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Speaker 1: Are the Raging Cages trying to bolster up their defensive

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line room let's talk all about it here on Rage

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and run Down. What's good, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome

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into another episode here on Rage and Rundown, the show

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where you would know all things ul sports. And in

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today's episode, we are talking about the football team as

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Louisiana has received another commitment in the twenty twenty seven

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class from defensive lineman Kobe Smith and also they have

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a transfer portal target, so they are not exactly done

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just yet. That's also on the defensive line. So Louisiana's

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attacking things in the trenches. They've added some proven production

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already and now they're locking in on the future as well.

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So let's start off with the transfer in this class

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that they have made an offer to. They have an

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extended offer to him and they are trying to get

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in the works with him and potentially get a commitment

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out of him as they are continuing to try to

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bolster up that roster. We're talking about mister Desmond Thompson Junior.

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He is a six foot three, two hundred and fifty

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five pounds defensive lineman from the Bronx in New York.

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He's played at Benedict College the past two seasons. He

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picked up an offer from the Cajuns on March twenty third,

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that's when he tweeted about it on his social media platforms.

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He has other offers from the likes of Jackson State

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and Old Dominion and fam You and University of Incarnate

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Word and others like that. So you are in a

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competitive battle for this transfer portal target for sure.

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Speaker 2: And he also has two years of eligibility remaining.

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Speaker 1: And he also mentioned that he has not burned his

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red shirt year, so if the Cajuns decide to bring

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him in and he's not going to play right away,

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he can read shirt and then they can still have

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him for two more seasons.

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Speaker 2: So he's an.

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Speaker 1: Experienced player, he's productive, and he's still ascending. So he

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is currently a sophomore after just wrapping up his second

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year there and beniting. So in the two seasons that

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he's played there, he had forty four tackles, eight tackles

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for loss, and eight sacks and also two block kicks,

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which is huge from a special team standpoint because maybe

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he doesn't break the rotation for you as a pass rusher.

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Maybe you can use them on special teams, but right

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now the Cajuns are trying to continue to bolster up

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their defensive line room. So this is a good point

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to add this young man here. This isn't a developmental guy.

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This is somebody that you can instantly insert into your

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rotation that can be able to help you. He has

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ability to disrupt in multiple ways. Some of the film

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that I saw of him on his socials he was

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used a lot in twist and te stunts and all

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those things like that. He has really really good ball

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get off and that's important for the way the Cajuns

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utilize their defensive line. So the type of edge player

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that he is, think more in the likes of Jordan

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Losson rather than a Cam Wittfield. Cam Whitfield was more

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of the jack position for them, which is almost like

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an outside linebacker, or it is an outside linebacker, but

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he plays predominantly with his hand in the dirt. So

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this young man, mister Desmond Thompson, is more of like

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a Jordan loss In kind of that four eye are

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playing over the tackle, four to five type of defensive

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end that you can.

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Speaker 2: Be able to add to that room.

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Speaker 1: That's a pretty young room because when you look at

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the depth chart right now, or you look at what

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they're returning, you've got guys like Lance Williams and.

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Speaker 2: Jeremiah Holtz and Priest ash.

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Speaker 1: And you've got Finzger Old West and Maxie Bodlin and

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Ashton Wright.

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Speaker 2: And Chase Edwards and Chase Howard.

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Speaker 1: Like there are a lot of guys there in the

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mix that are gonna need to step up very early

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because you know, in terms of a lot of playing experience,

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you don't have a lot of that. And so I

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guess theccajunds feel like that they still need to add

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a little bit more depth to the defensive line room

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to help coach Dennis Thomas out to continue to have

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guys because he likes to play a.

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Speaker 2: Lot of guys out of the defensive line rooms.

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Speaker 1: So that's huge, Like I mentioned, a big depth piece

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for them. He has some pass rushed juice, So you're

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talking about, hey, we need to throw in another rotational

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guy in there that can go and just get a sack,

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that can come in and get twenty thirty snaps, maybe

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even ten to fifteen snaps in the game and can

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maybe be a special team piece with the way that

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he had those two block kicks for you as well.

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He has good size, good versatility, needs proven ability to

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be able to finish through plays. So this is the

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kind of under the radar addition that can win you

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games when you get laid into the season in late

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October early November as you're chasing a championship. So we'll

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keep an eye on them this young man, as I've

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reached out to him, he has not set a date

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for when his visit will be with the Cajuns because

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obviously he has other offers other schools that are pursuing

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him as he's actively still getting recruited. But we're going

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to continue to keep our eyes on that to see

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if the Cajuns can hone in on him, can potentially

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add them add him to their defensive line as they

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get into the summer months, and then he would be

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available there in fall camp. So I mentioned about how

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we have this young man, Desmond Thompson from Benedict that

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is a target for them out of the portal. But

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the Cajun's also received a big pickup in the high

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school ranks that they are adding to their twenty twenty

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seven class We're gonna take a quick time out and

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when I come back, I'll introduce you to mister Kolbe

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Smith and talk a little bit more about him. We'll

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talk about it when we come back here on Rage

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and Rundown. Hey, guys, thank you so much for tuning

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in to another episode here on Rage and Rundown. We're

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gonna get back into the action in just a second,

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but if you can, please do me a favor. If

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you're watching on YouTube, please like this video, share it

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and leave a comment down below. But most importantly, make

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sure you subscribe to the channel so you know when

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we're dropping episodes just like this one. If you're listening,

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please follow the podcast feed, rate the show, and leave

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us a review, because that will help us get in

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front of more Aging Cajun fans just like yourself. We

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talked about Desmond Thompson, who is a transfer portal target

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for the Cajuns currently out of the defensive line room,

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but recently as of today, we're recording here on Thursday night.

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But Wednesday, the Raging Cagents received their second twenty twenty

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seven class couldmit, which was a defensive lineman Kobe Smith

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from Avoyles High School. From my old neck of the woods.

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I worked in that market for two years and also

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went to school there in the Pineville area, so I'm

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very familiar with this school. The head coach is there

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as well. I know him as well, and so it's

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an end state win for you.

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Speaker 2: You know. I saw someone talk about it on social media.

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Speaker 1: How so many people get passed up in the state

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of Louisiana world, the Cajuns have no problem like going

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after players that are in the state, and this is

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a perfect example of that. So to give you some

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background about Kobe Smith, he got an offer back in

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February and he committed on Wednesday, So you got a

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quick relationship that you built with him and you were

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able to close fast, which is huge in recruiting. Like

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even though we are in the transfer portal era where

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you have nil and rev share and all those things

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like that, Coach Dez and his staff are very much

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about building relationships first, and that's what they were able

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to do with Kobe and that's why he was able

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to get a quick commitment. He also visited the team

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last weekend while they were practicing on Saturday for spring practice,

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so he liked what he saw and he was able

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to commit to his school. You know, I talked about

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relationships of things, and you know, I was looking on

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socials and I noticed how Louisian Universus all y'all did

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an article with him. I reached out to him as well,

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but Louisian Universes all y'all shout out to them, did

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an article talking about how his father is dealing with

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some health issues and so he has the opportunity to

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remain close to home and that his.

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Speaker 2: Family can come and see him play.

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Speaker 1: And you know, that's a humongous thing to be able

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to hear from a young man that wants an opportunity

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to play at the next level and still has his

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family being able to watch him.

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Speaker 2: So it's huge.

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Speaker 1: So when I reached out to him after his commitment,

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he said, you know, the location is seventy miles away

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from my house, and they make me feel like I'm

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a part of the family. The coaches make me feel

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like I will fit their scheme and the system very well.

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So we've talked about it, you know, during the transfer

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Portal episodes and the portal targets and the portal commits

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that the Cagens have brought in and time in and

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time out, it is very clear that Louisiana is not

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concerned about building the best roster that money can buy.

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They are about getting ball players, guys that want to

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play football, that want to be a part of this program,

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and then want to help them build something that is sustainable.

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Coach Mike Desimo has went on record multiple times saying

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that I want to build something here that's going to

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last forever, and getting pieces and players like a Kobe

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Smith are what that's what's gonna help you to be

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able to get that done. Kobe Smith in his junior campaign,

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because he's class of twenty twenty seven, so his junior campaign,

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he had seventy eight tackles, twelve sacks, eighteen tackles for lost,

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fourteen quarterback hurries, and two forced fumbles. He had the

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honors and likes of District Defensive MVP, Perish Defensive MVP.

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He was a two time first team All District, two

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time first team All SENLA member, and also I believe

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that he was an All State selection as well. So

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he is dominant at his level. So you're getting a

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dominant player that you can bring into your defensive line

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room and he can use again to build towards the future.

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Looking at some of his tape, I saw a guy

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that has a great ball get off. He has a

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great first move, he beats the tackle, he gets to

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the quarterback and brings him down. That's ultimately what you

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want to have, and then you bring him in and

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you can develop him that work a second move for him.

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That way, when people look on tape and say like, hey,

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he's speed to power, let's take that away, he has

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something that he can counter that with. I think coach

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Dennis Thomas is a phenomenal defensive line coach. He's been

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able to work with a lot of great guys that

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have come through the program year after year, and so

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it'll be exciting to see what he's able to do

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with Kobe once he's here on campus. He's six foot two,

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two hundred and fifty five pounds, so he always has

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a good college size. But obviously you want to get

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him in your weight program. You want to train him

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up and continue to develop him because he's going to

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be a big time player for you somewhere later down

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the line. He has a relentless motor. Like I mentioned,

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he has a very explosive first step. So he's not

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just a big player, but he's disruptive and that first

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step is what separates him as an athlete. And when

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you're looking for a great pass rusher, like I always

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talk about, what you're always trying to do is have

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someone that can get the quarterback off the spot, whether

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that's getting sacks, whether that is making him hurry up,

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whether that's making him throw it a wave, any way

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that you can disrupt the timing of the offense and

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what the quarterback is trying to accomplish. Kobe Smith is

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that type of player that you can have that you're

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going to be adding to your program. So kudos to

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the Cajuns for identifying a player that they liked, extending

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the offer to him, building a great relationship, and being

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able to land a quick close on there. And now

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it's again about holding the rope to land him. You

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got him here in March, but you have early signing

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Day all the way of December, so he still has

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the rest of the summer, he has a spring, he

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has his entire senior campaign where he can blow up

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even more continue to gain offers. So you have to

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keep holding the rope, keep gartering and fostering that relationship

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so that way he will stay committed to your program

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and you can be able to add him to the

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defensive line room and continue to build towards the future.

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So the cagents have locked down an in state talent.

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They're building the future. And this is how you win

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recruiting battles. You identify, you offer early, and you close fast.

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So then it's to Desmond Top excuse me, is your

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help now? If you can land him, he's gonna be

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able to help you right now. And Kobe Smith is

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going to be able to anchor you for the future.

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So Louisiana isn't just building a defensive line room, they're

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building waves. They're production now, production later, and that's how

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you're going to be able to sustain success. So that's

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going to wrap up this episode here on Rage and Rundown.

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Thank you guys so much for tuning in to another episode.

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Wanted to be able to give y'all a quick recruiting

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update talking about Louisiana and what they've been able to

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do on the recruiting path so far. So you have

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two commits in your class. You have a tight end

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from Shadow Creek and Bryce Coleman, and now you add

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Kobe Smith from Avoils to the defensive lineman as well.

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So that's going to wrap up this episode. Thank you

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guys so much for watching. If you're watching on YouTube,

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please do me a favorite like this video, share it

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and leave a comment down below, but most importantly, make

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sure you subscribe to the channel. If you're listening, please

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follow the podcast feed, rate the show, and leave us

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a review, because that's going to help us get in

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front of more raging Cajun fans. Just like yourself. I'm

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your guys, You'marcus Fitzpatrick. We'll see you guys next time.