SB Nation - Stevan Ridley

LSU 33 - Arkansas 30: Snap Judgments

Richard Pittman — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:19:36 -0000

22 days ago: LSU running back Trindon Holliday (8) runs past Arkansas cornerback Ramon Broadway (26) in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

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A win's a win. I guess we've said that a few times this year. For a team that was predicted before the season to be 9-3 at the end, this has been a very tumultuous 9-3 team. It's a team that could well have been 6-6 (near losses to Washington, MSU, and Arkansas). It could have beaten Ole Miss, and wasn't THAT far away from beating Alabama. This is a team that, based on its play on the field, could have gone anywhere from 6-6 to 11-1. 9-3 is, I suppose, not that bad under those circumstances. There will be some thoughts on that later; probably a lot of thoughts from a lot of different writers. Anyway, a few snap judgments:

First, the final drive of regular time. After taking a terrible sack, Jefferson came back and made some nice plays, but the final drive belonged to Stevan Ridley, Josh Jasper, and Derek Helton. Derek Helton? The snap on the field goal was terrible, but Helton snagged the high-and-outside pitch and got it down for Jasper to get a clean hit on it. Tie game.
Jefferson was maddeningly inconsistent throughout the game, vacillating from stretches of brilliance (our touchdown drives) and strange decision-making/inaccuracy (most of the rest of the game). This is a kid with the potential to be an excellent quarterback. He just needs to accentuate the positive while eliminating the negative. There's a lot of positive to work with there.
The overtime was a snoozer. We went 3-and-out kind of pitifully, but got a medium-range field goal. Arkansas nearly had to try a 45-yarder until they got a nice 8 yard gain on 3rd and 12 to set up a medium-range field goal, but missed it. Drake Nevis and Lavar Edwards made great plays to set up the 3rd and long that ultimately decided the game.
Trindon Holliday was the MVP of the first half until he muffed that punt, scoring a special teams touchdown, putting us in good field position multiple times, and running effectively from scrimmage. Then, after the muff, he completely disappeared.
Russell Shepard also disappeared after a little early activity. This is one of the lesser-discussed but most maddening aspects of our suspect offense. In the second half, we tend to tighten up and not put in the homerun hitters.
I did not like the helmet-to-helmet call on Chad Jones. I'm not saying it was technically wrong, but it's been called so infrequently this year that it is surprising to me that it was called on a play where it appeared that Jones at least attempted to lead with his shoulder, and appeared to hit head-to-head only with a glancing blow. We've seen much worse head-to-head hits go uncalled this year.
The defensive line got after it in the first half, then disappeared for long stretches in the second. I don't think it's a coincidence that we did not get a single stop in the second half. When we stopped getting pressure, Ryan Mallett started hitting receivers. The decision to constantly go with a 3-man rush in the second half contributed to the problems, even though the 3-man rush had success in the first half.
The coverage teams were great tonight. I can't wait to see more of Ryan Baker next year.
It was good to see Brandon Lafell walk off. It would have been awful to see such a great Tiger blow a knee in overtime of Game 12 of his senior season.
The offensive line played pretty well this week. Losing Ciron Black will hurt, but I think this could be a good unit next year.
Except for the helmet-to-helmet, I thought the officiating was pretty good tonight.
The corner opposite Peterson continues to get picked on in every game. I sure hope that Jai Eugene makes a big leap in his play next year, or that Morris Claiborne is ready to take over.
With Ole Miss losing, I think we are going to the Cap One, but nothing is official. Who else would they take at this point? Ole Miss? South Carolina? Tennessee? Georgia? We're not exactly a thrilling choice, but those others aren't either. Actually, it will be really interesting to see how the bowls shake out. As of press time, Georgia was still playing Georgia Tech. If they win that one, there will be six, SIX!, teams with 7 wins in the SEC. Ole Miss, at 8 wins, is the clear choice for Cotton, but the Outback and every bowl on down could go in literally any direction after that.

The Film Room: Looking At LSU

outsidethesidelines — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:03:15 -0000

This week in the film room I want to do a bit of a blurb piece, looking specifically at several of the bigger plays in the Alabama v. LSU game. Unlike in past weeks in which we have focused specifically on individual players with a specific point of evaluation in mind, this week we're going to bounce around a bit and just take a bit more casual look at some of the biggest plays in the game this past Saturday, looking for anything we can find.

First off, let's look at the first snap that we took out of the Wildcat. You will recall that in the Initial Impressions piece I said that, with Earl Alexander (a former high school quarterback) going in motion, we were almost certainly looking to throw the football. Let's look at the play again:

Notice the LSU cover package here. They have clearly manned up the three receivers, with safety Chad Jones over the top. I still think that this play was intended to be a pass, but given LSU's defensive response, it's hard to see how we would have successfully thrown the football. The only way it could have been done is if Alexander had thrown the football to the left and hit either Ingram or tight end Michael Williams slipping out of the backfield in the opposite direction.To be sure, the fumble was certainly disappointing because even with the recovery we were still faced with a third and long, but it's hard to see this one being a success through the air. We may have called a pass option on this one, but I imagine that it would have likely ended up being a run had the fumble not occurred.

Next, let's actually go back a play to the snap immediately before that. It's a first and ten near midfield and we decide to take a shot downfield to Maze early in the game. You'll probably remember this play well, but nevertheless you can get the jist of what happens with the following .gif (note, you need to click the .gif to make it work):

Disappointing, eh? I don't know exactly what route Jai Eugene was looking for, but he was clearly expecting that route to be broken off at the intermediate level somehow. He certainly wasn't expecting Maze to try to beat him deep, and as a result he ended up getting turned around and Maze blew right by him. This one just makes you want to throw the remote through the TV, plain and simple. Even with a semi-decent throw this is a touchdown, and not only does McElroy overthrow him he throws it out of bounds to boot. Double negative. This one hurts.

I guess we'll go ahead and knock out all of the negative McElroy stuff now, so let's take a look at the second Wildcat snap that we ran, this one coming late in the third quarter with 'Bama trailing 15-10.

I loved this play design from the outset. When Julio Jones comes down on the jet sweet and McElroy steps back, you know that every single LSU defender is looking for something on the frontside to Julio Jones. So what we do? We slip Brad Smelley out on the backside and we get them with it. The LSU defense isn't expecting it at all, and Smelley gets behind the secondary. A good throw and this is a touchdown, and even with a decent throw we probably have a first and goal. Unfortunately, this one sails long too, incomplete pass. We eventually settle for the field goal to cut the lead to 15-13.

Do, however, pay close attention up front on this one, particularly with regard to LSU defensive tackle Drake Nevis. The junior from Marrero whips William Vlachos at the point of attack, and he hurries the throw. It's still clearly a throw that McElroy should make, mind you, but nevertheless Nevis does a great job of getting into the backfield and making it a more difficult throw. The more you watch of the film, you see that Nevis played a whale of a game. I bet he graded out really high when Miles and company reviewed the film.

At any rate, let's close up the negative McElroy stuff here by taking a closer look at the safety:

First off, notice how we come out here guns a blazing, to paraphrase Saban. Not only are we throwing the football out of our own end zone on a third and long with a narrow lead in a low scoring game, notice that we are doing so with only five men in to protect the quarterback. Both Mark Ingram and Colin Peek go out on pass routes, and we are left with only the five linemen to get the job done. This one is as gutsy as it gets.

Unfortunately, Mike Johnson whiffs on the block of... guess who? Drake Nevis. Once again Nevis gets into the backfield and forces the safety, a fine play on his part. Again, though, McElroy shoulders a lot of the blame here. Even with the whiff by Johnson, McElroy still has approximately three seconds to get rid of the football, but for some reason -- even though everyone is covered -- he keeps holding onto the football for dear life. Predictably, the pressure eventually gets to him and the safety is the end result. He should have just thrown this one away. Thankfully, we lucked out that it was only a safety.

Now in all fairness to McElroy, while he did make a lot of bad plays, he also made his fair share of good plays too, and that is what we'll look at next. The following is McElroy's touchdown pass to Darius Hanks:

For all of the criticism of the passing game the past few weeks (and rightly so), here is a textbook example of where everything is executed perfectly and the play is performed exactly like you draw it up on paper. And this is also a textbook example of the type of things that you must do when an opposing defense loads the box to stop the run. Notice that after Ingram's previous success on the ground that LSU practically commits eight defenders to stopping the run this time around. That forces man to man coverage on the outside against all three receivers.

For McElroy, this is a simple read. We roll the pocket to the right to avoid the pressure, and it's obvious that he has a man-to-man match-up of Hanks on a safety. For McElroy, he either throws it downfield to Hanks if he is open, or checks it down to Earl Alexander. Fortunately, Hanks runs a fine route and gets good separation on the defender, and McElroy delivers an absolute strike. Just how you draw it up... touchdown 'Bama.

Next, let's look at a couple of defensive plays, specifically focusing on the two big runs that LSU had after the safety in the end zone. First, let's take a look at Charles Scott final run where he rips off a big gain to put his Bayou Bengals deep in 'Bama territory:

Notice that we come out and defend this effectively in our base 3-4 set. Eryk Anders has his hand on the ground, but even so this is pretty typical base 3-4 stuff, and also notice that we've got Mark Barron creeping up into the box. We've effectively got the back-up defensive line in the game for this snap -- Marcel Dareus, Luther Davis, and Josh Chapman -- but even so we have eight men ready to stop the run.

And in all fairness both Scott and the LSU offensive line does a solid job, but what really kills us here is poor tackling. Mark Barron is really playing the outside here and isn't in position to stop an interior run, but the real disaster is in the middle with Cory Reamer and Justin Woodall. Those two may be seniors, but they looked like freshmen with this effort. Instead of crashing down hard and making the tackle, the best Reamer can muster is a weak arm tackle attempt, which of course the powerful Scott blows right through, and then after that Woodall completely whiffs in the open field on a tackle. With a good play by Reamer this is a two-yard gain, and with a good play by Woodall it's an eight-yard gain, but unfortunately those two whiff and Scott is off to the races.

With LSU driving, Stevan Ridley comes off the bench and gives the Tigers a lead with his touchdown run. Let's take a closer look, particularly keeping a very close eye on the match-up of LSU center T-Bob Hebert on Terrence Cody:

Well, now that is certainly one for those conspiracy nuts, now isn't it? This is a run right into the heart of the line on second and short, and we have it snuffed out pretty well. Cody is in position to make the tackle, and looks to do so with Ridley trying to cut it to the outside. He ultimately misses the tackle, of course, simply because Hebert flat out tackles Cody in the open field. This should have been a holding penalty setting up a 2nd and 13, but alas no such flag came about.

Of course I'm not going to complain too much about the officiating because you do also need to focus on your own effort, and that certainly falls short here. Keep your eye on Eryk Anders, he has outside contain to the offensive right, and he basically just blows it. He gets sucked too far inside, and Ridley beats him to the outside. Touchdown LSU.

Finally, let's wrap this piece up by taking a closer look at the gamechanging touchdown on the screen pass to Julio Jones:

Notice how odd it is that LSU is actually in really good position, before the snap, to stop this play. They've got a base 4-3 look, and the linebackers are playing a bit soft. A safety is manned up against Julio Jones, to be sure, but this is the short side of the field and there is also another safety over there for help, plus a linebacker. I don't care who you are covering, someone between Brandon Taylor, Danny McCray, and Kelvin Sheppard should stop this play.

At any rate, we feign something of a pass to the right, and then McElroy wheels back around to throw to Julio. The entire left side of the Alabama offensive line, plus the center, all move out to the second level to block. Now, Brandon Taylor, knowing that he is a safety in man coverage against Julio Jones, plays it very safe, and leaves a massive cushion between him and the 'Bama wideout. And that, in many ways, costs him here. He sees the screen and runs in very hard, right by James Carpenter, who was supposed to block him -- and for what it's worth, the Auburn fans complained of a block in the back on this play by Carpenter on Taylor because there is a photo showing him blocking the LSU defensive back from behind, but if you watch the film, naturally the Auburn fans are wrong as Carpenter whiffs so badly that he barely touches the back of Taylor so lightly that Taylor himself probably never even noticed.

Unfortunately for Taylor, with him racing in, he loses body control, and Julio makes a quick, nifty cut to the outside to sidestep the LSU safety. Kelvin Sheppard effectively takes himself out of the play by biting on the fake to the right, and when Danny McCray tries to come in to make the tackle, he takes a poor angle and there William Vlachos gets just enough of him to knock him out of the play. And with the LSU defense firmly in the review mirror, Julio is off to the races. Touchdown 'Bama.

Bama 24 - LSU 15: Snap Judgments

Richard Pittman — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:32:50 -0000

More photos » by Dave Martin - AP

about 1 month ago: LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson (9) reacts near the end of a 24-15 loss to Alabama in an NCAA college football game at Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

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i had a good time at the game, and yes, my family is still intact. We're pretty good at this "not aggravating each other after a sporting event" thing. Anyway, here are my Snap Judgments, not at all influenced by television or camera angles or replays, because I have not seen any yet:

Patrick Peterson is an absolute stud. He tied up Julio Jones the whole game, whenever they were matched up on each other. If there's a better corner in the country, I'd like to see him, but not in a game in which we're playing against him.
His cramping problems could well have made the difference in the game. The touchdown pass to Julio Jones came when Peterson was sitting out recovering from the cramps. If he's in the game, that play is probably very different. Heck, they may not have even called that play if Peterson was in the game.
Speaking of injuries, the injury to Jordan Jefferson (I do not know the nature of the injury or how serious it was) was another huge factor in this game. I like Jarrett Lee, but he was not sharp in this game, and we had no passing game once Jefferson went out.
In the stadium, people were saying the "interception" by Patrick Peterson really was an interception and that replay got it wrong. Heading out of the stadium, we got an LSU feed and Jordy Hultberg was saying the same thing, suggesting the league office would probably deal with the replay official later. I got home, and Mrs. ATVS told me there was no replay that showed it. I don't know what to believe. I know if we got that interception, we had the ball down by 6 with enough time on the clock to mix in runs and passes. Again, maybe it's a different game.
How many people got hurt for us in that game? Peterson 3 times, Al Woods, Ciron Black, Charles Scott, Jordan Jefferson. Anyone else? Richard Dickson did not even play a down.
We really played well for most of the game. I cannot fault the effort our team put into that game. I could tell before the opening kickoff that they were charged up and ready to play. It showed throughout the game.
Who would have thought we'd score two touchdowns, and they would be scored by Deangelo Peterson and Stevan Ridley.
Bama really abandoned the run early in the game, and I have no idea why. I thought Mark Ingram was hurt for a while, they were doing so little to get him involved in the game. Then they came out running in the 2nd half and they were getting us on play after play. I don't know why they didn't do that all game.
I really think our offensive line played its best game all season. For the most part, except on the play where Jefferson took an intentional grounding penalty, our quarterbacks had time. The running game was able to do a lot of positive things as well.
I have not even looked at a box score yet, but I figure they outgained us by quite a bit. They had a few drives that got yards without getting points, whereas we did not have a lot of medium-length drives that did not produce points.
I did not like the decision to go for 2 at the time. My rule of thumb is that you don't look at the chart until the 4th quarter, and there were still 3 minutes left in the 3rd when we got the touchdown. It's hard to say the 1 point would have made a difference, but if we got for one then Bama probably goes for 1 on its touchdown to put them up by 4. Then the final field goal would have kept it a 7 point game instead of a 9 point game.
I don't think Alabama was any more talented than we were, and I don't think we got outcoached. I think we had some costly injuried during the course of the game that converted it from a game between two evenly matched teams to a mismatch. When we needed to pass, we just couldn't.
There's still a lot to play for here. The SEC Championship is out of reach, obviously, but we will be favored in every game we play, and if we win out we are a shoe-in for the Cap One Bowl with a shot at an 11-win season. That's nothing to be ashamed of.

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.

Class of 2009: RB Michael Ford

Richard Pittman — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:00:16 -0000

via image.cdnl3.xosnetwork.com

Our collection of posts on the Class of 2009 is coming to a close pretty soon. Leesville running back Michael Ford is the penultimate prospect we will be examining. He is the next headliner on the list. Ford was a 5-star running back on Scout, and a 4-star on Rivals. He's an all-around back, able to run with power and with speed.

Michael Ford is an extremely hard worker. He comes to college with a workout regimen that is well ahead of his peers, and it shows. He comes to school body-ready to contribute immediately. His high school workout regimen is something of legend. His highlight videos have gotten him attention since he was a sophomore.

Ford came out of Louisiana in a year with a fair number of very well regarded running backs in or near the area. LSU turned Eddie Lacy away, declining to seriously recruit him for reasons that are still somewhat murky. Consensus 5-star running Christine Michael reportedly desperately wanted to come to LSU, but Les Miles did not show interest. LSU wanted Michael Ford and Trent Richardson, who ended up signing with Bama.

Running back is a strange position, because it seems like the ideal height for a running back is about 5'9". The low center of gravity seems to allow for quicker cutting and the delivery of compact power. Some of the best running backs ever have been small: Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders. Michael Ford is a little bit bigger than those guys, or at least he's listed a little bigger at 5'10" and 207#. He is probably a little smaller than that.

Now that Fall Practice has started, the word is that the coaches think the world of Michael Ford. The words "Herschel" and "Bo" have been thrown around. While that is certainly premature, and probably is an unreasonable expectation, it says a lot that Michael Ford is expected to contribute immediate in a backfield that includes some very good experienced backs, led by Charles Scott but also including Keiland Williams, Richard Murphy, Trindon Holliday, and Stevan Ridley, all of whom have been significant contributors in the past.

Michael Ford will not overtake Charles Scott in the rotation, but it wouldn't shock me if he overtakes everyone else. His incredible conditioning (for a freshman), his intelligence, and his outright athleticism make him a good bet to contribute early, even at a position where there is plenty of depth.

YouTube clips after the jump.

This is a highlight reel from a post-season all-star game in Hawaii, and contains all of his touches in the game. It's pretty impressive.

Fall Camp Storylines So Far

Richard Pittman — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:50:54 -0000

They've been going at it for about a week in Baton Rouge, preparing in earnest for the season to start, and already there are a few surprising developments at LSU's Fall Camp. We Highlight some of the bigger ones:

Brandon Taylor jumps into the competition for the strong safety spot. Easily the biggest surprise was when talented but little-used sophomore cornerback Brandon Taylor opened the running with the first team at strong safety. Before camp began, the strong safety position was generally considered to be up for competition, but most expected the competition to be between Spring sensation Ron Brooks and last year's backup Karnell Hatcher. I expected Taylor as a dark horse to maybe challenge for the cornerback slot opposite Patrick Peterson. Instead, as practice opened, Taylor was moved into the strong safety slot running opposite of Chad Jones. Brooks was with the second team, and Hatcher was with the freshman, ostensibly as the third team safety. The running order has not changed yet in the parts of practice that the media sees. It may be simply that the coaches were giving Taylor a look at that position in hopes of developing versatility, but it was simply that, why would he go with the first team and not the second or third? This is a situation that will get the closest attention from here to the beginning of the season.

The surprising introduction of Morris Claiborne. In a class with, by some counts, four 5-star players reporting to camp, and one 5-star still trying to get eligible, the Class of 2009 member who is turning the most heads is a 3-star recruit named Morris Claiborne. That's right; the guy no one had heard of until the middle of his senior year. The guy who did not even have a picture of him up on the recruiting sites well into his senior season. I'm not saying he's an immediate contributor to this team or anything like that. At least not yet. He still has to find a position and master it in order be really useful. He began camp practicing at wide receiver with the rest of the freshman. He was quickly promoted to the morning practice sessions with the veterans and switched to cornerback, where he has run with the second unit. I am thinking he will end up at cornerback, because he lacks ideal size for a wide receiver, but his long arms and quickness will be a huge asset in the defensive backfield. It would surprise me at all to see him back on offense though, and it wouldn't shock me if he ends up playing both ways at some point in his career. If he's second string right now, he will probably play immediately, but I would prefer to give him a chance to redshirt and master whatever position he ends up playing. It would also give him some separation between the veteran corners on the roster and himself, giving him more opportunity to play in the future.
Offensive tackle Chris Faulk starts out on the second team at left tackle. When Fall Camp opened, every member of the Class of 2009 was practicing in the afternoon session, away from most of the veterans who practice in the morning. All, that is, except one. Offensive lineman Chris Faulk started camp practicing in the morning with the veterans, and he was doing it at left tackle, behind Ciron Black. This is a remarkable achievement for a young player. I do not remember a true freshman coming in and immediately practicing with the veterans before. Not even the guys who got here in the spring, like Kevin Minter, Drayton Calhoun, and Russell Shepard, were running with the veterans at the start of camp. Patrick Peterson was in the afternoon sessions at the beginning of last year. Rueben Randle practiced in the afternoon. As time went on, Faulk was joined by a couple other freshman. Barkevious Mingo was promoted for a day. Morris Claiborne was promoted. But Faulk was there from the beginning. He even moved last year's backup left tackle, Greg Shaw, over to right tackle. His future must be incredibly bright.
The development of the wide receivers. Terrance Toliver finally looks like he's going to approach that sky-high potential he has always had. He's put some real muscle mass on his frame, and can finally fight off physical defensive backs. He has always had great length and long arms, but he's been lanky. With a little added muscle it opens up the prospect of him being a receiver in traffic, where before Toliver was always mostly a deep threat. I believe Terrance Toliver is going to have that breakout year this year. I don't think he'll be one of the best in the SEC, but if he can increase his receptions total to about 40 while retaining his big play ability (that we did not see enough of last year after a freshman year that saw him average 25 yards per catch), he will be an outstanding complement to Brandon Lafell. True freshman Rueben Randle also looks like he is for real and will be able to make an immediate contribution. As I said before, don't expect Jones-like or Green-like numbers as a freshman, but if he can pull in 20 or so catches, he will really help this team. Veterans R.J. Jackson and Chris Mitchell make me feel pretty good about the depth at the position, and Chris Tolliver may be able to make a contribution as well. I really think this has the makings of a very good overall wide receiver unit.
Competition at center and at fullback. The most important position battle on the team right now is going on at center between P.J. Lonergan and T-Bob Hebert. It was believed that Hebert had the inside track going into camp, but Lonergan started the season practicing with the first team while Hebert ran with the rookies in the afternoon session. In yesterday's first full-squad practice the two were finally on the field together and Hebert was apparently first-team. This is the most important battle because barring injury you have to imagine that whoever wins this battle will play almost every significant snap and the second teamer will have trouble finding the field, while there could be a rotation at strong safety. A similar competition is ongoing at fullback where we have recently seen tight end Tyler Edwards jump into the fray that previously includedStevan Ridley, Richard Dugas, and Dominique Allen. Ridley is definitely the most capable runner (though Allen appears surprisingly nimble for such a big man and could end up being a surprising playmaker later on). Dugas is the converted offensive lineman. Allen is the freshman. It is anyone's guess how these snaps will be divided up in the season.
Freshman defensive linemen impressing all. The defensive line members of the Class of 2009: Josh Downs, Chris Davenport, Mike Brockers, Bennie Logan, and Sam Montgomery, are getting early raves and bringing back memories of Spears, Hill, Lavalais, etc.

Class of 2009: FB Dominique Allen

Richard Pittman — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:00:24 -0000

via image.cdnl3.xosnetwork.com

Fullback Dominique Allen of Henry County High School in Paris, Tennessee, may actually be the first member of the Class of 2009 you actually see on the field during a game. From the moment he committed, the expectation was there that he could be our starting fullback for the 2009 season. It's not so much that he is that great, though he is a solid player. The issue is that with the departure of former starting fullback Quinn Johnson, the LSU roster is left devoid of blocking fullbacks.

College Football News recently took a stab at filling out our 2-deep depth chart. At fullback, they listed Stevan Ridley and Richard Dugas. If Ridley is a fullback, it is more in the "Jacob Hester" mold than in the "Quinn Johnson" mold, meaning he's more of a ball carrier than a lead blocker. Richard Dugas is a converted walk-on offensive lineman. And what's more, both are coming off of injuries, and Ridley's was particularly serious.

That is to say, the fullback position is a spot where a true freshman may be able to come to the team and immediately make a contribution. Of course, I wouldn't expect Dominique Allen or anyone else to light up the stat sheet from the fullback position, but there is a rather clear path to getting on the field if you can be a lead blocker from the fullback position.

Can Dominique Allen be that lead blocker? It's hard to say really. I like his film a lot. He is a big, strong kid at 5'11" and 250#. His relatively short stature is actually a benefit at the fullback position, as it allows him to get low on taller linebackers. What you look for in a blocking back are, in my opinion, strength and size (obviously), but also quickness. It does not help to be able to put a linebacker on his back if you can't get to him before he moves out of the way. You can't be a lumbering brute and be a fullback. Allen is pretty nimble for a 250# guy. I am confident that he has the athleticism to be a fullback (not that this says much really).

There is plenty of film of Dominique Allen running over people and/or dragging high school tacklers with him. Obviously you like to see this in a fullback. There is also film of him making a nice catch out of the backfield on a deep route. There is also surprisingly good film of him cutting through holes, changing direction, and running for daylight with good speed. He is not simply a straight-ahead runner, at least at the high school level. This made him a very productive runner in high school, running for over 4,000 yards and over 80 touchdowns at Henry County High School.

While I don't really expect Allen to ever be a primary running back at LSU, this is encouraging to me because it shows that he will have the agility to go and block a man even if he has to change directions and chase him down in order to do so.

What we do not really see is a lot of film of him blocking. There is some, which is unusual for high school film (even of a fullback), but it is not much, and he does not appear (as of his junior year at least) to really be the kind of bulldozing blocker you want to see. With the ball in his hands, he plays with speed and power. When he blocks, he is a bit more tentative. There is not much film of him running over would-be tacklers as a blocker. There is a little of that, but I wish there was more.

If he can get that part of the fullback position down cold before September 5, 2009, you could see a lot of Dominique Allen quickly.

In Case You Haven't Figured Out, This Will Be Recruiting Week at ATVS

Richard Pittman — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:30:09 -0000

First, a congratulations to GasHouseGorillas, who celebrated the birth of his first child yesterday. GasHouseGorillas, in case you didn't know, is my older brother. Liam Casey Pittman was born yesterday at around 11:00am, weighing in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces and measuring an impressive 19.5 inches. Sadly, if the Pittman genes have anything to say about it, great athleticism is probably not in his future, Cousin Kirston notwithstanding.

Continuing on with the topic at hand.

With the Long, Dark Offseason of the Soul continuing for another few weeks, we are scrounging just a bit for topics to discuss here at ATVS. What's good for the bloggers is not necessarily good for the team, as I pointed out in this post about all news being bad news. Things are mighty quiet around the LSU athletic facilities, with nary a serious injury (since the Tim Molten injury), an arrest, or a transfer to discuss. We think transfers are coming, as I think we still have a little ways to go to get under scholarship limits, but they're not out there right now.

So this week, barring the introduction of any real news, we will be going over LSU recruiting for 2010 in the morning, and profiling 2009 signees in the afternoon. The 2009 profiles will continue until we're done with them.

Of course, there may be some real news, as SEC Media Days are upon us starting on Wednesday. Usually, if there is any SEC Media Days news, it is purely of the manufactured variety, and I am not really planning on spending a lot of my energy discussing it. I will, however, be reading Team Speed Kills' coverage, as he should have the hook-up for me. If anything important happens in Birmingham, he'll tell us all. I'll actually be doing a little podcast with him later this week. Be sure to check that out when it happens.

In the meantime, a little 2010 recruiting is in order. First, I would like to quote an article I wrote back in March on the subject of 2010 recruiting, back when little was known about most of the recruits we'll be signing:

For reasons I can't entirely explain, we seem to have a two-year cycle on the perception of in-state recruiting and our ability to recruit great players from out of state. For example, 2007 was a banner year for recruiting in the State of Louisiana, with two 5-star players produced by the state: Joe McKnight and Chad Jones, along with several very highly regarded 4-star type players. Not only that, but LSU's recruiting class was widely considered about the most solid in the country, with 21 four- and five-star commitments signed, including 5-star Terrance Toliver, and only a handful of 3-stars. This resulted in a #4 ranking according to Rivals, and was generally considered to be an outstanding class.

Contrast that with the 2008 recruiting class. It was much more heavily weighted towards 3-stars, with thirteen 3-star players signed, along with thirteen 4- and 5-star players. There were no in-state 5-stars. With the exception of Patrick Peterson (formerly Patrick Johnson), our out-of-state recruiting was considered lackluster, as it was believed we got a lot of guys who were other teams' leftovers. Examples include Derrick Bryant, Alex Hurst, and Kyle Prater, 3-stars out of Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas respectively. It was considered a down year and was ranked #11 by Rivals (fourth in the SEC).

The early results on both of these classes (keeping in mind that the 2007 class has had an extra year to develop and an extra year to have players wash out) is that these classes are more-or-less equal. From the 2007 class, we had 4 players get essentially a starters' share of playing time last year: Chad Jones, Terrance Toliver, Joseph Barksdale, and Jarrett Lee. Kicker/punter Josh Jasper was also a big contributor. A couple players slid right into backup positions and appear to be poised to be starters this year: Drake Nevis, Josh Dworaczyk and Will Blackwell. A few more have contributed as backups and on special teams and look to stay in those positions for now while they wait for more experienced players to clear out: Stevan Ridley, Phelon Jones, Ron Brooks, Mitch Joseph, etc., etc.

But look at the 2008 class. The QB from the 2008 class appears to have beaten out the QB from the 2007 class for the starter job, despite one fewer year in the system. Patrick Peterson beat out all the 2007 corners signed and became a starter. Ryan Baker was a monster on special teams and looks like he might win a starter's position this year. Brandon Taylor will compete as well, now and in the future. Offensive lineman Alex Hurst is drawing raves and many close to the program believe he'll be one of the next outstanding LSU offensive linemen, and he was one of the "leftovers".

My conclusion is that, at this time, it appears the 2008 LSU recruiting class was just as good as the 2007 class. It's hard to say how much of that was the 2007 class being overrated (just look at the guys who left the program without ever contributing: Jordon Corbin (sadly, due to injuries), Delvin Breaux (likewise), Jarvis Jones (kicked off; not to mention the ones who just don't look like they're going to be good players (no names mentioned at this time), and how much of it was the 2008 class being underrated.* I think it's a little of both.

That's my conclusion. My point is that the 2009 class was highly regarded, both in- and out-of-state, and so we're due for a down cycle in perception. The 2010 Louisiana recruiting class is not considered to be as great as the 2009 class or the 2007 class. It's considered more like the 2008 class. I wouldn't buy it though. Try not to get too high about the highs or too low about the lows. There will be lots of solid players in this class from the State of Louisiana. We will also sign some very good players from out of state, maybe even some real blue chippers.

Just calibrate your conclusions according to the inevitable result that it will be perceived to be middling. I think it's just part of the psyche of LSU fans and of recruiting observers in general. We're coming off a serotonin high of a great recruiting class. It's time for a bit of a come down. It's time, I guess, for the heroin half of our recruiting speedball to kick in (sorry, criminal defense lawyer-mode came out for a second).

I am wrong a LOT. I will be the first to admit that, but sometimes I get it exactly right, and I think this is one of those times.

Right now, LSU has 18 officially recognized commitments for the 2010 class. Ten are listed as 3-stars on Scout. Eight are listed as 3-star (or are unrated) on Rivals. Overall, this is shaping up to be a class more like the 2008 class than like the 2007 or 2009 classes. There are a lot of prospects in this class that are getting little attention nationwide. There are a few sleepers in the class like Sam Gibson (one of my favorite prospects, by the way), Houston Bates, Cameron Fordham, and Elliott Porter.

There are not a high number of in-state prospects that are getting a lot of love from the recruiting media. Rivals only lists 8 Louisiana prospects with 4 stars, and none with 5 stars. I expect two of those (Terrance Broadway and Munchie Legaux) to drop down to 3-stars soon, but they may be replaced by one or more new 4-star prospects. This compares to 14 four- and five-star prospects from the 2009 class, 11 in the 2008 class, and 17 in the 2007 class. This is clearly a year more like 2008 as far as the in-state prospects are perceived.

But as pointed out, the 2008 class appears to be a very good class, with Jordan Jefferson and Patrick Peterson being the headliners of that class so far. Peterson was all-world, but Jefferson was a sleeper who did not earn an offer until after his senior year was finished. The 2008 class was full of players who were probably a little underappreciated, like Karnell Hatcher, Greg Shaw, and Alex Hurst. I am thinking that this 2010 class will probably end up the same way.

Tomorrow and Thursday, we will discuss just a little bit about the little guys (receivers, defensive backs, etc.), and then on Friday we will start to profile some of the linemen that have decided to call LSU home in a year. We'll play it by ear after that, but at some point next week we'll get into the "Where Do We Go From Here" discussion of recruiting.

ATVS Begins Its Look at Members of the 2009 Football Recruiting Class

Richard Pittman — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:35:53 -0000

This is a basic overview of the 2009 signing class for the LSU football team. This series will continue probably until rather close to the first game of the season, as there are 24 members of the recruiting class, and only 48 days until kickoff. We likely will not post in this series on the weekend, and probably not all 5 days of every week. This series will be "bonus coverage" by ATVS, posted at around noon every day it is published.

Like last year, we will break down each player first by whether that person is, in my esteemed judgment, a project, a solid player, or a headliner. These terms are far from scientific. In general, a project is someone I expect to need a lot of seasoning before he is ready to contribute (if indeed he ever will be able to contribute). A project may be someone whose upside is not as high as others, or may be someone who has considerable talent but is raw and needs more coaching than is typical. I would expect that all projects would redshirt this year. A solid player is one with notable talent and at least some polish and is likely capable of being an early contributor at least in a limited role. The "solid player" may redshirt or may not, depending on the need at that player's position. The solid player, if he develops, could very well end up being a key player on the team in the future. A headliner is a player I expect to make an immediate contribution and has obvious high-level talent to maybe end up as an All-Conference-calibre or All-America-calibre player. Both factors must be present: obvious high-level talent and ability to make an immediate contribution. I would be surprised if any player deemed a headliner redshirts the 2009 season barring injury.

Oh, and there's one more category: the mystery man. If there is no available film on a player and I have not seen him play on television, I'm not even to make a guess as to how to characterize the player. It would be a guess based upon nothing, but I will still write up what I can.

Please, do not make the mistake of thinking that I am infallible in these matters. Even the expert talent evaluators are quite fallible and I am not an expert. I am merely an interested observer who has watched a good deal of film and pays attention to the recruiting media for several years and, I hope, can make fair and justifiable educated guesses based upon the limited amount of evidence available to me and the patterns that developed in previous years' observation. I am particularly confidence-free in my opinions on offensive linemen, in which players are usually separated according to highly esoteric factors I do not understand. I just like to see them mash.

After the jump, I will talk about some of the principles of following recruiting:

1. Don't live and die by recruiting rankings and star systems. The star system is a helpful, but ultimately very flawed, way in which lay persons can keep up with recruiting. If you pay close attention to the recruiting media, you will notice how much politics goes into these rankings. Heck, you don't even have to pay that much attention. One coach has openly talked about how a little politicking from him got one kid raised from a 3-star to a 5-star. The ranking system is also self-fulfilling. Kids get ranked in part based on their offers. If Southern Cal is going after a player that the services believe to be a 2-star, the sites will take notice and will probably raise their ranking to at least three stars, on the theory that "USC doesn't recruit 2-star players." Of course, then if the kid commits to USC, his bump from 2-star to 3- or 4-stars will be factored into USC's recruiting rankings. So the kid is being highly rated because he's being recruited by USC, and then USC is highly rated for getting commitments from high-rated players. Self-fulfilling, and not at all limited to the influence of USC. Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Georgia, and yes even LSU have this impact on recruiting rankings and the result is that almost no matter what happens these schools (with their reputations for good recruiting) will automatically be highly rated.

2. Then again, it's not like the system is useless. If you look at the NFL draft, every year there are former 2-stars (or even lower-rated players) who get drafted in the upper rounds. However, the bulk of the players drafted will be guys who were rated 3- and 4-stars out of high school, and if you were rated a 5-star, your chances of being a 1st day pick in your draft year are about 25% or so, which is much better than the rate for lower-rated players. The vast majority of 5-star players end up being at least pretty good, even if they don't end up being great, unless injuries, discipline/educational issues or even the choice to pursue a different sport hamper their careers. Sometimes the services simply whiff on someone and claim him to be a 5-star calibre player only to have him ultimately disappear in the middle or bottom rungs of a depth chart, but that doesn't happen all that often. Others will end up being pretty good, but not the kind of instant-impact player the high rating would invoke. Still others will end up spending more time behind bars than at practice (not literally, but figuratively). Several will lose the college football lottery and have their careers negatively impacted by injuries. One or two may choose to pursue baseball instead of football. But if you recruit a class full of 5- and 4-star players, success is likely in your future. You just can't count on the services being right about any particular player.

3. Be skeptical of 40-times and listed vertical leaps. I once wrote an entire article about how useless the 40-time is. In short, 40-times are measured under non-standard conditions, using not-necessarily-accurate instruments, are sometimes self-reported (and therefore highly suspect), will often change greatly as players get into a college weight room, and have limited impact on a football game anyway.

4. There's no substitute for watching the guy play. Watching a game is better than watching a highlight reel, but watching a highlight reel can give you a really good indication of a player's talent level. You expect a good player to make really good plays at times. Film is a much better way to tell if a player plays fast, has strength, and has polish. What you might miss, however, is the player's bad plays. The play in which the linebacker was out of position and gave up a touchdown probably isn't going to make the highlight reel. You might miss that a player doesn't put in the effort on every play. Still, you can look for that upside. If he bigger, stronger, faster than everyone around him? A really good recruit should have moments of utter domination at the high school level. Be mindful, also, of the level of competition. 5A leagues in Texas are a heck of a lot better levels of competition than the small private school leagues in Mississippi (though Stevan Ridley came from that league and he looks pretty good so far). If a player does not look like a man among boys in his film, that is a red flag, though not a killer.

5. Pay attention to how a player treats the recruiting process. I am a big believer that how a player treats the recruiting process can have a correlation to how he develops as a player. This is not to say that every player who pushes his recruitment out to (or beyond) signing day is going to be a dud, or even to suggest it. I pay attention to whether the player is playing up the media attention. I don't like seeing players who court the media spotlight and play games with their recruiting. In my anecdotal observation, these kids who exhibit selfishness on the recruiting trail often exhibit selfishness when they get to college. Some high profile examples would include Willie Williams, Ryan Perrilloux, and many others. Indecision is one thing, but showing your butt is another.

6. All of this may be wrong. It's not like the NFL doesn't have its share of prima donnas, and sometimes walk-ons become All-Americans.