Football season technically is 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 break down topics, trends and athletes pertaining to recruiting through at least signing day 2008. Check back in for updates.

Tuesday's topic: The bumper crop of quarterbacks in the state of Louisiana. Ten already have committed, and as many as seven more could sign come Feb. 6, national signing day.

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Destrehan quarterback Jordan Jefferson is a Rivals.com 4-star recruit already committed to play at LSU. He's one of eight quarterbacks from Louisiana commmitted to play in-state.

HSGametime.com: You’ve talked in prior conversations about how good and deep this quarterback class is. What makes you say that?

Tensey Pricer: “There were several kids that came on my radar as sophomores, Randall Mackey being the most high profile. Ryan Lewis over at Catholic, he was real poised. Blaine Gautier over at Lutcher, you could see the makings of a really talented quarterback. There was a kid over at Sam Houston in Lake Charles, names Zack O’Quinn. Alex Williams at Covington’s St. Paul’s. Jonathan Morvant, the Acadiana quarterback. Mikie Mahtook at St. Thomas Moore.

“All those guys had really good sophomore years. I noticed right off the bat – here we’ve got a handful of (sophomores) who were not only performing well, but leading their teams to wins. Every one of those teams. Morvant started in the champion game as a sophomore.

“That’s when I noticed. I started really paying attention to the rest of the class. Slowly, as juniors, I found about more guys. And even this year, we had the emergence of B.J. Young over at Hahnville, and Josh Jordan, the St. Amant quarterback who is going to East Carolina. He really came into his own.

“It started off with a handful as sophomores and it just added.

“Over the past four or five years … the most was nine quarterbacks sign scholarships, the least being about four. Now we have 10 who have committed. I think there’s at least up to seven more that will go to a smaller school or Division II. It’s just an abundance of college-worthy quarterbacks in this class.

HS: The two names most people probably associate with quarterbacks and Louisiana right now are Destrehan’s Jordan Jefferson and Bastrop’s Randall Mackey. We’ve previously talked about Mackey. What sets Jefferson apart from the rest of this year’s crop?

TP: “He has the ideal frame. He’s 6-foot-4, 200 pounds. Long. Lanky. Whenever he gets to the next level, they’ll probably work with technique, fine-tune him. Otherwise, he has all the tools. He has a strong arm. He has been really accurate, really ever since his sophomore year, as well. He put up good numbers as a sophomore and a junior until he got injured.

“He has also had the benefit of a lot of weapons. It’s one thing if a coach says, ‘What if he had several other college-type kids to work with?’ Well, at Destrehan, it was kind of like a microcosm of what a college would look like. The main thing was just his size and raw ability.

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Curtis quarterback Matt Saucier is being recruited by Air Force, Georgia Tech and SMU among others. He led the Patriots to a state championship this past season.

HS: The New Orleans area is blessed with several of this group – Jefferson, Lutcher’s Blaine Gautier, St. Paul’s Alex Williams, Hahnville’s B.J. Young, Mandeville’s Chad Plaisance, Curtis’ Matt Saucier, St. Martin’s Kyle Ridley. Is there a reason New Orleans has so many?

TP: “I think it’s probably just a cyclical thing. Obviously, you’ve got some good coaches who have been able to identify talent early and put them in good spots. I think it’s just one of those years where you have a bumper crop. Even though New Orleans has a lot, I think the cycle extends beyond even New Orleans. They’re kind of an example really of what has happened through out the state.

HS: Let’s talk about Jefferson here for a second. He has committed to LSU already. First, with Ryan Perrilloux being so young, what does that mean for Jefferson’s advancement at the position? And secondly, will he be expected to stay at quarterback?

TP: I have heard no talk of him being anything other than a quarterback. Since we last talked, I’ve heard more people taking about putting Randall Mackey at receiver more than anything. I talked to a couple of JUCO coaches, they said they’d like to see (Mackey) at wide receiver. That was talked about here or there. (Mackey) really wanted to get a shot at quarterback.

“What I’m getting at is I’ve heard talk of putting quarterbacks at another position; I’ve never heard that talk with Jefferson. He has always been quarterback all the way.

“Relative to Perrilloux and the quarterback situation, it’s interesting, because the last few quarterbacks that LSU has had, one of the prevailing strengths or qualities has been the idea of sitting around and waiting their turn, being ready whenever the opportunity came along. You saw it with Matt Flynn. It’s hard to believe now, but there was a time when nobody knew who Matt Flynn was or that he’d lead LSU to a championship. He bided his time and got his shot. Matt Mauck was before that.

“Every high school kid goes into college thinking I’m ready to play now. Even though he might be, it still takes time. Perrilloux was about as highly touted and had as packed a resume as a quarterback could possibly have, and he still had to wait his turn. I’m sure Jefferson realizes that’s in the cards for him.

HS: Jefferson is a four-star recruit according to Rivals.com With him committing as early as he did, will that keep other QB’s from committing and signing with LSU and even LSU looking?

TP: “With him, I don’t know if LSU was going to sign more than one or two quarterbacks. Traditionally, quarterbacks, if they see somebody committed at another school, especially another highly-touted one, they will look elsewhere. That’s why you don’t see schools sign more than one or two. You get one 4- or 5-star guy, then you get a 3-star guy who is hungry and will push the 5-star guy.

“Whether it’s scared anybody off, I can’t really say that. Usually, schools don’t sign more, especially the elite schools. Whenever they pick a guy, the guy is really good and they’re pinning a lot on him.

HS: If you look at the list of commitments among quarterbacks, eight of the 10 who have committed are staying inside Louisiana. Is this the type of year in-state schools love?

TP: “They definitely love. Everybody in the state is going to sign somebody from in-state. …Probably a couple of years ago, coaches probably saw this crop coming down the chute and, say last year, they didn’t sign a quarterback because they knew there would be a group of guys coming up this year.

“I’ve talked with several college coaches and they knew this year was going to be a good year for quarterbacks and they were going to sign either one or two. They made plans. A year or two coming in and probably a year or so after, they knew this was the year they should probably take a quarterback or two.

HS: Other Jefferson, is there a local guy who really stands out as someone who could be a sleeper pickup?

TP: “I think Blaine Guatier has a shot at becoming a standout at UL-Lafayette. I liked him from the get-go. He throws a good ball. He’s really poised. He runs well. He has good arm strength. Lutcher needed him to run more than in the past and he rose to the challenge and proved that, not only is he a good guy that’s elusive and makes a play, but he’s also a guy who can run.

“The big knock about him was his size. The Cajuns are going to benefit from that. He’s really an impressive athlete who is also a good quarterback.