice,
so he liked what he saw and he was able
to commit to his school. You know, I talked about
relationships of things, and you know, I was looking on
socials and I noticed how Louisian Universus all y'all did
an article with him. I reached out to him as well,
but Louisian Universes all y'all shout out to them, did
an article talking about how his father is dealing with
some health issues and so he has the opportunity to
remain close to home and that his.
Speaker 2: Family can come and see him play.
Speaker 1: And you know, that's a humongous thing to be able
to hear from a young man that wants an opportunity
to play at the next level and still has his
family being able to watch him.
Speaker 2: So it's huge.
Speaker 1: So when I reached out to him after his commitment,
he said, you know, the location is seventy miles away
from my house, and they make me feel like I'm
a part of the family. The coaches make me feel
like I will fit their scheme and the system very well.
So we've talked about it, you know, during the transfer
Portal episodes and the portal targets and the portal commits
that the Cagens have brought in and time in and
time out, it is very clear that Louisiana is not
concerned about building the best roster that money can buy.
They are about getting ball players, guys that want to
play football, that want to be a part of this program,
and then want to help them build something that is sustainable.
Coach Mike Desimo has went on record multiple times saying
that I want to build something here that's going to
last forever, and getting pieces and players like a Kobe
Smith are what that's what's gonna help you to be
able to get that done. Kobe Smith in his junior campaign,
because he's class of twenty twenty seven, so his junior campaign,
he had seventy eight tackles, twelve sacks, eighteen tackles for lost,
fourteen quarterback hurries, and two forced fumbles. He had the
honors and likes of District Defensive MVP, Perish Defensive MVP.
He was a two time first team All District, two
time first team All SENLA member, and also I believe
that he was an All State selection as well. So
he is dominant at his level. So you're getting a
dominant player that you can bring into your defensive line
room and he can use again to build towards the future.
Looking at some of his tape, I saw a guy
that has a great ball get off. He has a
great first move, he beats the tackle, he gets to
the quarterback and brings him down. That's ultimately what you
want to have, and then you bring him in and
you can develop him that work a second move for him.
That way, when people look on tape and say like, hey,
he's speed to power, let's take that away, he has
something that he can counter that with. I think coach
Dennis Thomas is a phenomenal defensive line coach. He's been
able to work with a lot of great guys that
have come through the program year after year, and so
it'll be exciting to see what he's able to do
with Kobe once he's here on campus. He's six foot two,
two hundred and fifty five pounds, so he always has
a good college size. But obviously you want to get
him in your weight program. You want to train him
up and continue to develop him because he's going to
be a big time player for you somewhere later down
the line. He has a relentless motor. Like I mentioned,
he has a very explosive first step. So he's not
just a big player, but he's disruptive and that first
step is what separates him as an athlete. And when
you're looking for a great pass rusher, like I always
talk about, what you're always trying to do is have
someone that can get the quarterback off the spot, whether
that's getting sacks, whether that is making him hurry up,
whether that's making him throw it a wave, any way
that you can disrupt the timing of the offense and
what the quarterback is trying to accomplish. Kobe Smith is
that type of player that you can have that you're
going to be adding to your program. So kudos to
the Cajuns for identifying a player that they liked, extending
the offer to him, building a great relationship, and being
able to land a quick close on there. And now
it's again about holding the rope to land him. You
got him here in March, but you have early signing
Day all the way of December, so he still has
the rest of the summer, he has a spring, he
has his entire senior campaign where he can blow up
even more continue to gain offers. So you have to
keep holding the rope, keep gartering and fostering that relationship
so that way he will stay committed to your program
and you can be able to add him to the
defensive line room and continue to build towards the future.
So the cagents have locked down an in state talent.
They're building the future. And this is how you win
recruiting battles. You identify, you offer early, and you close fast.
So then it's to Desmond Top excuse me, is your
help now? If you can land him, he's gonna be
able to help you right now. And Kobe Smith is
going to be able to anchor you for the future.
So Louisiana isn't just building a defensive line room, they're
building waves. They're production now, production later, and that's how
you're going to be able to sustain success. So that's
going to wrap up this episode here on Rage and Rundown.
Thank you guys so much for tuning in to another episode.
Wanted to be able to give y'all a quick recruiting
update talking about Louisiana and what they've been able to
do on the recruiting path so far. So you have
two commits in your class. You have a tight end
from Shadow Creek and Bryce Coleman, and now you add
Kobe Smith from Avoils to the defensive lineman as well.
So that's going to wrap up this episode. Thank you
guys so much for watching. If you're watching on YouTube,
please do me a favorite like this video, share it
and leave a comment down below, but most importantly, make
sure you subscribe to the channel. If you're listening, please
follow the podcast feed, rate the show, and leave us
a review, because that's going to help us get in
front of more raging Cajun fans. Just like yourself. I'm
your guys, You'marcus Fitzpatrick. We'll see you guys next time.