SB Nation - Harry Coleman

The LSU Preview

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:16:56 -0000

No smoke and mirrors needed this week. No clever turn of phrase needed to build drama and intrigue with this game. Nope. To paraphrase what they say in the sales business, this is simply a game that sells itself. It's 'Bama v. LSU. Saban Bowl III. National championship implications clearly on the line. The entire country turning its eyes towards Tuscaloosa to play close attention at this contest. Again, this one sells itself. Let's look closer at the match-ups:

Alabama Offense v. LSU Defense

After putting up points and yards by the bushel in the first month of the season, the once prolific Alabama offense has slowly ground to a virtual halt over the course of the past five weeks. The vertical element of the passing game went into the Witness Protection Program in early October, and we still haven't seen any signs of it returning as of this writing. Mark Ingram has been nothing short of phenomenal -- sans the fumble against Tennessee -- but the lack of a vertical element to the passing game, combined with untimely penalties, questionable playcalling, and struggles in the red zone have kept the Tide offensive attack at bay and off the scoreboard.

Admittedly, the level of competition has been high the past several weeks. Kentucky has a good defense, and Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Tennessee rank in the top 25 nationally of more statistical categories than not. But such is life in the SEC... it's a brutal gauntlet of quality opponent after quality opponent, and there will be no rest for the weary this weekend when the Bayou Bengals come to town. Alas, when LSU arrives in Tuscaloosa, they will bring with them a defense that is as good as those we saw in October, if not better.

And unfortunately, injuries continue to take a toll on the Tide. Colin Peek looks to either miss this game or play nowhere near 100%, and that's a very big loss for the Tide. Michael Williams will likely play better than he did two weeks ago against Tennessee because he will be more prepared, but Peek is a critical element of our offense, and unfortunately Williams is an imperfect substitute.

Defensively, the weakness for LSU starts up front at the line of scrimmage. Shocking as though that may be -- I imagine I need remind no one that LSU's defensive line ate us for dinner from 2003-2007 -- it is nevertheless true. To be sure, it's certainly not a bad group, but it isn't a dominating one and it is not up to the level that we have come to expect the past several years out of LSU. Inside, seniors Al Woods and Charles Alexander are good players that any team would love to have, but they probably aren't to the level that we saw the past several years out of LSU with Kyle Williams and Glenn Dorsey. Likewise, the rotation isn't what it has been in previous years in terms of quality depth.

The real weakness for LSU on the defensive line largely comes outside at end. Senior Rahim Alem has been a bit of a disappointment this year. He was always a liability against the run -- which is why, despite leading the SEC in sacks in 2008, he wasn't a starter -- but he hasn't rushed the passer as well this year, generating only three sacks in the first eight games (only one of which came in conference play, and that was against Vandy). Opposite Alem, Lazarius Levingston hasn't exactly played poorly, but he hasn't really made an impact either. He has yet to generate a sack, and only has ten tackles on the year. Making matters worse, they are somewhat undersized, and mixed with their lack of a consistent pass rush, that generally explains why LSU's run defense has been somewhat middling, and also explains why they are at the bottom of the SEC in sacks.

Unfortunately, the rest of the LSU defense is significantly better. The linebacker corps struggled greatly in 2008, but they have made tremendous strides in 2009 under new defensive coordinator John Chavis. There is not one standout at linebacker like Alabama has with someone like Rolando McClain -- or had with Dont'a Hightower -- but it's a good group that gets the job done. Perry Riley, Kelvin Sheppard, Harry Coleman, and Jacob Cutrera are all good football players, and they are in many ways unique players that give Chavis a lot of options. Riley is a big, physical player who excels against against the run, and Coleman's past as a former safety makes him a very versatile player, particularly in passing situations. Kelvin Sheppard is probably the best all-around player of the bunch, and while Cutrera isn't a standout, he's a senior who can really play whatever position they need off the bench. Again, it's not a group that has the one rockstar standout like you find with a guy like Rolando McClain or Brandon Spikes, but it's a good group of players that have produced at a high level for John Chavis.

The real strength of the LSU defense, however, comes in the defensive backfield, where the Bayou Bengals have an absolutely ridiculous collection of talent. Just look at the names and their recruiting hype... Chad Jones, #1 safety prospect in the country in 2007. Jai Eugene, #1 cornerback prospect in the country in 2006. Patrick Peterson, #1 cornerback prospect in the country in 2007. And guys like Chris Hawkins, Brandon Taylor, Karnell Hatcher, Ron Brooks, and Danny McCray? Yeah, they were generally "only" four-star recruits who could have had pretty much their pick of any school in the country.

Not surprising given that collection of talent, LSU's defensive backfield has led the way. Patrick Peterson is the best cornerback in the conference now that Kentucky's Trevard Lindley is slowed by an ankle injury, and Chad Jones is every bit as good of a safety as Eric Berry. And, obviously, the rest aren't too shabby. These guys have been the key for the LSU defense this year. The defensive line has struggled and frankly been very bad in terms of rushing the passer, but the back end has covered so well that LSU still fields one of the best pass defenses in the country.

Coach Saban and company have talked about stretching the field vertically this weekend, and that is almost certainly something that we will have to do in order to breathe life back into our deceased offense. LSU does not have the great run defense that they have sported in years past, but it's far from a bad unit, and you can rest assured that they will be able to limit Alabama's running game well enough to force the Tide to do something in the passing game in order to score a lot of points. Keep in mind that, as I mentioned in the Radio Hour, if you are unable to throw the football, then defensively you don't need to stop the run, you only need to somewhat limit the run. In other words, you just have to make sure that the opposing offense doesn't run it down your throats to the tune of 250+ rushing yards. Rest assured, LSU is likely more than good enough to do that up front.

Offensively, Alabama faces the same dilemma that it largely faced against Tennessee. Greg McElroy and the passing attack have struggled to move the football, and the opposing defense will look to limit Ingram and company and force McElroy and the wide receiver corps to beat them. Unless we can be more consistent and explosive in the passing game, the end result looks to be very similar to what it was against Tennessee.

Alabama Defense v. LSU Offense

For all of the strength of the LSU defense, the LSU offense hasn't been anywhere near as good, and if you look closely this is a group that ranks near the bottom of the country in most statistical categories.

At the skill positions, at least, this is an extremely dangerous offense. Without doubt the LSU wide receiver corps is easily the most talented that the Tide will face all season, and literally every single LSU wide receiver that will touch the football this Saturday will be a truly elite athlete in every sense of the phrase. Brandon LaFell will be a first-day draft pick next April, and both Terrance Toliver and Reuben Randle are physically impressive players who were the #1 wide receiver prospects in the country when they came out of high school. Richard Dickson is a good tight end in his own right, and he too will probably play on Sunday. Furthermore, Charles Scott is also a future NFL player, and while Keiland Williams never really lived up to his five-star status when he signed with the Tigers in 2006, he's still a fine player in his own right. And finally, while Russell Shepard and Trindon Holliday are somewhat of one-trick ponies, both have such ungodly speed and athleticism that they can present major challenges to a defense once they get the ball in their hands. Bottom line, struggles or not, if you look at the quality at talent at the skill positions for LSU, you would swear this is an elite offense.

The real problem with LSU offensively has been in the trenches and, perhaps not surprisingly, at the quarterback position. Struggles in those two areas have largely grounded the LSU offensive attack, and have turned an offense that should be high-powered based solely on its skill position talent into a unit that has greatly struggled to move the football and score points.

Ciron Black at left tackle for the Bayou Bengals is a four-year starter who will likely be a first round NFL draft choice next April, and at right tackle Joseph Barksdale -- a five-star recruit in 2007 -- is one of the best right tackles in the SEC. Unfortunately for the Tigers, however, the performance of the centers and guards has dipped significantly. The loss of starting left guard Herman Johnson and starting center Brett Helms have been felt all season, and the replacements just aren't in the same league right now. Josh Dworaczyk took over for Johnson, and the replacement starter for the gargantuan comes in at barely 280 pounds. Likewise, sophomore T-Bob Hebert hasn't necessarily been bad, but again he's just not in the same league as Helms right now. Right guard Lyle Hitt looked solid enough when sandwiched between Helms and Barksdale, but he too has seen his performance dip by having to take on greater responsibilities with Hebert alongside him. As a whole, the performance of the center and the guards just hasn't been anywhere what it was a year ago.

The struggles on the interior offensive line have effectively proven fatal to the LSU rushing attack. I've long said that the biggest impact on your rushing attack comes from the play of your center and your guards, and 2009 Tigers would prove to be a fine case study in that regard. The tackles are there, as are the backs, but LSU has struggled on the interior in the running game, and that has largely killed their rushing attack. The once potent Scott and Williams are averaging only about 4.8 yards per carry now, and prior to facing Tulane and their god awful run defense they were barely averaging 4.0 yards per carry.

The other problem for LSU offensively is quarterback Jordan Jefferson. While clearly an intriguing prospect with a great upside -- Jefferson has a good frame, a big arm, and is a legitimate dual-threat -- Jefferson is really playing out of necessity right now, and it shows. Truth be told, if the LSU coaching staff really had their druthers, Jefferson would probably be riding the pine this year while watching fifth-year senior Ryan Perrilloux run the Tiger offense, but alas the Football Gods would not cooperate. As a result, Jefferson has been forced to make the best of a bad situation, and he has clearly had his growing pains. He holds onto the ball entirely too long which creates a lot of sacks -- which explains why LSU is near the bottom of the conference in sacks allowed despite having the best tackle combo in the league -- often struggles to work through his progression, and does struggle at times to get the ball to his talented wide receivers. Combined, this has largely grounded what should otherwise be an explosive passing attack.

In all fairness, though, what Jefferson has done is manage the game and not get his Tigers beat. For all of the criticisms that you can make regarding his performance to date, he has protected the football, which is clearly priority number one for the LSU coaching staff. Jefferson has thrown a mere four interceptions this year on roughly 200 passing attempts, and has allowed the LSU defense to lead them to victory in close games. If nothing else, that is far more than could ever be said for the man that Jefferson replaced.

Defensively, Alabama brings the attack that you all know so well, and there will probably be little changes this week. Charles Scott and Keiland Williams had great success running the football against us a year ago, but with a healthy Terrence Cody this time around, plus Herman Johnson and Brett Helms playing on Sunday, the Tide ought to shut down the LSU rushing attack. If Charles Scott and company have a good deal of success come Saturday, it will legitimately come as a bit of a surprise.

The real key for the Alabama defense will be containing big plays in the passing game. For lack of a better way of putting it, the skill position players for LSU are unreal good, and they will stretch us to the absolute maximum this weekend. Our defensive backfield, collectively, will have to play the game of their lives this weekend, and to make matters even more worrisome we will also have to make sure that Russell Shepard or Trindon Holliday also don't beat us with a long run out of the backfield. Given the way we have struggled offensively the past several weeks, even giving up only one or two really long plays can easily be the difference between victory and defeat, and unless the offense improve, our defense has effectively zero margin of error.

Going a long way towards preventing those big plays to the skill position players will be effectively rushing the passer. Jefferson isn't a world-beater at quarterback, but his receivers sure as hell are, and he has the arm to make all of the throws. If Jefferson consistently has time to throw the football, we're in big trouble defensively. The LSU skill position players are simply too good to expect any defensive backfield to keep covered for any real length of time.

Putting It All Together

All in all, these two teams match up closely. If the Alabama offense were producing like it did earlier in the year, the Tide could be reasonably expected to win this game with relative ease, but with our offensive struggles of the past month and no definite sign of improvement, this game figures to be a close one that goes right down to the wire. Unless we can significantly improve offensively, the LSU defense is good enough to keep our offensive attack at bay, and while the LSU offense probably won't score a lot of points against our defense, they clearly have another skill position talent on the outside to make a few big plays to squeak out a close victory in a low-scoring game

And do look for this game to be a close, low-scoring game, no two ways about that. Neither team looks to score that many points, and expect the coaching staffs of the respective teams to play accordingly. LSU almost lost to the Tide in 2007 when they chose to kick to Javier Arenas late, and their loss last year was fueled by a slew of costly turnovers. Expect Les Miles and company to avoid both this weekend with a struggling Alabama offense. LSU will kick the football away from Arenas, and play safe on offense so that -- even if they don't score a lot of points in their own right -- they won't take the risks that could result in several costly turnovers. We're struggling greatly on the offensive side of the ball, and when facing a team of that nature you make sure that you do not allow cheap points. Expect LSU to force the Tide's offense to consistently move the ball 60+ yards to get points.

For Alabama, the path to victory is clearly in the trenches. We hold a fairly significant advantage in both match-ups at the line of scrimmage, and there is where we must win this football game. We must stop the run defensively and rush Jefferson, and offensively establish the running game and make like easy for McElroy and the Alabama passing attack. If we can do that, we win this football game. On the other hand, if LSU can fight us to an effective draw in the trenches, then this game will be decided by the skill position players, and that's a losing proposition for us. That's not to say we absolutely cannot win a game of that nature, but LSU does have more raw talent at the skill positions than we do, and that is a game that will clearly favor the Bayou Bengals. Again, our path to victory lies in the trenches. We have to dominate this game at the line of scrimmage. Period.

One way or the other, look for this to be an absolutely brutal game. The stakes are extremely high for both LSU and Alabama, and their respective players will perform accordingly. Les Miles, regardless of whether or not it is fair, will forever be judged relative to Nick Saban, something that is clearly not lost on Miles or his team. This is their biggest game of the year, and clearly the biggest game of the year for their fan base as well. Truth be told, they have been preparing for this game for two weeks now. Making matters more interesting, this game determines the SEC West, LSU is still technically alive in the national championship race, and they are clearly looking to make a definitive showing that they are still at their 2003-2007 form. On the other sideline, Alabama has been staring this one down for two weeks. We control our own destiny in the national championship race, and we know full well that this is now effectively a one-game season. If we want to get to where we want to go, we all realize that we must directly go through LSU. And, also, don't think for one second that it is lost on our team that they need to win this game in the trenches. Expect these two teams to line up and wage absolute war. There will be blood.

Hope for the best.

Behind the Numbers: LSU v Tulane

Poseur — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:20:41 -0000

We beat Tulane. Big whoop. I'm doing the Behind the Numbers early just to get it over with. Honestly, trying to glean meaning from a win over Tulane is a fool's errand. Do not read too much into anything that happened.

267. LSU's rushing yards. The running game has been, at times, downright brutal this season. Getting 267 yards against anyone is a feat for this team. Charles Scott rushed for 112 yards, his first 100 yard game of the season. I'm happy for Scott, but let's not call it a breakout game until he does it against a defense with a pulse.

2. Keiland Williams' total touches. He didn't catch a ball and he had all of two carriers. Meanwhile, Stevan Ridley looked great in his 8 garbage time carries and Russell Shepard looked explosive in his five carriers. Shep seems to have taken over the "shifty back" role in the offense, relegating Williams to a few change of pace carries and waving his towel on the sideline. I feel really bad for the kid, who came in as a five star recruit with all of the hype in the world. His LSU career is not what he, or anyone, imagined for him. He's been a good player and, to his credit, he's never publicly complained about his role, but it is probably time to admit he is a bust. Russell Shepard's expanded role will probably come at Keiland Williams' expense.

50. Trindon Holliday had not one, but two 50 yard punt returns. Man, he is an explosive player. He never quite has been a star, but he always has these flashes of brilliance.

2-51. In case you didn't notice, Drew Alleman got the start as the punter. He punted twice in the first half, and shanked them both. Josh Jasper, our do everything special teams guy, came out in the third and punted it 41 yards. I'd rather Alleman shank it against Tulane because it's likely he won't get the chance to do it against Bama. With Derek Helton out, Jasper is now going to have to take every kick. No pressure.

1. LSU's three and outs. In every game, the offense has gone into the tank for an extended period. That didn't happen against Tulane, which was another positive sign. The only three and out was actually the first possession. LSU probably won't go 7/10 on third downs against the Tide, but it was nice to see the offense stay on the field.

38. Tackles by LSU's top linebackers: Kelvin Sheppard (13), Perry Riley (8), Jacob Cutrera (6), Ryan Baker (6), and Harry Coleman (5). The five linebackers also combined for 5 TFL's. It's been a long time since our linebackers were the most productive unit on defense. That is a positive sign going into Alabama. Our linebackers must make tackles.

LSU 42 - Tulane 0: Snap Judgments

Richard Pittman — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:47:09 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

about 1 month ago: LSU running back Stevan Ridley (34) backs into the endzone over Tulane defensive back Jordan Garrett as linebacker Darryl Farley comes from the left in the second half of an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009. LSU defeated Tulane 42-0. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

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I just isn't the same when the game is not on regular television. ESPN360 just doesn't give you the options that television gives you, and the picture is not as clear. That's not even getting into the whole problem of the connection to ESPN360 crashing and not being able to get a picture, missing several plays throughout the game, including Russell Shepard's touchdown run.

Anyway, here are some snap judgments:

I would like to take us back to what Poseur said in the Roundtable discussion:

Billy:

What would you like to see this Saturday versus Tulane?

Poseur:

A win. That's it.

I don't need to see fireworks and I don't need to see new wrinkles. I just want a quiet and uneventful win that serves as a nice appetizer for Bama.

Well, that's exactly what you got. The game was uncompetitive, uneventful, lacking in fireworks, and generally quite dull. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We came out and scored early and Tulane, though they put up a couple nice drives, never did anything that even resembled getting into the game.

I can't say we didn't see any new wrinkles though. After LSU had struggled to get good support from the fullback position from James Stampley and Richard Dugas early in the season, and inserting freshman Dominique Allen into the rotation last week met with mised results, Les Miles and Gary Crowton took a different approach and moved reserve scholarship offensive lineman Thomas Parsons to the fullback position. This experiment seemed to work well, as Parsons was effective getting to the defenders and blocking them.
We also had our most effective power running game yet. It's hard to know if that's because Parsons was added to the I-formation roster or if it's just because we were playing overmatched competition. However, I think it's worth pointing out that we rushed more than 100 yards more against Tulane than we did against UL-Lafayette, with a higher yard per attempt average as well.
By the numbers, LSU had 267 yards rushing, though Stevan Ridley's 73 rushing yards on the final drive of the game perhaps skews that number a little. Then again, Charles Scott had his most effective game of the season, rushing for 112 yards and 2 touchdowns. All together, LSU had 455 total yards, plus a ton of punt return yards.
Jordan Jefferson also had a pretty nice game, averaging over 9 yards per attempt and throwing two nice touchdown passes to Brandon Lafell, who had 85 yards receiving on 4 catches. Things didn't look good for him early, as he took a quick sack and then threw an interception, but he rebounded to have a very productive day.
And what to say about the defense? It was LSU's first shutout since beating Middle Tennessee State 44-0 on September 15, 2007.
At first blush, it was not exactly a dominating performance. Tulane had 216 total yards, including two substantially long drives, one of which ended in a missed field goal and the other of which ended in an interception. Tulane got nothing going on the ground, however, getting credit for only 26 rushing yards on 20 attempts, helped along by 3 sacks of Ryan Griffin for -22 yards.
Tulane's passing game was a little better, averaging just over 5 yards per attempt. It's not surprising that senior wide receiver Jeremy Williams was Tulane's most effective offensive player, with 78 yards receiving and 21 yards rushing. He probably has an NFL future. Andre Anderson led Tulane in rushing with 27 yards, but averaged only 2.5 yards per attempt.
Tulane was able to have some of its most successful plays when they exploited our aggressiveness with screens or dump-offs. LSU will sometimes have problems chasing down a running back, particularly when they flare out to the left side of our defensive line. The left-side defensive end triumvirate of Pep Levingston, Lavar Edwards, and Chancey Aghayere just don't seem to be quick enough to keep up with a running back who gets a release to the outside, and those plays sometimes get big yards. It's been going on since the Washington game.
Kelvin Sheppard had another outstanding game. It's hard to say that there's a "great" linebacker out there for us, but Kelvin Sheppard, Harry Coleman, and Perry Riley sure seem to work very well together as a group, and they are productive as all get out. We may not have one Rolando McClain or Brandon Spikes out there, but we have 3 very good linebackers who do a lot of good for us.
Special teams did not get much action against Tulane, but we did get a nice blocked punt by Daniel Graff and a couple nice returns on punts from Trindon Holliday. Trindon sometimes struggles to be productive in the SEC, but when we face a weaker team, Holliday usually gashes them. He has been a useful and productive player for us over the years, but he could have become a legend in the Sun Belt or another conference.
It was great to see the second team get some time in the game. I think this was the first time all season the 2nd team offensive line got a chance. They got in the game with the ball on the 2 yard line and they opened rushing lanes for Stevan Ridley all the way down the field, for one of the most impressive touchdown drives in recent LSU history. Jarrett Lee completed 2 passes along the way on that drive, one to Reuben Randle and the other to John Williams, who I think was seeing his first game action of his career. Another pass was in the direction of Chris Tolliver, who was well-covered.
Defensively, we saw a lot of 2nd team cornerback Morris Claiborne, who is definitely the most surprising member of the freshman class. He got into the game in place of Patrick Peterson long before other starters were subbed out. They are clearly grooming him for important playing time next year, perhaps as Chris Hawkins' replacement on the other side of Peterson.
Richard Dickson went down with a scary-looking injury in the first half, but returned later in the game. As far as I can tell, we escaped the with no significant injury to any player. That satisfies me.
Obviously, things ramp up a bit this week.

Behind the Numbers: LSU v Auburn

Poseur — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:20:05 -0000

Before we move forward to Tulane, one last look at the Auburn game with this week's Behind the Numbers.

21/4.5/2.0. Kelvin Sheppard and Harry Coleman's combined tackles/tackles for a loss/sack defensive lines. Over the past few years, the one consistent criticism of LSU's defense has been that of the linebacker play. Even the best LSU defenses seemed to lack a dominant linebacker. Harry Coleman had a spectacular game, forcing a fumble on both of his sacks and forcing an incompletion that was very close to a third fumble. But Kelvin Sheppard was everywhere. Coleman made the highlight reel plays, but Sheppard made what seemed like every other play. Both of these linebackers had simply outstanding games. If I would have told you that linebacker would be a team strength in the preseason, would you have believed me?

1/9. Auburn's third down conversions in the first three quarters. Auburn turned it around a bit in the fourth and finally got their fourth down act together against the second stringers, but LSU's defense dominated on third down. LSU's defense, unlike against Florida, stopped drives.

9-86-1. Terrance Toliver's receiving numbers. He has become Jordan Jefferson's go to receiver. Brandon LaFell had a few key drops in the game (and still had a nice game), but Toliver caught 9 of Jefferson's 22 completions. His longest catch was only 14 yards, so a lot of those catches were those security blanket type of catches. Short catches for positive gains.

11-26. Charles Scott and Keiland Williams combined rushing numbers. That is not good, especially when you consider Scott gained 8 yards on his first carry. From that point on, LSU's running backs gained 18 yards on 10 carries, 9 of them by Scott. Guh.

4 for 5. Red zone efficiency has been a problem all year, so getting four scores on five trips to the red zone is major progress. Three of the four scores were touchdowns, which is even more progress. Looking ahead, LSU will need this kind of efficiency to beat Bama.

LSU 31 - Washington 23: My Final Thoughts Before Moving On to Vandy

Richard Pittman — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:47:52 -0000

by John Froschauer - AP

3 months ago: Washington's Chris Polk carries the ball as LSU's Lazarius Levingston (95) pursues the play during the first half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, in Seattle, 2009. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

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I watched the game again, and because I was watching it on the ESPNU replay, they didn't cut away to Rece Davis in the studio, and instead I got to see Terrence Toliver's first touchdown, from the beginning of the play. It was great.

Anyway, on second viewing, some of the things we've talked about already came into somewhat sharper focus. Defensively, we just did not cover the other team well enough in the middle of the field. Usually, if the opponent was on the outside against Peterson, Eugene, or Hawkins, we had pretty solid coverage. Even when Riley had man coverage way on the outside and down the field, the coverage was there. Jake Locker's a really good quarterback, and sometimes he made a perfect throw, and there's nothing that can be done about that other than generate a better pass rush. If the receiver was in the middle of the field in a safety's or linebacker's zone though, he was usually wide open.

In the running game, Washington had a lot of success when they ran misdirection or counters. This tells me that our defensive front seven was playing very aggressively but without much discipline. This is also seen when we would rush the passer and leave big holes for Locker to run through.

You can't really point out any player who didn't perform. Every defender made a play or two, particularly in the linebacker corps. I think you can point to Rahim Alem and say that he should have gotten a better pass rush and you could say that Chad Jones and the three-man rotation at safety (Danny McCray, Brandon Taylor, Karnell Hatcher) was pretty much invisible. And you'd be right.

On second viewing, I saw Josh Downs out there a good bit, and while his play is drawing praise, I can't really say he made any more plays than Charles Alexander or Drake Nevis made (both of whom made plays). He looked like he belonged, but did not look like he stood out. I also say Chancey Aghayere and Lavar Edwards on the ends a fair bit. I never saw Chase Clement or any of members of the Class of 2009 other than Downs.

The linebackers were solid in the running game. Kelvin Sheppard was not a starter, but seemed to get as much time as the other starters other than Harry Coleman, who was in the game for virtually every play as far as I could tell. Other than Cutrera's interception and Riley's nice coverage on a wheel route, the linebackers were pretty much invisible in the passing game.

Offensively, I think I can diagnose the problem with the power running game. It was the offensive line. The holes just weren't there. Charles Scott ran as hard as ever, and when there was a hole he got through it. If the problem was on the center-left guard I would be very concerned, as these are new starters T-Bob Hebert and Josh Dworaczyk. However, it seemed to be the line as a whole, which tells me it may just be a game-specific thing. We get another chance against a defensive front seven we should be able to overmatch next week when we play Vandy. We'll see how that goes.

When we ran option or ran to the outside, we had a lot of success. Jordan Jefferson really runs the option well. He did not make one bad decision in the outside zone or the inside zone when deciding whether to keep the ball or give it up. That's not to say every decision was right. He certainly needs to avoid taking big hits.

The passing game could not have been more basic. At no time did we try to get the ball down the field to an outside receiver, except for Lafell's touchdown. We ran a lot of short passes, passes to running backs, and a couple of throws to the tight end. Early in the game, Jefferson was not particularly accurate, but he settled down and started hitting his targets.

One area I would like to see an athletic, mobile quarterback like Jefferson improve is in his ability to make a play when the protection breaks down. Sometimes, when the protection wasn't there, Jefferson would scramble around but he never made a play. He just bought himself time to get rid of the ball. Maybe the receivers couldn't break open or something else was going wrong, but probably the biggest difference between Locker and Jefferson was that when the play broke down, Locker was able to make something positive happen while Jefferson generally had to just unload the ball out of bounds.

Our special teams play, other than our punting was pretty solid, I thought. Our kickoff coverage was good, and at no time did Washington threaten to break a long one. The kickoff return game took advantage of pooch kicks to get really good field position. We didn't miss a field goal attempt or get a penalty on a return. If we can get better distance on punts, I think special teams will be good.

Poll

Who was the Player of the Game for LSU?

Patrick Peterson

112 votes

Jordan Jefferson

36 votes

Terrence Toliver

100 votes

Other

8 votes

256 votes | Poll has closed

Fans Will Be Watching LSU Defense

Richard Pittman — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:30:18 -0000

With the season fast approaching, I was trying to think of good topics to discuss to help you, the viewer, watch the right things and know what you're watching. Yesterday, I talked about the defensive line. Billy Gomilla helped me out and posted a nice piece on our wide receivers that actually used [gasp!] data. I was trying to come up with the next topic in this little pseudo-series, and I was thinking about the linebackers and the defensive backs, and the special teams units, and the reserves, and it finally occurred to me that the entire defense is one giant, barely differentiated topic of conversation that has been sadly neglected.

The whole defense is changing. Not only do we have a new defensive coordinator, but it is possible that literally none of the opening night starters from the 2008 season will be opening night starters at the same position in 2009. All four defensive line starters are gone, as are middle linebacker Darry Beckwith and free safety Curtis Taylor. Starting strong safety Harry Coleman is now starting strongside linebacker Harry Coleman. Former strongside linebacker Perry Riley is now weakside linebacker Perry Riley. Former weakside linebacker Kelvin Sheppard is battling Jacob Cutrera for the middle linebacker job and is backing up Harry Coleman at strongside. The two starting cornerbacks against Appalachian State in 2008 are now battling each other to start on the other side of Patrick Peterson in 2009. Former dime-back/linebacker/rover Chad Jones is now just a free safety. No one knows who the strong safety will be.

It's massive wholesale changes in personnel and in scheme. It's like starting over, and that's not a bad thing given the results last year, which were miserable on the defensive side of the ball.

I wish I knew what to tell you to expect. It's all a mystery for right now. I'll tell you what I'm looking for, but it seems so basic, like any fan could make the same list if they just sat and thought about it.

1. The pass rush, both in a base set and in a blitz. Last season, despite having one of the best sack artists in the conference along with a top 5 overall NFL draft pick on the defensive line, we pretty much failed to get any sort of a pass rush except when we sold out and brought in our "Express" package of 4 defensive ends, and we were still only 6th in the league in tackling the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage. Even blitzes seemed to consistently fail to disrupt the opponent's passing game. This was a contributing factor to a miserable pass defense. This year, with [all together now] an entirely new defensive coaching staff, the most obvious place to look for immediate dividends is at the pass rush. You don't have to get sacks to have an effective pass rush. Making a quarterback throw the ball away is almost as good as a sack. A good pass rush can contribute to an interception or a tipped pass. A good pass rush can help you in so many ways, that it's no wonder our defense was so ineffective without one. I'm interested to see how we do in obvious passing situations, as well as how we do in less obvious passing situations.

2. Zone or Man? And who are the blitzers? John Chavis is definitely known as a zone guy, and I see no indication that he is going to change his general tendencies. The man knows zone. He has made his name on zone. Like most fans, I have a hard time getting excited about zone, but you don't go out and buy a Cadillac so you take it off-roading. Bringing in Chavis to run an aggressive man-to-man scheme unlike what he's had success with in the past would be foolish. Let the man run zone, but mix it up a bit too.

People misconstrue a zone. They think that playing a zone means playing passively, and that just isn't true. In a Chavis zone, the idea is to get the ball into the air and then to go get the ball. Chavis's defense picked off 17 passes last year and scored 4 defensive touchdowns off of interceptions. LSU's picked off 8, and did not score. Man defense is aggressive in the secondary before the ball is thrown. Zone defense is aggressive after it is thrown.

Plus, playing zone does not preclude blitzing. It merely changes how you do a blitz. Sometimes, you pull a defensive end back into a zone and overload the opposite side with rushers. That is, obviously, a "zone blitz" and if it works right you will have one offensive lineman not blocking anyone (essentially taking him off the field and forcing the offense to play with 10 players) while one or more rusher on the other side of the field comes free. If that's a speedy safety or a corner, all the better. With more speed on the field, I expect to see blitzes coming from a lot of directions.

3. Will we punish receivers? In a year that was frustrating in a lot of ways, one of the frustrating things that went relatively unnoticed was the fact that opposing receivers, and in particular the tight ends, could catch passes over the middle without any fear of taking a big hit. Case in point, the first play of this highlight reel of the game against South Carolina:

I think that's something that's going to change. The zone defense, with its aggressive-after-the-ball-is-in-the-air philosophy will make sure that receivers who go over the middle to catch passes have to pay a price for it. The linebackers and the safeties will be looking to light up some receivers. And if you watched Demetrius Byrd towards the end of last year, you know what getting hit hard can do to a receiver. It can make him not want to catch passes. Not all will actually act on that impulse, but the thought affects some receivers. Plus, it looks cool on TV.

4. Will players be rotated in and out as much? More? In 2008 and in previous years, LSU has fairly extensively rotated defensive linemen in and out of the game, but except for bringing in nickel- and dime-packages, linebackers and defensive backs remained more-or-less constant unless injury required a shift. I wonder if that will change. Will we see Brandon Taylor and Karnell Hatcher rotate at safety? Will we see Ryan Baker get an opportunity to play in the base defense in meaningful snaps?

5. Will Patrick Peterson, Perry Riley, and Chad Jones be as good as advertised? The question pretty much says it all, there.

Class of 2009: LB Kevin Minter

Richard Pittman — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:00:10 -0000

via image.cdnl3.xosnetwork.com

Linebacker Kevin Minter from Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee, Georgia, was an early enrollee at LSU, and so has been at LSU since Spring Practice. This is a player I seriously considered giving "headliner" status to, but ultimately I am going to be conservative and simply call him a solid player.

When Kevin Minter committed, it was not exactly earth-shattering news. He was a 3-star on Rivals and a low 4-star on Scout, from 3 states away from Louisiana. He had gotten very little if any press, and no one believed he was a make or break prospect. That is, until we all watched the film.

Here is what I said of Kevin Minter at the time of his commitment:

Probably my favorite defensive commitment so far is 3-star linebacker Kevin Minter from Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee, Georgia. I think Rivals has him criminally underrated. Scout lists him as a 4-star and the #5 rated middle linebacker in the country, which is more appropriate. To me, he looks just about as good as Ryan Baker does, and he was almost a 5-star according to Rivals. Minter has the size, at 6'0" and 220#. He also has athleticism, as seen in his video where he skies to knock a pass out of the air. He is aggressive. Blockers don't seem to discourage him at all. When he finds a target, he goes after it full speed, and no obstacle stays in his way long. It would not at all surprise me to see Minter's stock rise as the season goes on. I know that USC (the one in California) wanted him bad, and when USC is willing to recruit a guy all the way out in Georgia, he must be pretty darn good. It's best not to get too hung up in ratings. I know the coaches ignore them, but you want a kid to get his due.

I was not the only person to see more in Kevin Minter than what his ratings would suggest. Here is what Scott Kennedy said of Minter's performance at the Georgia state championships:

A question I get every year about the games in the dome is "if you could take one player, who would it be?" For the Dome games of 2008, I'd have to say it would be Peachtree Ridge and LSU Commitment Kevin Minter. Minter was everywhere on defense for the Lions. He's got size, speed, instincts "want-to", everything Scouts look for in a linebacker. If he continues to play on the next level the way he played his senior season, he'll be a star for the Tigers of LSU.

This event included many Division 1 and BCS level prospects, including those going to Georgia, Georgia Tech, and South Carolina, plus fellow LSU signee Drayton Calhoun. Kennedy singled out Minter for the high praise of "If [I] could take one player," it would be Kevin Minter. This is a very exciting prospect, who could end up at middle linebacker or at outside linebacker for the Tigers.

If there is one area of performance you cannot see in his film and would like to know more about, it is his performance in coverage in the passing game. This is not at all unusual at all for a linebacker to not have this in his film. Linebacker film tends to focus on big hits and disruptions rushing the passer. They do not often focus on a linebacker covering a running back or tight end. It's just not as fun for the typical recruiting watcher. Personally though, I like to see it just because I know how important it is at the next level. You cannot play linebacker at a place like LSU until you become at least semi-competent at playing pass coverage.

His extra semester and his participation in Spring Practice will be big for Minter. It would not shock me if he breaks into the two-deep this year. We have 5 experienced linebackers in Jacob Cutrera, Harry Coleman, Perry Riley, Kelvin Sheppard, and Ryan Baker. We also have redshirt freshman Kyle Prater returning, plus incoming freshmen Barkevious Mingo, Lamin Barrow, and possibly Tahj Jones. Barring injury, there may be no need to play Minter, but his future is very bright and there will be lots of room for a new linebacker in the lineup next year and if Minter is at the head of the line going for those open positions, he will probably play to get some experience this year.

5 Keys To A Successful Season, Bonus Edition #2: The Last of Saban's Recruits

Richard Pittman — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:42:37 -0000

Do they not make these people shave for these pictures? Come on Coleman! They used to make people wear suits for their roster pictures.

Way back before the 2007 season, Nick Saban was hired at Alabama, and I was (and still am, for that matter) a resident of Tuscaloosa. I cannot tell you how many times in the next 18 months I defended Les Miles only to hear the retort, "But he is doing it with Nick Saban's recruits." In 2007, many a Bama fan discovered the world of recruiting, and they've been obsessed by it ever since.

Well, it's now 2009, and 4 full seasons have passed since Nick Saban last walked a sideline wearing purple and gold, and one might be tempted to think that the spectre of "But he is doing it with Nick Saban's recruits" has passed. You would be partly wrong. Sure, the roster is mostly made up of people from the 2005 class and beyond, all of whom gave Les Miles their Letter of Intent, but if you look back on Nick Saban's last recruiting class at LSU, the 2004 class, two names will stick out at you as still being on the LSU roster: Harry Coleman and Charles Alexander.

Coleman was a "greyshirt" in 2004, meaning he delayed his enrollment for a semester and actually counted towards the 2005 class. He was never actually coached by Nick Saban, but he turned in a signed Letter of Intent to Nick Saban, so I guess he still counts. He redshirted in 2005, then was a special teams monster for a while before taking over for Craig Steltz at safety. He had a tough year at safety last year and has since moved to linebacker.

Charles Alexander has had an injury-filled career at defensive tackle. He redshirted in 2004, so he was actually coached by Nick Saban. He lost most of two subsequent years to injury, including most of the 2007 national championship year. He was granted a 6th year of eligibility by the NCAA and so is back now for his second senior year.

Both of these players will have significant roles on the 2009 team. Coleman appears to be the starting strongside linebacker in the John Chavis system. He was actually listed as a linebacker when he was signed, but moved to safety because he is and was a "tweener". Just a little big for a safety but small for a linebacker. While he was outstanding in the BCSNCG after the 2007 season, I believe last year proved he was not ideally suited for safety. The new defensive staff moved him to linebacker where he will increase the speed on the field.

Alexander was a force in 2007 before he was injured. Everyone remembers how that defense struggled after the chop block on Glenn Dorsey, but people forget that the truly dominating efforts ceased after Alexander was hurt. We outscored our first two opponents that year by a combined 93-7 before Alexander got hurt. We mauled MTSU, but after that the games tightened up a lot, and I attribute a lot of that to the loss of Alexander, who was a great blocker-occupying defensive tackle beside Glenn Dorsey, allowing Dorsey to run free a little more.

Last year, we saw a version of Charles Alexander that probably was not ready to come back and play. He started, but was largely ineffective. Charles Alexander will probably have a smaller role. It is not expected that he will be a starter. He will likely be the third defensive tackle in the rotation, behind senior Al Woods and junior Drake Nevis. The staff is going to try to protect him because he has had so many problems. If he stays healthy, I would expect his role to increase as the season progresses. At his best, Charles Alexander is just too good to hold back.

The "Winning with Saban's recruits" label is somewhat tongue-in-cheek here. Obviously, the bulk of this team is Miles' guys. These two will play their roles, however, and they will be important players to the success of this team. Harry Coleman will be asked to play a lot of roles, from run-stuffing to covering wide receivers, with probably an occasional blitz thrown in. Alexander will at least provide depth at defensive tackle, if he stays healthy, and may be our starter by seasons' end when the games get bigger.

5 Keys To A Successful Season, Part 4: The Revamped Secondary

Richard Pittman — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:30:08 -0000

I think everyone can point to the two biggest things that went wrong with the 2008 season. [Aside: I would say there were three things that went wrong; the two usually named things, and a very inconsistent pass rush.] In the coaches' quest to exorcise the demons of 2008, they have been forced to make a lot of changes to the secondary, which was, of course, one of the two things that went horribly wrong in 2008.

The opening game of the 2008 season saw a starting secondary of RCB Jai Eugene, FS Curtis Taylor, SS Harry Coleman, and LCB Chris Hawkins, with Danny McCray at the nickel and Chad Jones as sort of a utility player. Only one of those players was a senior, but there is no guarantee any of them will see significant snaps in the same role for the 2009 season.

The opening night lineup of the 2009 season will see Patrick Peterson at one corner position and Chad Jones at free safety. These are two very athletic and very promising players, but after this the spots are open for competition, and it is anyone's guess who will occupy the nickel and dime back positions, or if those positions will even exist as we currently understand them.

We have been over the secondary is great detail once before in this offseason,and I won't repeat those articles here except to the extent I already have. You can go back and read Part 1 and Part 2 of the Spring Preview: The Secondary series. Some of that information is quite outdated (Phelon Jones transferred and Harry Coleman is definitely a linebacker now). But for the most part the information we had back in March is still solid today, and we'll do a formal update on the position after Fall camp starts.

Suffice it to say that there have been wholesale changes in the coaching and in the personnel in the secondary. If one was being uncharitable, one might compare it to a game of poker in which we did not like the hand we were dealt and so we reshuffled the cards and dealt a new one. I prefer to think of it as learning from mistakes.

I don't know who will start at strong safety, but I was a HUGE fan of Karnell Hatcher's play in spot duty last year. The other prime candidate for the position is Ron Brooks, who got the most press of any up-and-coming player in the Spring. Danny McCray certainly isn't conceding the race, and he is the most experienced safety we have who isn't moving to linebacker. Plus he's actually well-suited for the role of strong safety, where he was not well-suited for his prior role as nickel back.

At corner it appears to be a battle between last year's starters, Jai Eugene and Chris Hawkins, but I would keep an eye out on true sophomore Brandon Taylor, who impressed the heck out of the coaches in practice as a true freshman and figures to be in line to improve as much or more than anyone on the team from last season to this season.

Whatever the personnel groupings, the unit absolutely has to play better than it did last year. I don't mean, "they have to play better in order for us to win." I mean there is no possible way they couldn't play better, as they played so poorly last year. Some of the worst passing teams in the conference looked competent against us. For example, Chris Todd of auburn went 17 for 32 for 250 yards against us (OK, he had 2 interceptions). Tyson Lee went 17 for 26 for 165 yards. Stephen Garcia went 14 of 26 for 215 yards.

Don't ask what the good passing teams did to us.

It's hard to do worse than that. Hopefully with more suitable personnel groupings and fresh coaching, the situation in the secondary will right itself. Taking Danny McCray off of the slot receiver almost can't help but improve the defense.

Offseason reports have Patrick Peterson and Chad Jones reportedly ready to blow up into the All-America calibre players they were recruited to be. I am always skeptical of offseason hype machines, but we will have to see. We should be finding out a lot more about this in the coming weeks. If those two are really that good at their respective positions, a huge negative could become a huge positive.

2009 CFN LSU Preview, Part 3

Richard Pittman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:17:07 -0000

I swear this will be the last installment of this series, as I think we've milked it about as much as the audience will tolerate. Yesterday, we talked about the 10 best players on the team and the schedule. The day before, we talked about Jordan Jefferson, the defensive coaches, and the high-profile incoming freshmen. Today, let's get into some other topics. Again, the links are preview, offense, defense.

On Charles Scott:

Senior Charles Scott broke free from the running-back-by-committee backfield to rush for 1,174 yards and 18 touchdowns averaging 5.4 yards per carry. The 5-11, 233-pound senior is extremely quick with a great burst and excellent power. He ran for 95 yards or more in eight of the first ten games, and then everyone loaded up on him and the production tailed off. Even so, he's plugger who's always falling forward and is unstoppable around the goal line. He can also catch a bit with eight grabs for 67 yards, and he's not a bad blocker.

...

Watch Out For ... Scott to score 25 times. While there's enough talent in the backfield to keep a steady rotation going, Scott is the star of the show and he's the proven producer who can can control games and take the pressure off the passing game. He's also tremendous when it comes to getting into the end zone, and he'll be one of the nation's leading scorers.

I don't see 25 touchdowns happening. I actually think Scott will get fewer carries this year than he got last year, because I think we will distribute the ball a lot more between the top 4 running backs than we did last year. Keiland Williams was supposed to share the load with Scott early in the year, but he really struggled and his carries did not come. He did not run very hard it seemed; he was too tentative. Later in the season, he came on pretty strong, averaging over 7 yards per carry against Arkansas and Georgia Tech, and having a really good game against Bama. I think Keiland's going to earn more carries this year than last year.

Richard Murphy is another that could earn more carries. A proposed breakout star for the last two years running, no one is really talking about Murphy after his very weak season last year, but this is the same kid who showed flashes of brilliance as a freshman, averaging about 7 yards per touch.

The coaches love Stevan Ridley, and he got some garbage-time carries last year. He is not healthy right now, and who knows if he will get healthy, but if he is at 100% at the start of the season, his workload is likely to increase at least a little, taking more carries away from Charles Scott.

Then there are the quarterbacks, Jordan Jefferson and Russell Shepard. We know that they liked to run with Jefferson when he was in the game, and while they may cut down on his rate of planned running plays, he is not going to be a part-time player this year. He's going to be playing full time, and I would expect them to probably call about 5 planned runs per game with him. We're still not sure how they're going to use Shepard, but his wheels are just going to be too good not to use.

My tentative prediction is that, barring injuries, the coaches will give the ball to Charles Scott about 170 times, down from 217 last year. What they may do as well is give him the ball more in the passing game. Scott's a pretty good pass-catcher. He caught 12 passes in 2007, when he was a much smaller part of the offense than he was in 2008, when he only caught 8 passes.

On Linebackers:

Step one is replacing Darry Beckwith in the middle, and the Tigers have their man in Jacob Cutrera, a 6-4, 236-pound senior who was a key backup over the last few years and got two starts finishing with 33 tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss. He had a tremendous spring showing great toughness and enough range to be the leader and the anchor of the corps to work around. He has been groomed for this job for the last three years and he appears to be ready.

Is Harry Coleman really going to be the starter on the outside? The team's leading tackler, who made 71 tackles with seven broken up passes, was tried out in the linebacking corps this spring and he might be the main man after showing tremendous toughness on the strongside and good range on the weakside. A monster hitter and strong enough to handle the job despite being 6-2 and 205 pounds, he's not starting from scratch having played linebacker in high school. As good as he is, he might move back to safety from time to time just to get all the linebacker prospects on the field.

...

Strength: Tacklers. If Coleman is a linebacker, the corps will have the team's top three tacklers from last year in Coleman, Sheppard, and Riley. The linebackers don't miss many plays and they'll be all over the field doing a variety of things under the new coaches.
Weakness: Pass coverage. It's not a glaring problem, but it could stand to be better. The addition of Coleman would help change that up in a real hurry, and it would be nice if there were more broken up passes and tighter coverage on short to midrange plays.
Outlook: The position should be the star of the show. This isn't the most talented linebacking corps LSU has had, but there are producers all across the unit with Curtera about to blossom into a force and with Coleman, Sheppard, and Riley all possible all-stars. This could end up being the team's biggest strength as the season goes on.
Rating: 9

We talked about Perry Riley yesterday, so I omitted the discussion of him here.

Like a lot of people who will read the CFN preview, I think this is gloriously optimistic. The linebacking corps did not make a lot of headlines for LSU last year. Nor did Harry Coleman. Again, it is possible that the coaching situation did not get all that it could out of the group in 2008, but I'm going to have to see it turn around for myself before I'm going to go around rating our linebackers a 9 on a scale of 10.

Just for comparison. CFN rated Alabama's linebacking group as a 9 out of 10, and I just can't see giving LSU's linebackers the same grade.

On the Offensive Line:

Watch Out For ... the battle at center. Lonergan was great this spring and looks the part as a leader and quarterback of the front five. However, Hebert will need to find a space when healthy. It's a good problem to have, considering either one can move to guard, but it should end up being a good battle for the job this fall.
Strength: Durability. LSU didn't have to change its starting five once, with all the starters going from pillar to post. While it's asking a lot to get the same injury luck two years in a row, Black, Hitt, and Barksdale are rocks to build around. However, because of the durability of last year's front five ...
Weakness: Proven depth. This was supposed to be a problem two years ago, and last year, and it wasn't. There are a slew of redshirt freshmen needing to shine and players like Hurst and Parsons have to be productive, but there's a massive drop-off from the ones to the twos.
Outlook: Disappointing last year, the pass protection was mediocre and the run blocking was fine, but nothing special. This year's line has plenty of talent with Black and Barksdale a nice tackle pair, and Hitt a great blocker who should get more attention. This might not be a dominant front five, but it'll be great at times.
Rating: 8

Let me just ask this question. Is there any college football team that has a wealth of proven depth on the offensive line? Teams don't sub out offensive linemen all that much, and it's a position that always suffers a lot of attrition. There aren't a whole lot of teams out there that have multiple offensive linemen with real experience on the bench.

OK, enough of picking on the obvious. I don't really think there's a "battle at center" unless T-Bob Hebert is not healthy yet from his torn ligament suffered in the middle of the 2008 season. By all accounts, Hebert was the #1 guy in Spring despite being slowed by the injury

If there is a real weakness on this unit, it is probably size. Replacing Herman Johnson with Josh Dworaczyk is a big downgrade in size. It may be an upgrade in quickness, and size is not everything in life, but this will be a much smaller unit as a whole than it was last year. T-Bob is also a fair bit smaller than Brett Helms was (I'm not sure I believe LSUsports.net's listing of 282 pounds for him).

This will be a different unit than it has been the last couple years. Who knows? It may be a better unit, but it will not be able to rely strictly on bulk on the left side this year.

That's all for this series. Tune in next time.