2022 Recruit Collin Sadler Opens Up on Recent LSU Football Offer, How He Stayed in Shape During Quarantine

Sadler plans to make first trip to Baton Rouge in the fall when LSU takes on Alabama

Living on a horse farm in Greenville, South Carolina, there's plenty of open space for 2022 offensive tackle Collin Sadler to train. There's so much room that Sadler was able to turn one of his barns into a workout facility during the quarantine to stay in shape.

"Through this whole quarantine I've been working out in there, heading to a local field to run and then also working with my coaches on my technique through zoom and Facetime calls," Sadler said. It's the dedication to perfecting his craft that has helped Sadler earn offers from some of the top programs in the country, most recently the Tigers

The LSU offer came together quite quickly for Sadler. The 6-foot-6, 295-pound lineman had never heard from the Tigers until that Jun. 2 day. Not only did he speak with offensive line coach James Cregg, who made him the offer, but he spent some time with the man himself, Ed Orgeron, for a few minutes as well. 

"He [Cregg] said they look for a couple of main things in an offensive lineman, mainly suddeness, explosion off the ball, finish and most importantly character," Sadler said. "He said I fit that bill and right after that he sprung the offer on me, which I was not expecting."

Sadler admitted that his heart rate definitely shot up a few notches as the rising junior stood in shock as Cregg turned the phone over to Orgeron. The plan, as of now, is for Sadler to visit Baton Rouge for the very first time in the fall for the Tigers mid November outing with Alabama.

He also wants to keep an open dialogue with the LSU staff so Sadler will reach out to somebody with the Tigers once a week moving forward. 

"Coach O really just told me congratulations and I can't wait to get you up here so it was a great experience," Sadler said. "We're going to talk weekly and I'm really looking forward to getting to know these coaches and start building relationships with them. Clearly coach O knows what he's doing with that program but mostly I'm looking forward to getting down there and getting to know people."

LSU isn't the only blue blood program that is targeting Sadler as Clemson and Georgia also recently offered the Greenville High School product. Michigan, Oregon, Penn State and Tennessee are just a few of the other schools that have made Sadler offers.

With so many programs taking an interest recently in his accomplishments on the field, one of the areas that Sadler believes really popped in his sophomore tape was his ability to finish.

"Me and my high school coaches have been talking and we agree there's generally a lack of violent play in college football as far as offensive line goes," Sadler said. "So I do feel like I can bring that to a program and I do think I have good technique to back up that physical style I play with."

There are elements to his game that he wants to keep improving on including his timing on when to finish. Sadler says he generally finishes his blocks early on in a play and wants to not only continue to finish blocks effectively but with purpose.

"I squat 585 pounds so I mean there's no lack of leg drive on my blocks so I'm looking to elongate plays and start taking people to the stands," Sadler said. 

Transitioning back to LSU, Sadler was able to keep an eye on the historic 2019 offense from a distance and picked up on a few various things that made it so efficient. 

"I really like the balance of play they brought last year because it wasn't a run heavy, typical SEC offense," Sadler said. "It was really balanced with an air raid and they also proved they could run it down people's throats."

One player in particular on the offensive line that Sadler has been keeping up with since his days at the Nike Opening camps is right tackle Austin Deculus. Deculus is one of the few returning starters on the offense and will be tasked with leading an o-line in 2020 that recently has found itself having to answer offseason questions. 

"I really like the way he plays, the first thing that jumps out about him is his size [6-foot-7, 322 pounds] but he's still up there moving like a ballerina," Sadler said. "That's what I'm trying to model my game after and he's really smart on when to finish and when not to finish a block."

Sadler has talked with Cregg about the recruiting part of LSU and now wants to spend the coming weeks and months getting to know him as a coach and a person. At the end of the day, playing in the SEC is something Sadler really thinks would be good for his development because of the staunch competition he anticipates facing on the practice field and on gamedays.

"I think it would be incredible because there's no better competition than in the SEC so I'd be playing against the best and that would push me to be my best," Sadler said.