Elite WDE K’Lavon Chaisson commits to LSU over Texas, Florida

On the final day of the 2017 cycle, with a chance for Tom Herman to earn his staple commitment on Wednesday morning, Under Armour All-America weak-side defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson elected to side with the LSU Tigers over the Texas Longhorns and Florida Gators.

Someone in the background of the live stream said that Chaisson went looking for a Texas hat this morning and couldn’t find one around the school. He settled for the shirt.

A huge miss for Texas, Chaisson’s recruitment was one that, for the most part, favored the ‘Horns, but remained up in the air and fairly suspicious until the final moments. LSU — Texas’ primary competition throughout — received an official visit from Chaisson on Jan. 13, and following his Jan. 20 visit to Austin, which reportedly went very well, Chaisson officially visited Colorado Jan. 23 and Florida Jan. 27. While the Gators managed to make an appearance in Chaisson’s final three, many would agree his recruitment had long been a battle between the Longhorns and Tigers.

Chaisson could have served as the crowned jewel of Herman’s partial debut class by becoming Texas’ top-ranked commit and signified a significant early statement recruiting victory over a pair of SEC recruiting powers. But LSU, with far more program stability and noted recruiters in head coach Ed Orgeron and defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, whom Herman wanted as his defensive coordinator in Austin, proved to be too much for Texas to overcome with Herman’s staff being on the job for just three months.

With Chaisson now headed to Baton Rogue, the Longhorns missed on an elite pass rusher with the ability to step on the Forty Acres and immediately compete for reps, which he’ll be able to do at LSU, as well.

A relentless rusher off the edge with great speed, Chaisson clocked a 4.69 40 yard dash and an impressive 4.32 shuttle time. That, along with his ferocious striking ability and natural instincts aided in his six solo tackles, five tackles for loss and three sacks during the Under Armour All-America game — Chaisson’s three sacks tied the Under Armour game record with Rashan Gary’s efforts last year and Noah Spence in 2012.

In total, Chaisson held 24 offers from programs including USC, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, Oklahoma, TCU and Stanford.

Along with his top 40 national ranking, Chaisson ranks as the nation’s No. 4 weak-side defensive end and the No. 5 player in Texas, per 247Sports Composite.