Football season might technically be over, but what we all know is that Louisianans have a thirst for the sport that can’t be quenched with just the regular season.

That’s where Tensey Pricer comes in. Pricer runs PelicanPreps.com , a Web site devoted mostly to high school football and recruiting, with a hint of basketball and baseball thrown in. The site is connected with Rivals.com, a national site that has a focus on the recruitment of high schools players

Pricer, originally from Sulphur, works for The Advocate in Baton Rouge. He has worked in sports journalism since 1991, when he started at the Southwest Daily News in Sulphur. From there, he became the lead prep man at the American Press in Lake Charles, where he stayed for five years. He moved to Baton Rouge to work in the sports department in 2001, and has been at the paper since.

PelicanPreps.com has more than 5,000 registered users, and during the peak of the season, gets nearly 700,000 hits a month. He is a member of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

Pricer and HSGametime.com will breakdown topics, trends and athletes pertaining to recruiting through at least signing day 2008. Check back in for updates.

Today’s topic: Hahnville wide receiver Laron Byrd (6-foot-4, 205 pounds); runs the 40-yard-dash in 4.46 seconds

Courtesy photo by PelicanPreps.com

Hahnville wide receiver Laron Byrd is rated as the No. 12 prospect in the state of Louisiana by Rivals.com. Byrd is still undecided as to where he'll go.

HSGametime.com: Laron Byrd is listed as the second-best receiver in Louisiana by PelicanPreps.com. What’s so special about him?

Tinsey Pricer: “What Laron brings is the combination of both tremendous size and speed. He has good hands. He really made a big splash as a sophomore with Hahnville catching two big game-winning touchdowns. He was as big as he is now as a sophomore. He is in the 6-foot-3 range, right around 200. One of them was against East St. John. That’s when he got on my radar. It was just a hail mary and he went up and came down with it. I was thoroughly impressed right off the bat. Coach (Lou) Valdin said he was going to be special. Coach Valdin likes to put some, if not many, of his players on defense and make a difference on that side of the ball. You could see his skills early as a wide receiver

HS: LSU is deep at receiver, whereas Auburn is not. Those are two of the schools recruiting Byrd. Do you foresee a situation where Byrd is more likely to go to a school where can play immediately instead of sitting for a year?

TP: It’s always interesting whenever you talk recruiting and talking with talented kids. Of course all kids want to play early. At a place like LSU, they’re so loaded at wide receiver if for one reason or another he would end up there, I don’t think he’d have a choice but to wait his turn. In many of the bigger programs, it’s rare to see someone flourish at the wide receiver position early. You have your anomalies, of course. He’s a kid that understands. Even with his ability, he stands to probably have to get in the system and find his way.

HS: Byrd was a non-factor in Hahnville’s playoff loss to Rummel. Will a game like that cool off his recruitment, or will it make a difference at all?

TP: I don’t think necessarily a game like that will cool off – a game in and of itself. Certainly not him. He has the total package. In addition to being fast, good hands, he also has good academics, from what I understand, and a leadership ability. For him to have what is perceived as having a bad game, I don’t see it turning off a coach. For the most part, I would be surprised if that is the case.

HS: What would scare college coaches about Byrd?

TP: “The only thing you can say that might be perceived as a negative in being recruited as a receiver, he was primarily early in his career a defensive back. This year, for a while, against Destrehan, he had a huge game. Him and B.J. Young had a big game. You can’t say he shrinks for the big games. That was a big game for them and him. Any negatives, it would have to be specific to the program and what they’re looking for. Recruiting him thinking he fit in somewhere, but at the end of the day, this guy over here we were recruiting might fit a little better.

HS: Who is he comparable to?

TP: “He reminds me. He’s similar, in a way, to Keyshawn Johnson, types like that. H e goes up and gets the ball. He might not be perceived as a burner even though he’s got good speed at his size. When you needed a big catch, he got a big catch. Whenever you needed him to go into the end zone and jump for a ball, he was always able to do that. Physically he’s comparable to Keyshawn. He’s big and he’s thick. Some receivers that tall are lanky. He’s a little more substantial, thicker. I don’t know if comparing him to a pro is fair, but that’s what popped into my mind.

HS: What kind of offense best fit?

TP: I think he would fit in anywhere the spread offense is very popular at the collegiate level. In a spread offense, you need a big guy who can go up and get he ball and stretch the field vertically. What he brings to it, what might be missing in a lot of wide receivers, is his physicality. He plays physical and he plays safety. He’s not afraid to hit. If you want a receiver who can go over the middle and not be afraid of contact, he’s the type of player you’d want in the system.

HS: Can you see him changing positions?

TP: Because he has so much exposure on both sides, I’m not sure there’s a tag Depending on how much weight, I can see him being a tight end if you bulk him up. He can be a tight end all the way up to a safety type. He has the frame to go play whatever position a coach wants him to play.