SB Nation - Chris Hawkins

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.

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)

Browse more photos »

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.

Now THAT Is What I'm Talking About

Poseur — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:22:07 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

about 1 month ago: LSU quarterback Russell Shepard (10) out races to the endzone in the second half against Auburn in an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009. Shepard scored on a 69-yard run. Celebrating in the background is LSU cornerback Jai Eugene (4). (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Browse more photos »

On LSU's first play from scrimmage, Charles Scott rushed for 8 yards up the middle of Auburn's defense. It was at this exact moment, you could sense that this was a different LSU team. OK, Scott was unable to keep the running game going, but the offense came out attacking. There was no confusion before each snap, the team simply lined up and executed.

Jordan Jefferson, especially, looked terrific. Forget about his numbers for a second (21-31, 242 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT), Jefferson looked comfortable in the pocket. He didn't take absurdly deep drops. He stood in the pocket, stepped up, and threw the ball with authority. He looked off the safety and even appeared to progress through his reads. He didn't just lock on one guy and force the ball in there. Even when his receivers let him down with some drops, Jefferson never got flustered, he just kept doing good things and good things happened in turn.

Was it a perfect performance? Of course not. The running game disappeared. Once again, the LSU offense decided to take an entire quarter off (this time, it was the second quarter instead of the third, just trying to keep us on our toes).

The difference is that the mistakes didn't result in Auburn points and LSU kept scoring. Every team makes mistakes. Anyone who says differently is lying to you. There is no such thing as a perfect team. You might as well root for a unicorn. What makes a team good, or even great, is either minimizing mistakes or working through those mistakes.

LSU's offense may have looked ragged in the second quarter, but it did not matter. Because the defense was downright awesome. Before we get to how great the defense was, let's also note that LSU second quarter still resulted in 3 points, and the team did move the ball effectively on two drives, the field goal drive as time expired and the first drive which resulted in a fumble at the goalline.

The fact LSU had four drives in the second quarter is a testament to the defense. Against Florida, LSU had two bad drives and the quarter was over because the defense could not get a stop. Yes, Florida didn't score, but they dominated possession and it made it impossible for the offense to work through its struggles. Against Auburn, while the offense struggled, the defense dominated.

Auburn did not have drive in the first half that lasted more than 6 plays. In the second quarter, Auburn gained a mere 22 yards for 2 first downs. Oh, and they turned the ball over twice (seriously, how amazing was Chris Hawkins' interception?). LSU may have been struggling, but Auburn was positively dormant.

LSU then started off the third quarter with the ball, drove down the field in four plays, and the game was essentially over right then and there. You can pretty much throw out the entire second half from that point on, as the defense stopped attacking and went to more of a bend don't break style. They bent a little, but didn't break until Auburn scored on the final play of the game.

This was a dominating win coming at the exact right time of the season. I'd rather LSU be playing its best football in late October and November than in early October and September. Alabama struggled mightily against Tennesee and looked vulnerable for the second straight week.

We've been talking all season that LSU still controls their own destiny in the SEC, despite their struggles. This was the first week where LSU looked ready to seize that destiny. The team improved greatly, but it still needs to improve more. this game was a phenomenal building block, but it was still a building block.

In two weeks, LSU travels to Bama to essentially play for the SEC West title. It couldn't happen at a better time. It's graduation day.

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.

Big Games On the Schedule, Part 5, 11/28 Arkansas

Richard Pittman — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:55:46 -0000

via assets.nydailynews.com

Hehe.. assets.

Inner Butthead is now purged. We move along. The last "big game" on the schedule is the last game on the schedule. The Arkansas Razorbacks were one of the worst teams not only in the conference but in all of FBS football at the beginning of last year, barely surviving against FCS opponents Western Illinois and UL-Monroe, beating both in close, hard-fought, not-decided-until-the-final-moments games. They were then beaten to a bloody mess by Alabama, Texas, and Florida.

But by the Florida game, they were showing signs of life. The game was reasonably close going into the 4th quarter. Alright, 17-7 is not exactly a nail-biter but it's not terrible. A bad 4th quarter turned a respectable showing into a 38-7 drubbing, but by this time running back Michael Smith had emerged as one of the very best runners in the conference despite being a tiny 5'7" 175#. A very young team that was playing a lot of freshmen was starting to get better.

From this point on, Arkansas was a legitimate team. They would still have some stumbles along the way, losing to Mississippi State and Kentucky (the loss to Kentucky occurred in a game in which Michael Smith played very little due to injury), but they would beat Auburn and Tulsa and put a scare into Ole Miss. They would, of course, beat LSU to close out their season.

The 2009 Arkansas Razorbacks promise to be a good team, building on what they accomplished towards the end of last year. They are almost everyone's pick to be an SEC dark horse, so much so that it is really hard to say they're actually a dark horse rather than just a good team.

via www.hogcountryonline.com

If you are paying any attention at all to Arkansas, you know a bit about Ryan Mallett. He is the former big-time recruit from Texas who originally signed with Michigan and played one year there, eventually earning the starting job, albeit on a team that failed to reach a bowl game. After reports of homesickness trickled out early in his stay there and after Rich Rodriguez was hired, Mallett decided to bolt and move closer to home to Arkansas, where he was given a hero's welcome by newly hired head coach Bobby Petrino, who was quite understandably trying to find the heir apparent to Casey Dick.

Mallett is a big (6'7") strong-armed quarterback who is not likely to beat you with his legs. He is going to be a ball-distributor, which is perfect for the Petrino offensive philosophy. In fact, he may be the best quarterback talent that Petrino has ever coached.

He'll have a few targets to pass to. DJ Williams was one of the most productive receivers in the league last year as sort of a tight end/wide receiver hybrid. The rest of the receiver corps is a bit undersized, but productive. London Crawford is the biggest at 6'2" and the rest are below 6'0". They are small but quick receivers in the Tyrone Prothro mold.

If there's a weakness on offense, it will be on the line, where they struggled last year. Still, a young team gets better, and Bobby Petrino is an outstanding coach for whatever his personal failings may be.

Defensively, there are no big names there, but the unit made great strides towards the end of last year. Still, they were last in the league in scoring defense and total defense, and that will have to improve more than a little bit. A unit that ended up being surprisingly competent last year needs to find some difference-makers.

Look for Louisiana product Jerico Nelson to emerge as a very solid safety for this team. He's little, and for one reason or another the Tigers didn't really want him in the 2008 class, but he was an immediate contributor for Arkansas and could be an emerging star on this team.

Last year's game still leaves a bad taste in our mouths. Arkansas was a terrible defensive team, and in particular terrible against the run. Charles Scott should have been able to run wild on that team and get 6 yards a pop. Instead, he was mostly bottled up, averaging only 2.3 yards per carry. The problem was likely that the Tigers could not legitimately sell the pass as a big threat with true freshman Jordan Jefferson making his first start of his career and being used primarily in a running capacity until the end. It was a tough start to Jefferson's tenure as our starting quarterback and I'm sure he learned a lot from it.

Still, we were winning the game and on the verge of victory when our pass defense, pretty much a failure all year, did what it did best. It failed, giving up a long drive at the end, culminating in a 4th down pass to the end zone caught for a touchdown over Chris Hawkins, who was caught in one-on-one coverage. Even then we had a chance to win it at the end when we got good field position and needed only about 15 yards to have a legitimate shot at a game-winning field goal. A few ill-advised deep passes fell incomplete and we ended the game with a desperation field goal from the parking lot that did not make it.

This year, it's going to be a war. I suspect that by the end of the season both of these teams will be much better than they were at the end of last year. The game will also be on a Saturday night for the first time.. ever? Of course, since this is the last game of the season, this is the matchup we know the least about. It is the most likely to be affected by injuries or by players who improve over the course of the season. Right now, we wonder if Arkansas's run defense is going to improve from bad (notwithstanding their game against us) to OK or better. We wonder if LSU will have a good pass defense, and whether Arkansas will have more than one really good receiver.

This is the end of this little series. We will have more coverage later.

2009 CFN LSU Preview, Part 2

Richard Pittman — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:37:21 -0000

Yesterday, we discussed CFN's preview of LSU and how it pertained to the new defensive coaching staff, Jordan Jefferson, and a few incoming freshmen. Today, we look at a few more topics.

The 10 Best Players on the Team:

Ten Best Tiger Players
1. WR Brandon LaFell, Sr.
2. RB Charles Scott, Sr.
3. OT Ciron Black, Sr.
4. LB Perry Riley, Sr.
5. DE Rahim Alem, Sr.
6. TE Richard Dickson, Sr.
7. QB Jordan Jefferson, Soph.
8. DT Drake Nevis, Jr.
9. LB/S Harry Coleman, Sr.
10. CB Patrick Peterson, So.

Well, at least he didn't name an incoming freshman as one of our 10 best players.

I think 1 through 3 are right on, or at least I only disagree in their order. I would put Ciron ahead of Charles Scott, but if you asked me who the 3 best players on the team are, those are the three I would name. After that, we start getting into some murky waters on who *I* would name, but CFN pretty much goes off the rails with the #4 pick.

I happen to be quite fond of Perry Riley as a player. When he was a freshman getting mop-up duty, I saw glimpses of a budding star. Last year, as a junior, he finally got a chance to start, and the results were solid, but underwhelming. One of my general principles in observing player development is that "the player you are as a junior is probably the player you will be as a senior." By your junior year you have some experience on the field. You should know the system. Your body should be fully matured and you should be in the best shape you'l ever be in. I have no empirical data to back this up, but I firmly suspect that the vast majority of players in college football do not make great strides in their game between their junior and senior seasons.

This is no indictment of Perry Riley. I think he's a fine player and a solid linebacker for us. I just do not believe he is going to be in the same stratosphere with guys like Rennie Curran, Brandon Spikes, and Rolando McClain. And who knows? There's reason to believe that last year's team didn't get all it could get out of the linebackers. Maybe Perry Riley is a coiled spring ready to be released. Pete Fiutak seems to think so:

Best Defensive Player: Senior LB Perry Riley. DE Rahim Alem should be the team's star pass rusher and he should be an all-SEC selection, while tackle Drake Nevis could grow into the special player to build around. But it's Riley who has the size, range, and experience to be the biggest playmaker in the more aggressive system and he should be a stat-sheet filler on the outside in a veteran linebacking corps.

If this is true of Riley, then either he greatly improved in the offseason, or our defensive coaches were worse than we thought last year.

After Riley, the next two are very defensible. Rahim Alem is, after all, a returning 1st team All-SEC performer. Many people would place him even further up this list, perhaps even at #1. Richard Dickson is an experienced and consistently productive tight end whose blocking skills are greatly underrated in my opinion.

Here is also, though, where we get to an omission. We all know what kind of an athlete Chad Jones is. How many starting free safeties are also the best left-handed pitcher on his particular campus? And bat over .300? And can chase down Darren McFadden from behind? Yes, it's not like Chad Jones tore it up last year, but Fiutak has shown himself to not be shy about projecting great increases in production from year to year (see Riley, Perry). If you're going to project that sort of thing, Jones is the better candidate. It is widely acknowledged, even by Jones himself, that he was misused last year, moving from position to position between plays, confusing him and leading often to him being out of position or scrambling even to get on the field. With him parked at the free safety spot, a monster year can be expected of him.

After this, I think it becomes very difficult to differentiate between a number of possible candidates to add to the 10 best. Here is my list:

1. Brandon Lafell, Sr. WR
2. Ciron Black, Sr., OL
3. Charles Scott, Sr., RB
4. Rahim Alem, Sr., DE
5. Chad Jones, Jr., S
6. Richard Dickson, Sr., TE
7. Patrick Peterson, So., CB
8. Drake Nevis, Jr., DT
9. Lyle Hitt, Sr., OL
10. Perry Riley, Sr., LB

That's right. I put Perry Riley in the top 10 anyway, but really at this point you could have put Harry Coleman, Keiland Williams, Joseph Barksdale, Chris Hawkins, Jacob Cutrera, Josh Jasper, or even special teams sensation Ryan Baker.

On LSU's Schedule:

LSU isn't exactly extending itself in the non-conference slate, even though it's not the program's fault that Washington stinks. The SEC schedule is nasty with Georgia and Florida to deal with from the East, while trips to Alabama and Ole Miss in November could end any hopes of winning the SEC West. Holding serve at home, even against Florida and Auburn, will be a must with three road trips in four weeks down the stretch. The battle against the Gators on October 10th could be a preview of the SEC Championship

...

The season will be a success if ... LSU wins the SEC West. Just getting to Atlanta for the SEC title will require a war and a negotiation of landmines with road trips to Georgia, Alabama, and Ole Miss to deal with, along with home games against Florida and Auburn. But this is LSU, and to shoot for anything less than the SEC title is selling the team short after loading up with talented recruiting class after talented recruiting class.

Nov. 7 at Alabama. The Tigers can split against Georgia and Florida from the East and still win the West, but it'll take wins at Alabama and Ole Miss to get the job done. If they lose to the Tide, the game in Oxford will end up being to shake out the pecking order for the bowls. If they can beat their old head coach, Nick Saban, and get a little revenge after losing last year's thriller, then LSU will be in the thick of the SEC title hunt.

I will have a lot more thoughts on this particular subject later. It is pretty much unmistakable that our nonconference schedule (@Washington, UL-Lafayette, @Tulane, La Tech) is a sure 4 wins with probably not a game in there that will be closer than a 20 point differential. We also have what appears to be the toughest conference slate of anyone. (@Georgia, Florida, @Alabama, @Ole Miss). My quick thoughts on that are, a) I think Georgia is better than most people think, b) Florida is a tall order for this or any other team to beat, but at least we get them at home, c) Bama's offense is not going to be nearly as good as it was last year but the defense should be stellar barring injuries, and d) Ole Miss isn't sneaking up on anyone this time around.

Our other four conference games are Vandy, @Mississippi State, Auburn, Arkansas. Vandy should be halfway decent, but I don't think they're in our class. Mississippi State is going to struggle. I keep going back and forth on Auburn between thinking they'll be better than everyone expected and realizing that their head coach has a career 5-19 record. Arkansas is a very solid team who can and may beat anyone on their schedule, including us.

Its a difficult schedule, but every one of these games is winnable. We have 3 sets of 4 games. Four nonconference games that should not be particularly stressful. Four conference games against teams that are probably not as good as us, but we need to avoid let-downs to avoid upsets. Four conference games against very good teams. The key I think will be avoiding upsets against the 8 teams we really should beat. If we do that, we really have something to play for in the 4 games against really good teams.

That's all for today. We continue this series tomorrow with even more thoughts on the schedule and other topics.

LSU Preview

John Berkowitz — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:14:39 -0000

As the 2009 season approaches, Washington once again will have one of the toughest schedules in college football, starting the season with a bang as LSU visits to open the season on Sept 5. The Tigers are coming off a disappointing 8-5 season, but there is plenty of talent on the squad to make another serious run for a SEC West title. LSU may not be of the same caliber as a USC, but they are a solid top 15 pick heading into the season.

Sophomore Jordan Jefferson looks to have earned the starting QB spot this past spring. Jefferson is 6'4" and very mobile. He played in seven games last season, starting twice. The obvious highlight of his 2008 campaign was leading the Tigers to a 38-3 upset win over Georgia Tech in the season's finale. Jordan finished the 2009 season by connecting on 36 of 73 passes for 419 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception, He also rushed for 134 yards and one TD on 49 carries. The Tiger defense will be ready for Jake Locker, as they will practice against a similar player every day.

The running back position is loaded with talent, experience, and depth. The Tigers return three seniors who each can break a game open. LSU is led by Charles Scott, who rushed for over 1000 yards in 2008. Keiland Williams and Trindon Holliday provide plenty of experienced, quality depth, keeping defenses on their toes.

The wide receivers are led by Brandon LaFell, who tallied a team-leading 63 receptions last season. LaFell is an NFL-type talent who could have gone early in the 2009 pro football draft. Chris Mitchell, R.J. Jackson, Tim Molton, Chris Tolliver and five star recruit Ruben Randle will all push for playing time when the Tigers line up in three-and-four-wide sets. Randle will come in this fall with the ability to immediately start for the Tigers. Senior TE Richard Dickson returns and is a good bet to earn some post-season honors.

The Tigers' offensive line has the look of a rebuilding unit, as they lost three starters to graduation and the NFL. Bob Hebert, who was limited in 2009 spring drills due to a knee injury suffered during the 2008 season, will be the new starter at center. Josh Dworaczyk steps into the left guard spot, with Lyle Hitt returning for his senior year at right guard, plus Ciron Black and Joseph Barksdale teaming up to be one of the better tackle tandems in the SEC.

The key to the enduring success of the LSU football program under the regimes of both Les Miles and Nick Saban has been its defense. With all the growing that must take place on the offensive side of the ball in 2009, the defense will be counted on to pick up a lot of the early slack. LSU feels they have addressed this need by retooling its defensive staff in the form of three new assistant coaches.

The defensive line is rebuilding after losing their top five players to graduation in 2008. The Tigers return senior DE Rahim Alem , who led the SEC in sacks a year ago, and also got a boost from the NCAA when they granted DT Charles Alexander a sixth year of eligibility. Junior Pep Levingston and has taken hold of the defensive end spot this spring opposite Alem and it looks like he could be a player. He will most likely line up next to DT Drake Nevis. LSU is going to be challenged early up front this year because of the losses but they have a lot of talent in line that is just waiting for their first chances of getting into the rotation.

At linebacker the Tigers return Seniors Jacob Cutrera and Perry Riley, along with Jr. Kelvin Sheppard. All three have have all played a lot of football at LSU. Since LSU is bringing in a new DC expect some early growing pains as the talent adjust to the new schemes which were implemented last spring.

The Tigers are loaded at defensive back. CB Patrick Peterson and safety Chad Jones have All-American type talent. The other starting corner will likely be senior Chris Hawkins, who led the team with three interceptions and nine pass breakups a year ago. Pushing Hawkins and Peterson is junior Jai Eugene and sophomore Brandon Taylor, and they will more than likely battle for the nickel spot. Ron Brooks and Karnell Hatcher are battling it out for the starting spot at the other safety position.

Consensus

LSU is rebuiliding but not in the same sense that Washington is. The difference is that LSU has a solid pipeline of young talent that has been tutored to expect success.

The inexperience at QB is going to hurt them early in the season. On defense rebuilding the front four with a new DC is also going to cause some early growing pains.

Expect the Tigers to finish in the top 25 but they are realistically a year away from contending for a national championship unless their QB grows up in a hurry against the always tough SEC schedule.

How does UW match up?

Realistically Washington should be playing Nevada or Utah State to open the season and not a team like LSU. UW is however going to be catching the Tigers at home at probably the best time all season to play them. UW obviously comes in with an edge at QB and our young receivers should be able to match up well with LSU. The offensive line will have its hands full with the Tigers defensive front even though they are in rebuilding mode. UW's offensive line frankly doesn't cut it at this point and only recruiting, time, and talent will change that.

Defensively the Huskies get a break facing an inexperienced QB starting the season on the road. I expect improvement in every phase of the Husky defense this season which is easy to say because they were argualby the worst unit in the BCS last season.

Early Prediction

Washington should be able to hang with the Tigers early in this one. They should be fired up and playing over their heads in their nationally televised debut under new head coach Steve Sarkisian. Whenever you insert Jake Locker into the lineup it is a great equalizer to make up for a sup par offensive line. An enthusiastic full house to open the season should create quite a bit of excitement in Husky Stadium.

That being said overall talent and depth wins football games and sometime in the third quarter LSU should begin to pull away like so many teams such as Ohio State have done to UW in recent years. This one will be closer than expected but I am thinking pulls away and wins 31 - 21.

Questions Coming Out of Spring Practice

Richard Pittman — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:42:51 -0000

With Spring Practice Officially dead and buried, it is time to look at some of the questions we still have.

1. How will the revamped offensive line perform? Last year, the offensive line was one of the strengths of the team, as we ran well and generally protected the QB as much as it could be expected against SEC defenses. This year, we have to replace 2 of the veteran linemen in Brett Helms and Herman Johnson, both of whom will be in an NFL training camp. Coming out of Spring, it looks like their spots will be taken by sophomores Josh Dworaczyk and T-Bob Hebert. What we do not know and can hardly even speculate about at this point is whether those two are really good, or if they're just "better than the alternative". Offensive line play is always the most important determining factor about how an offense will perform, as poor line play will adversely affect both the running and the passing games, and good line play will open up holes for your running backs and make your QB very comfortable in the pocket. The play of Dworaczyk and Hebert will go a long way to determining how this team will perform offensively this year. We know Ciron Black is as solid as a left tackle gets, and Lyle Hitt is a 3-year starter, so we know what he brings. We will also need Joseph Barksdale to step up his play and go from being "promising" to being "studly". Word is he is on his way to doing just that, but we will have to see.

2. Will we get consistently good quarterback play? LSU fans rightly have high hopes for Jordan Jefferson and Russell Shepard, and we actually have something of a luxury in having Jarrett Lee as an experienced player beginning the season in a backup role. The problem remains however that we have a VERY young quarterback group. We don't have any quarterback who's been around long enough to be a junior, and Jarrett Lee's 9 starts makes him by far the most experienced on the roster. Jordan Jefferson has showed great promise, but we need to remember that he is just a true sophomore, and he has started only 2 games. We enter the 2009 season with the least experience at the QB spot of any team in the conference, though South Carolina has a somewhat comparable situation.

3. Will we have productive complementary players at the skill positions? Brandon Lafell is an outstanding player and a true #1 receiver. Will we have a quality #2, #3, and #4, or will we have to rely on TE Richard Dickson even more? After a couple years of looking really great in his uniform, it is Terrance Toliver's turn to become a reliable producer. Whenever a player transitions from sophomore to junior year, you have to stop talking about his potential and start talking about his production. At 6'5" and with outstanding speed and athleticism, Toliver's potential is through the roof, but it's time to do something with it. He ended last year on a high note, catching 16 passes in his final 5 games, after catching only 6 in the previous 8. If he continues that pace and breaks a few nice gains out of it. We will also need Chris Mitchell, RJ Jackson, Tim Molton, or one of the other receivers to step up play as well. Rueben Randle or even Russell Shepard could figure into this in the Fall.

At running back, we know Charles Scott is a good power running back with the intelligence and durability to be a #1 tailback. But you need more than that. Keiland Williams was inconsistent despite solid line play, though he got more productive as the season wore on. I will speculate that I think he was not in optimum condition at the beginning of the year and he lost a step of speed. He needs to be a speed back, so he needs to get that step back. Junior Richard Murphy had a disastrous sophomore season after having high expectations heading into the season. One of these two guys will have to step up play for LSU to reach its potential. We do not know if Stevan Ridley will be sufficiently recovered from his injury to be a factor in the 2009 season. If Keiland or Murphy or Ridley can't be productive behind Scott, we may see a lot of Michael Ford when he reports for his freshman season.

4. Who will be our backup defensive linemen?

Unlike an offensive line, a defensive line cannot live by its starters alone. It needs depth. It needs a rotation. We believe we have our top 4 offensive linemen in Pep Levingston, Drake Nevis, Al Woods, and Rahim Alem. We think they are going to be very good-to-outstanding players. Levingston would be a big surprise to me. I did not really expect that of him, and I am pleased to hear the good reports. The questions are who will be backing those guys up, and how will they perform when they're needed? Charles Alexander brings experience to the defensive tackle position, as he will be on his 6th year of eligibility and was a full-time starter last year. Other than Cheese, our backups will be very green. Redshirt freshmen Lavar Edwards, Chancey Aghayere, and Chase Clement appear to have the inside track. I loved Aghayere when he was a prospect, but he has had to battle back from high school injuries.

5. Whither the defensive backfield?

We think we're pretty sure that, barring injury, Chad Jones and Patrick Peterson are going to be the starters at corner and at free safety. Other than that, it's all a mystery. Chris Hawkins was the only player to start all 13 games last year in the secondary, but he was on the Purple team for the spring game, which would suggest that he has been passed up on the depth chart. Jai Eugene took his place. Last year's starting strong safety has been moved to linebacker. Ron Brooks has won accolades at the position, but no one has said he's won a job. Karnell Hatcher was a standout last year as a true freshman, and he will have something to say about who plays that spot. At corner, we have Hawkins, Eugene, and Brandon Taylor battling for the last starting spot opposite Patrick Peterson. At strong safety we have Ron Brooks and Karnell Hatcher. Plus we have Derrick Bryant who played a bit as a freshman and who certainly isn't giving up. Even if we can make some educated guesses about who will be starting, we have absolutely no idea who will come into the game in nickel or dime situations. There's been some noise we won't have a true nickel package, but we know we'll have a dime. And let's not forget that super-prospect Craig Loston will be here soon.

Spring Preview: The Secondary, Part 2: Who Else Wants to Play?

Richard Pittman — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:30:06 -0000

Yesterday, we talked about Chad Jones and Patrick Peterson, who we at ATVS (the royal "we") expect to make up the nucleus of the Tigers' starting secondary. Now, we talk about the other players who want to be in that starting group.

First, the veterans:

From left to right we have junior cornerback Jai Eugene, senior cornerback Chris Hawkins, senior strong safety Harry Coleman, and senior safety Danny McCray. Hawkins and Coleman started all year last year and appear to be the odds-on favorites to start this year as well, though that is far from certain.

Chris Hawkins led the team in interceptions last year with three. On a defense that recorded a paltry 8 interceptions the entire year, Hawkins did his legitimate share of turning the ball over. He even scored what I think was our only defensive touchdown of the season: a fumble return for a touchdown against Tulane. Of all our corners, he was the one who was left one-on-one with opposing receivers the most often, and he occasionally got beat, most famously on the last-minute 4th down touchdown pass by Casey Dick that gave Arkansas the winning points against us. Hawkins played alright, but on a defense that seemed hopelessly lost quite a lot, he did not stand out as a bright spot. While he got his interceptions, he also gave up his share of plays. At the end of last season, he was starting opposite Patrick Peterson, but he will face a challenge from other corners to keep that spot.

I thought that Jai Eugene played pretty solidly, if unspectacularly. He did not get an interception, but he was a willing tackler in run support, and he broke up 3 passes (as many as Patrick Peterson, but with more playing time to get them). Eugene was a bit more physical of a corner than Chris Hawkins was. He lost his starting job as Peterson emerged, and he is fighting to get it back, but he might have to move to a nickel- or dime-back position to get it.

Harry Coleman, surprisingly, led the team in tackles last year with 71, but he was also one of the mainstays in the safety group that struggled all season in pass coverage. Coleman looked slow and out of position a lot. Once again, some of my commenters are of the opinion that this is entirely a result of coaching and scheming, and I will keep an open mind on that subject, at least for now. He will try to win back the strong safety job that is up for grabs, after he apparently lost it to Danny McCray during preparation for the bowl game. He may end up moving to linebacker to make room for a young player to move up.

Danny McCray catches a lot of flak for his struggles in pass coverage, having spent the last two years as our nickel back, where he was asked to cover speedy wideouts one-on-one a lot, and got beat a lot. One can hope that the new coaching staff will learn from the mistakes of the previous staff and not put him in that kind of position this year.

When McCray was used differently in the bowl game last year, when he moved to strong safety opposite Chad Jones who was getting the start at free safety, McCray played much better. He just seemed to be in his element, and his size and strength was a benefit rather than the liability his size became when he was trying to chase Percy Harvin and A.J. Green around the field. Put him at safety and ask him to give over the top help and run support, and he'll be fine. Ask him to play like a corner and he'll struggle. He could end up being our strong safety, or he could move to a linebacker position, or he could have trouble getting on the field. It's hard to know. The numbers at safety will make it difficult to win a job no matter who you are.

Those are the juniors and seniors who are trying to win starting jobs in this secondary. the young players will not make it easy on them:

From left to right and then down and left to right again, we have cornerback Brandon Taylor, corner/safety combo Phelon Jones, cornerback Ryan St. Julien, corner/safety combo Derrick Bryant, corner (?) Ron Brooks, and safety Karnell Hatcher. All of those guys will be sophomores except for Ryan St. Julien who will be a redshirt freshman.

Coaches and commenters have been very high on Brandon Taylor (younger brother of last year's starting free safety Curtis Taylor) since his high school days. He got some playing time as a true freshman last year, playing some dime back, recording 4 tackles and a pass breakup. Starting cornerback Chris Hawkins missed a couple of practices earlier this Spring, and Taylor moved up into the starter role in his absence. He appears to be the heir apparent at the position once Hawkins graduates, if he doesn't win the job outright this year.

Phelon Jones played some last year as the nickel-back, and sometimes as the dime. He got his most playing time against North Texas and against Troy, recording 6 tackles and getting a pass breakup against UNT and 6 tackles and 2 pass breakups against Troy. In the Troy game, he was getting playing time because of an injury to McCray. Jones showed promise, but also struggled at times.

Derrick Bryant played mostly on special teams, finding a role as the forward return man in front of Trindon Holliday on punt returns, to either block for Trindon or to discourage directional or pooch kicks away from him. Other than that, he didn't really play all that much and it's hard to know what's expected of him.

Ron Brooks is a sophomore who is probably getting the most press of anyone in this group right now. Apparently the new coaches are very high on him, and so is Les Miles. According to Les, "I think the secondary is coming along pretty nicely. Ron Brooks is getting an opportunity. I don’t know whether he’ll be at corner or at safety, but he’s really earned the opportunity to get a great look." Brooks is a very athletic guy who also reportedly has a very high football IQ. He can be trusted in a lot of situations and could adjust to a number of different roles. He will probably be actively involved in the return game as well.

The thought of Brooks being moved to safety from cornerback brings to mind something I said in the infamous article on linebackers. I said at the time, "If you need an outside linebacker who can cover receivers, how about converting a cornerback? Or your combo corner/safety nickel back? That's the theory behind the idea of converting Phelon Jones into your line-nickel-back player."

I was thinking about converting a big corner to linebacker, if the linebacker is going to have increased coverage responsibilities. The other, perhaps more logical thing to do is to move a corner into a free safety role, then move your regular free safety to "strong safety", and consider moving your regular strong safety to linebacker. When you go into a "nickel" alignment, you don't change personnel, but let your free safety (who is a natural corner) line up with the slot receiver, give your "strong" safety responsibilities that mirror a free safety's, and let your linebacker play more of a strong safety role, playing a nickel-like package without changing personnel or creating any major mismatches.

It appears that if a change is to be made, it will likely be moving Ron Brooks to safety. I'm not sure how much I like the idea, as Brooks is a pretty small guy. He's listed on LSUSports.net at 5'11" and 175#. While he would be a valuable asset in coverage, he could create problems when trying to tackle some of the more powerful runners in the conference. Chavis seems set on not having a true "nickel" personnel group, instead using his base grouping as a modified nickel package. If you're going to do it that way, this seems to be the logical move.

Moving along, I really wanted to highlight Karnell Hatcher. In the post on linebackers, I mentioned that the safety position looked slow last year and appeared to be in need of an overhaul. A number of people disagreed with me, and that's fine. I don't claim to have a monopoly on insight into the football program. Some said it was all about coaching and scheming.

In response to the "it was the coaching" argument, I present Karnell Hatcher as Exhibit A. He was the primary backup to Curtis Taylor at the free safety position last year, and I thought he was excellent whenever he got into the game. In particular, I remember watching him against Georgia when the game had gotten kind of out of hand. He made a hard, sure, confident open-field tackle on Knowshon Moreno to stop what could have been a big play, which is no easy feat for a true freshman to do. He closed on Moreno, who had broken through the line, and put him on the ground without difficulty. When I saw that, I said to myself, "I haven't seen Curtis Taylor or Harry Coleman do that in two years." The kid can play, which surprised me a lot, as I had said of him before the season, "I wouldn't expect Hatcher to play as a freshman, unless he really makes himself invaluable as a special teams player. I think one way or another Hatcher is going to be an excellent special teams player one day, and he has a real shot at being the heir apparent at strong safety when Harry Coleman leaves."

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Hatcher is our starting strong safety this year, even though he played free last year.

Also reporting for duty this Spring is incoming freshman Rockey Duplessis, a speedy athletic head-knocker who signed with LSU with the 2008 class but sat out the Fall Semester to get academically eligible. I don't know what his future is, but I'd expect him to contribute pretty quickly on special teams.

And let's not forget 5-star recruit Craig Loston, who will be hard to keep off the field.