He’ll end up being one of the biggest names in this year’s NFL Draft, but he’s already one of the best names.
LSU’s Barkevious Mingo has declared he’ll leave school a year early to enter the draft, according to Randy Rosetta of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound defensive end figures to be a first-round pick.
He’s the sixth LSU player to leave school early for the draft, and more are possible. Fellow highly touted defensive end Sam Montgomery is expected to join him, along with Kevin Minter, Eric Reid, Tharold Simon, Spencer Ware and Brad Wing.
Mingo finished the season with 8.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, numbers which don’t jump off the page. But with another bookend on the other side in Montgomery, it was harder for him to pile up individual stats.
Mingo first came to our attention as the winner of the 2009 Name of the Year tournament, but he has since become more than a curiousity, and will have a chance to make a name for himself in the NFL as a guy with great pass-rush ability.