The heart of the LSU offense will be ripped out this offseason with a quarterback (Zach Mettenberger), two wide receivers (Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham) and a star running back (Jeremy Hill) all moving on -- three of them early -- for an NFL career.
But reinforcements arrived in a big way on Wednesday as the Tigers landed arguably the nation's No. 1 wide receiver recruit -- Malachi Dupre -- to go with the No. 1 running back recruit, Leonard Fournette, on national signing day. Dupre (6-foot-4, 175 pounds) won't have to travel far. He played high school ball at state power River Ridge (La.) John Curtis, barely more than an hour from LSU's Baton Rouge campus, and chose the Tigers over Alabama, Florida State, Ole Miss and a host of others.
And with LSU losing so much skill-position talent to the draft, the door for both Dupre and Fournette to make a quick impact in the SEC couldn't be more wide open.
The news certainly sounds like music to LSU quarterback Anthony Jennings, the heir apparent to Mettenberger who led the Tigers to an Outback Bowl win over Iowa, but has little in the way of returning offensive experience around him for next season.
Dupre ranks as the nation's No. 1 wide receiver according to the ESPN 300, while he ranks No. 2 by both rivals.com and 247sports.com.
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter *@ChaseGoodbread*.