SB Nation - Charles Alexander

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.

Things I Worry About: Football Edition

Richard Pittman — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:26:23 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

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I worry about lots of things. Some of the things I worry about are actually important. Some of things I worry about relate to football. None of the things I worry about are both important and related to football. Worrying about football is fun. Worrying about your clients is much less fun, but is motivational.

Anyway, let's talk about the things that worry me, as they relate to LSU football:

1. Defensive Tackle Depth: The LSU coaches have made the tactical decision to go through the whole season playing only 4 defensive tackles, with a 5th getting playing time when the game is already decided. Every other defensive tackle on the roster either moved to defensive end (Lavar Edwards), moved to offensive line (Cordian Hagans), got hurt before the season started (Akiem Hicks), or is redshirting (Chris Davenport). It is a scary proposition to have such a thin unit at defensive tackle, especially when one of the ones you're using is Charles Alexander, who has never stayed healthy for a whole season. Except for a midseason injury to Josh Downs, we haven't been burned by this strategy yet, but there's still almost half a regular season to go.

2. Jordan Jefferson: The kid is still learning. I know this is beating a dead horse, but I sure wish it would have been possible to redshirt him last year. He's a sophomore and he still looks like a little kid with a baby face and gangly features. I want to bring him home and feed him some red beans and rice. He'll eventually fill out and physically mature, but I think we are sure going to wish we still had him on the roster in 2012. That's not a knock against Chris Garrett, who appears to have great promise as a QB. I just think Jordan Jefferson has the potential to a late bloomer and to become outstanding, but he could do so a little bit too close to the time he graduates for comfort. As of right now, he is still a work in progress. He played his best game against Auburn, but it remains to be seen if that is an aberration or a leap forward.

3. The Injury to Derek Helton: OK, he wasn't exactly booming 50 yarders with regularity, but he was getting good hang time on punts, and there has been no threat of a big return on us with him punting the ball. He actually ranks 10th in the league in punting average, but is only 4 yards behind 2nd in the league (Georgia's punter booms it). Josh Jasper can punt the ball just as far down the field, I am sure, but I would hate to see LSU give up a big return at a key time.

While I have more worries, that's all I really have time for this morning. I have to leave a little early, and I slept a little late (5:30am). What worries you?

Miles On Miss State

Poseur — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:50:36 -0000

Once again, to serve you, the ATVS reader, I try and cut through the BS and translate Les Miles' weekly lunch from Coachspeak to English.

WHAT HE SAID: "Certainly our football team met this morning and reviewed the fact that we've played four games, and we have four victories. That's certainly where we want to be. Certainly we want to improve and play better along the way. I thought that there were some really good things there at the game. First of all, we had a four-hour delay in leaving town, and the weather certainly didn't cooperate to start the game. I felt like our guys did what they had to do to get a victory."

WHAT HE MEANT: "We needed a frickin' goal line stand to beat Moo State. The only good thing about the trip was the four hour delay because that was four hours I didn't have to spend in Starkville. The offensive line has been running gassers since we got back home."

WHAT HE SAID: "I think defensively we played a very good game. I still think that there were three plays or so in that game where we can play smarter. We missed a tackle on one that led to a big gain, a broken play and one that should well have been tackled in the backfield that nets out again in another big play and a mistimed interception that personally could've been a big turnaround and gone the other way. Yet, our defense is playing with great effort, and in my opinion, if it continues to play with that style of effort and corrects those mistakes, it can be a very strong defense as we go forward."

WHAT HE MEANT: "The defense played well if you don't count the first three and half quarters."

WHAT HE SAID: "Chad Jones was recognized not only for his play on defense but that great 93-yard punt return as the National Defensive Player of the Week. Certainly he was recognized by his teammates this morning as he was the MVP (of the game)"

WHAT HE MEANT: Chad saved my job. Is there a booster here who can buy him a car or something? CHAD JONES! WOOOOO!!!"

WHAT HE SAID: "We still want to run the football. It's too fundamental to me not to be important, and I want that. I want it for Charles Scott and that offensive line and Keiland Williams, and I want to be able to come off the football. But again, the defense can choose to play everybody inside, and that makes it a much more difficult position to run the football, and I wanted them to throw it. I wanted our guys to throw the football against that gaming front of Mississippi State's."

WHAT HE MEANT: "Wow, does our run game suck or what? Screw it. I'm out of ideas. Let's just throw it to LaFell on every play."

WHATE HE SAID: "If you look at special teams, the return that Chad Jones puts on is a great decision on a bouncing ball that he picks up and cleaning fields and then returns with great personal effort. We looked at that again several times this morning, and you look at Charles Alexander at about the midfield stripe at about 50 yards, driving a defender away from Chad Jones who's returning the punt. You see Patrick Peterson directing traffic, and it was truly a great effort. There were guys who had great blocks like Brandon Taylor, who really had the first block that sprung the return, and Perry Riley got one on about the midfield stripe. Again, it was a great personal effort by Chad Jones, and certainly it was timely."

WHAT HE MEANT: "See? See? Team effort! I can get these individuals to play as a team. Stick that in your piehole. Well, uh... yeah, it still was a pretty great individual effort. CHAD JONES! WOOOO!!!!"

WHAT HE SAID: "We had 11 points given to our opponent on special teams miscues, and virtually all three were snaps. What has to happen is we have to execute the snap extremely well, and we cannot go into a big game with the opportunity to make big plays and have something so fundamental to us break down. We feel like we can address that, and it's a very correctable mistake, so if you go forward from there, improve that offensive running game, enjoy the fact that someone puts a lot of guys in the box so we can throw it, take away the special teams miscues and play smarter on defense, that's where we need to be.

WHAT HE MEANT: "We left Alex Russian on the side of the highway in Mississippi."

WHAT HE SAID: "At this point, the focus has to turn to the very next game. We're fortunate to be 4-0; we'd like to be 5-0, and only the next opponent stands between us and that goal. Everybody talks about rankings. Rankings have never made any difference to me and not to our football team. We understand we earn where we finish. The No. 4 ranking is certainly a spot, and that's it. It's close enough to be where you want to be in the end, but there's no position except for the final ballot. When we get to the end of the season, that's where we want to be ranked highly."

WHAT HE MEANT: "Rankings mean everything to me. Are you kidding? People in this town flip out even when we're in the top five. I have "For Sale" signs in my front lawn. And we're 4-0! What does it take? You people are insane. Seriously. If I beat Georgia, will you then believe I can coach? They're the only SEC school I haven't beaten. Is that what y'all are waiting for?"

WHAT HE SAID: "I think we're developing that position (fullback). It's not come along fast enough necessarily, but I don't know that we can make it come along any faster. I don't know that we've given it enough snaps in games to develop it, and it's not something that we can enforce. It has to come naturally, and I think those guys are doing a good job. Frankly, we're opting for other personnel groups at times over our normal two-back set."

WHAT HE MEANT: "We have no fullback. Deal."

WHAT HE SAID: "They are the best players, and I can tell you that I'm critical. There are certainly ways that we can improve on the offensive line, but I think their play has probably been with the exception of pass protection in several instances pretty good. When we throw it, we have to throw it efficiently. We have to catch it and move the chains. We have to make big plays, so those teams that choose to load the box and allow us to throw it will have to pay a terrible price. I think Brandon LaFell is in that position. I think Terrance Toliver is in that position just for those days, and we have to continue there. I think that our line is performing. Are they performing at the level they want? No. Are they performing at the level I want? No, but I think that they are giving us an opportunity to win and should continue to develop along those lines."

WHAT HE MEANT: "The offensive line? What do you want to know about the line? HEY! What's that thing over there?! ... How about those receivers?"

WHAT HE SAID: "Jacob Cutrera was nicked, and Baker came in. On his first two plays, you could tell that he just did not exactly feel comfortable with where he was at. On the fourth-down play, he makes an instinctive hit down low, and Chad Jones follows it up. I can only tell you that it was a big play. It was one that he'll remember for a long time."

WHAT HE MEANT: "CHAD JONES! WOOOO!!!!!"

WHAT HE SAID: "Depending on the down and distance, third and long is where your defense has to get off the field, and you have to have an advantage when you're in third and long. If you're third and five or greater, you'd like 35 to 45 percent to be their offense's success. On third down and short, you'd like it to be 50/50."

WHAT HE MEANT: "Third and Chavis. I get it. Shut up. The Washington game was a month ago. Get a new cliché."

WHAT HE SAID (on running to the short side): "One of the things that their defense did was that they overloaded, in my opinion, and played some of their best personnel to the field, so the opportunity to go and take advantage of some guys that we felt we had some mismatches against were to the boundary. Some of our calls were put just that way."

WHAT HE MEANT: "Whoops. My bad."

WHAT HE SAID: "Baker would work in. We don't anticipate Cutrera will have an issue with going. We think that he'll be fine. There are a number of guys there like Ace Foyil that will work in there."

WHAT HE MEANT: "Cutrera will be healthy, right? Right?"

WHAT HE SAID: "They are a very talented team. Their quarterback has stepped in. He has a strong arm. He makes great decisions with the ball. Of course, A.J. Green is making big plays for them on the perimeters, and the tailbacks can all run the football, so I don't know if I'm surprised. They are certainly a very capable offense."

WHAT HE MEANT: "You're asking me if I'm surprised Georgia is good? Are you an idiot?"

Les Miles Diagnoses, Attempts to Fix, the Problems

Richard Pittman — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:34:31 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

We aren't really sure what Joseph Barksdale (78) and Lyle Hitt (65) are supposed to be celebrating. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

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If there are three problems on this LSU team right now, I think we could categorize them as, in order from most concerning to least: a) problems on the offensive line, b) problems at quarterback, and c) problems at defensive line.

I really think the problems at quarterback will work themselves out as Jefferson gets more experienced and comfortable. The question is whether that process will culminate this year or next. Furthermore, I think there is little that Les Miles and the rest of the coaches can do to help that situation along other than help Jordan Jefferson by putting him in positions to succeed. I.e., by not telegraphing a ton of screen passes all the time. We'll see how that goes.

The problems we really need to talk about, though, are the problems on the offensive line and on the defensive line. My personal opinion is that the defensive line has played reasonably well in the last two games, which is why this is not one of the two biggest problems. We have had numerous injuries, however, and that's why it's on the list.

The story of LSU's depth problems on the defensive line, and at defensive tackle in particular, starts with recruiting and subsequent position changes or attrition. LSU has recruiting literally tons of defensive linemen in the last 5 years, starting with Lyle Hitt in 2002 and continuing to the 2009 class when we signed a very large number of defensive linemen. Here is a list of those defensive linemen who are no playing defensive line for LSU: Lyle Hitt (position change), Ricky Jean-Francois (declared for NFL), Joseph Barksdale (position change), Kentravis Aubrey (injuries), Sidell Corley (transfer), Will Blackwell (position change), Cordian Hagans (position change).

What all the moves from defensive line over to offensive line have done to our offensive line is a story for another day.

The second part of the story of why we are having depth problems at defensive line is the story of redshirting. Redshirting is, of course, the practice of not putting a player in the game for an entire season and keeping his year of eligibility. On the whole, the practice is down in college football as more and more coaches rely heavily on freshmen. Les Miles has been somewhat old school on this topic, redshirting as many new players as possible.

So far this year, the following true freshmen have played: Defensive tackle Josh Downs, cornerback Morris Claiborne, wide receiver Reuben Randle, and quarterback Russell Shepard. If there have been more, I did not see them. Some very heralded recruits appear to be headed to a redshirt, including 5-star recruits Chris Davenport and Michael Ford as well as other players who were expected to contribute immediately, like fullback Dominique Allen, defensive linemen Michael Brockers and Sam Montgomery, linebacker Barkevious Mingo, offensive tackle Chris Faulk, and safety Craig Loston (whose rumored injury may be the culprit here).

The football program can only have 85 scholarship players at a time. If we are committed to steadfastly refusing to play 20 or more of them, you can see where this can wreak havoc on your depth. Having about 1/4 of your scholarship players voluntarily unavailable leaves you vulnerable.

In particular, it leaves you vulnerable to injuries, and this is what is delivering the killing blow to our defensive line depth. Starting defensive end Lazarius Levingston ("Pep", to you) continues to be out with a leg injury. JUCO transfer Akiem Hicks has yet to play this season due to a variety of ailments, and the rumor is this problem may persist. And then last Saturday towards the end of a blowout win, true freshman Josh Downs left the game with a leg injury, the severity of which is a closely guarded secret

Les Miles was trying to get through the season using only 4 scholarship defensive tackles: veterans Charles Alexander, Al Woods, and Drake Nevis, plus true freshman Downs. If Hicks can come back, he would have been the 5th. I'm not sure this was ever a smart plan, especially considering Charles Alexander's extensive history of being unable to stay healthy. Alexander's been excellent so far this year, and has stayed healthy as far as we know, but you just can't count on that to last. Asking those 4 to take all the snaps seems like it's inviting injuries, as those players wear down.

Anyway, Les Miles has decided to move true freshman defensive end Michael Brockers, who at 6'6" 285# certainly has the size to play inside, over to defensive tackle and is prepared to pull the redshirt off of him. This has been reported at the premium sites, but I don't feel bad about repeating it here because it was pasted right on the freely available front page of Tigerbait.com yesterday.

He is bound and determined, I guess, to keep the redshirt on Chris Davenport, who is a natural defensive tackle. I don't have a problem with moving Brockers inside. The man is a giant and got rave reviews all through pre-season, and was expected to contribute this year as a result. If the need is on the inside rather than on the outside, so be it.

The most serious concern remains the offensive line, which simply has not played well. The good news is that it appears everyone is aware of that. Numerous stories have come out recently where players are acknowledging that the offense is sputtering. Here is Les Miles' take:

"Offensively, here I am: I’ve come off the game and I’m mad," Miles said. "I didn’t think we rushed the football well enough. I always like to rush the football. We rushed for 175 yards. I’m sitting there going, ‘Wow, when did we do that? Was I there? ’"

There’s something unsettled, uncertain, about the team that isn’t reflected on the stat sheet or the scoreboard. The problem is one of maximizing production. A problem of execution, not scheme or imagination. It’s as if a chef has every ingredient on hand but hasn’t yet struck the proper mix, Miles said.

"I think we’re looking for the best recipe, but I don’t know that we’ve found it just yet," he said. "I don’t think change is necessary, I think it’s more efficient and better."

I think we've all come to accept that Les Miles is not the smoothest guy in the room, and these quotes won't change that perception, but at least he agrees with us that there is a problem and is willing to acknowledge it publicly. This is a sharp change from last year's issues with the defensive schemes, which Les Miles to this day has refused to criticize, even after letting both defensive coordinators responsible go.

There are also rumors that Miles attended the offensive line unit meeting early in the week and let the group have it. It's a start. At least he is not blind to the problem. Let's see if we can fix it now.

LSU 23 - Vandy 9: Snap Judgments

Richard Pittman — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 02:49:17 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

3 months ago: Vanderbilt cornerback Myron Lewis (5) up ends LSU quarterback Russell Shepard (10) in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

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Big win tonight. I am reasonably pleased. My quick thoughts:

Great job defense. Just outstanding. I can't say enough about how well this defense responded to a lot of criticism. They gave up really only one good drive, and then came up big again and again when the offense put them in bad spots in the second half.
I'm upset that the announcers stole my thunder towards the end of the game by pointing out how quiet Patrick Peterson was. The announcers were right that "quiet" for Peterson means "great". He was locked one-on-one with a Vandy receiver on his side of the field all night and Vandy QB Larry Smith just didn't even challenge him. They seemed content just to run him out of the play.
The whole defensive line played well. I know some naysayers will point to some nice plays Vandy made, but it's inevitable that a competent offense will make the occasional nice play. We stuffed them for no gain or short gains time and again, and we did a good job of getting off the field on 3rd down, as Vandy was 4 of 15 on 3rd down, and 1 of 2 on 4th down. On first viewing I can't single out any one defensive lineman, as Woods, Nevis, Alem, Lavar Edwards, Charles Alexander, and others made plays at one time or another.
One of the new faces on the defense, Brandon Taylor, had a very good game, picking up an interception, making a couple nice tackles, and generally being competent.
The defense saved the offense's bacon tonight. We had too many 3-and-outs, and more than one negative possession in the second half. Vandy had great field position for most of the 2nd half thanks to three consecutive possessions in which we ran a total of nine plays with two punts and a bad-snap safety.
Speaking of the bad snap safety, the long snapper on punts is actually a scholarship player whose only role on the team, as a sophomore, is to be the punt snapper. It is doubtful that this is a wise use of a scholarship in any event, and he better be flawless the rest of the season.
Jordan Jefferson's ATVSQBPI was 4.0. A big part of the problem was way too many completed passes that went for very short or negative yardage. Another problem was the offensive line play, which again was not up to snuff for long stretches. Jefferson was running for his life every time he dropped back to pass in those 3 bad possessions.
Keiland Williams had a really great game, averaging 7.2 yards per carry with the game-clinching touchdown. Charles Scott is still trying to get it going, as he averaged only 3.8 yards per carry. He had some nice runs, but the blocking just wasn't there consistently.
Great to see R.J. Jackson get so many touches, including one that led directly to a score that could have ended up being very important.
We finally saw Russell Shepard, and while he was productive, hopefully his fumble will be a learning experience for him. I'm still waiting to see Reuben Randle touch the ball.
Except for Trindon Holliday's fumble, the return game was really quite good tonight.
I caught sight of Morris Claiborne in the game and making a tackle.

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

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

by John Froschauer - AP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poll

Who was the Player of the Game for LSU?

Patrick Peterson

112 votes

Jordan Jefferson

36 votes

Terrence Toliver

100 votes

Other

8 votes

256 votes | Poll has closed

A Young Defensive Line Tries to Find Its Way

Richard Pittman — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:42:33 -0000

Rahim Alem is giving the opposition that weird hand shimmy that is supposed to give people bad luck.

If you could name two positions on the LSU football team where a lack of experience will be a factor going into the season, you would name quarterback and defensive line. We have discussed the quarterback situation until we were blue in the face, but have heretofore not discussed the defensive line situation all that much.

Our starting defensive line on opening night will likely consist of two seniors (Alem and Al Woods) and two juniors (Drake Nevis and Pep Levingston), so it's strange to call them a young defensive line. None of these guys have been full-time starters at any time in their careers, and really only Alem and Woods have played big roles in the past.

We have a good idea of what the starters, especially Rahim Alem, Al Woods, and Drake Nevis will bring us. Alem is quick as can be and will get into the backfield. Nevis is a force if he's healthy. Woods has the size but is still trying to develop good technique. We don't know how any of them will be affected by getting starters' reps, but we know what these guys are capable of bringing to any given play. Pep is not as well-known a commodity, but we'll see him soon enough.

In addition to inexperience at the starters' positions, we have extreme youth when you get past the starters. Charles Alexander is our third tackle behind Woods and Nevis, and he is a 6th-year senior with significant starting experience, but other than him every other member of the two-deep and even the 3-deep will be freshmen. All five of the defensive linemen signed in the Class of 2009 are still in competition to reach that 2-deep. The result is that when LSU starts rotating defensive linemen in and out of the game, you the viewer will be utterly lost. We take a look at those freshmen and the redshirt freshmen and where they stand, after the jump.

Lavar Edwards, #89, DT. When Lavar Edwards signed with LSU in 2008, he was known as a good athlete who did not go full speed every play, and his position was something of a mystery. He could have been on the offensive line. He could have been a tight end (quite respectable pass-catching skills), a fullback, a defensive end, or he could have bulked up to be a quick defensive tackle. He has settled in at defensive tackle, and is looking pretty solid at this point after his redshirt year. It is quite natural for the press to focus on the incoming freshmen and/or the new starters during Fall Camp, and to ignore redshirt freshman backups like Edwards, but everything I've heard about him has been encouraging, though he is definitely being pushed by Josh Downs and Chris Davenport.

Chancey Aghayere, #87, DE. There are rumors that Aghayere has taken some snaps at defensive tackle, but for now he is listed as a defensive end. Chancey Aghayere's recruiting film from his junior year of high school is about as good as any I've ever seen from a defensive end. He was well on his way to being a 5-star headliner recruit, but injuries have slowed his development considerably. He has the talent to be a great one, but hasn't been on the field long enough in any one stretch to fully develop. The young man, unfortunately, seems to have just been bitten by the bad luck bug when it comes to injuries. He missed most of his senior year of high school with an injury and then couldn't get healthy in 2008. Here in 2009, he has continued to miss practices or be in the green jersey for substantial periods of time.

Chase Clement, #88, DE. To this point, Clement is still known more for his bloodlines than for his performance on the field, after his true freshman year in which he redshirted behind a highly veteran corps of defensive linemen. Clement is the nephew of former All-American offensive guard Eric Andolsek and linebacker Ruffin Rodrigue. He's got good size for a defensive end at 6'5" and 260#. He has been listed as the #2 defensive end behind Pep Levingston since camp started, and should see plenty of time this year.

Michael Brockers, #90, DE. Of all the freshmen defensive linemen from the class of 2009, Michael Brockers is reportedly making the biggest push for playing time. He already has great size at 6'6" and 285#. Heck, he might have to move inside at that size.

Sam Montgomery, #99, DE. Sam is probably still not ready to be an every-down sort of defensive end due to his smaller size at around 250#, but hopes to be able to contribute immediately as a pass rusher. He is pushing to be the guy who spells (or lines up opposite) Rahim Alem in that role.

Bennie Logan, #93, DE. I was a huge fan of Bennie Logan coming into camp, but it appears he's the one who is getting the least attention at this point. Les Miles is well known for sandbagging and talking up one kid while really thinking another is the real deal. I don't think Logan has done anything wrong; I just think Brockers has been a big surprise and Montgomery fits a niche that Logan can't fit into. With 5 freshman defensive ends between the true freshmen and redshirts, it is no crime to let one of the true freshmen have a year to redshirt and get some separation

Chris Davenport, #50, DT. Chris Davenport may have the highest upside of any player in this guide (with the possible exception of a healthy Chancey Aghayere). He's a monster at 6'4" 323#. He's a bit raw, and has not played against the same level of competition as even the other true freshmen have. Still, I don't see him redshirting. He's just too talented.

Josh Downs, #77, DT. He's known as the "high motor" guy, and he's not even white. His motor must be through the roof. Downs may not have the upside of Chris Davenport, but he's a really good prospect in his own right, and has the polish to perhaps give him the early edge in playing time.

Be on the lookout for these guys, and we'll start sorting them out when the games start getting played.

Is LSU Planning To Move To A 3-4 Defense?

Richard Pittman — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:00:13 -0000

Our Tigers have run a 4-3 defense for quite a long time, meaning they line up with 4 defensive linemen and 3 linebackers. In this kind of scheme, your defensive linemen have to be quick and athletic to make up for the speed lost by taking out a linebacker and adding a defensive tackle. You need depth at tackle in order to do this, as you will need probably 5 or 6 tackles to get through a season, and that's only if you don't have a rash of injuries.

Take a look at LSU's roster. There are only 3 experienced defensive tackles listed: Charles Alexander, Drake Nevis, and Al Woods. Two of those guys are seniors. If you look at the Class of 2009, which we have been doing, you see two more defensive tackles, Chris Davenport and Josh Downs, with JUCO transfer Akiem Hicks being a hybrid DE/DT. If you look at the commitment list for the Class of 2010, which currently has 21 commitments, you will see we have zero defensive tackles committed to the 2010 class. If you do the math factoring in the guys we KNOW we want like Trovon Reed and Lache Seastrunk, you wonder if there is going to be any defensive tackle signed.

This makes for a situation that appears, at least at first blush, to give us a very thin depth chart at defensive tackle for 2009, and an even thinner depth chart in 2010. This has been caused by attrition (Sidell Corley transferring, Ricky Jean-Francois going to the NFL early), position switches (Cordian Hagans switching to offensive guard) and graduation (Marlon Favorite).

At the same time, you can look at how we've recruited linebackers and see that we are stocking up. Barkevious Mingo, Kevin Minter, Tahj Jones, and Lamin Barrow were all a part of the Class of 2009, while Rockey Duplessis greyshirted from the Class of 2008. Josh Johns could also end up at linebacker. In the Class of 2010, we have added Luke Muncie, DJ Welter, and Justin Maclin, while either Sam Gibson or Houston Bates could eventually end up there as well. That is a huge linebacker haul in terms of numbers in a short period of time, while at the same time our defensive tackle recruiting has slowed down a lot.

All of this comes while the 4-3 defense is being phased out at some other places. The NFL, which not that long ago was composed mostly of 4-3 defenses (popularized by Buddy Ryan in the 1980s), appears to be returning to the pre-Buddy Ryan days of more 3-4 defenses. At Bama, Nick Saban (who ran an unabashed 4-3 system just a few years ago at LSU) quickly converted Bama from a 4-3 to a 3-4. This trend appears to be the defenses' counter to the fact that offenses are moving more towards a wide open, field-spreading attack (even teams that aren't in the "spread" are still trying to stretch the defense more by passing more often than they did a few years ago). Teams are responding by getting more linebackers on the field at the expense of hulking defensive tackles.

This brings up the question. With fewer defensive tackles and more linebackers, are we setting up a switch to the 3-4?

I don't have a definitive answer to that question. After all, positions can be somewhat fluid. While Davenport and Downs are definitely tackles, Bennie Logan and/or Michael Brockers may be as well, though I have considered them defensive ends to this point. Michael Brockers in particular has bulked up quite a bit, as he now is listed at 285#, and reports say he looks it. Class of 2008 signees Lavar Edwards and Chancey Aghayere, who have previously been considered defensive ends, may also see a move to tackle. Lavar Edwards, a redshirt freshman, is actually now listed as a tackle.

Or will these guys just be the kind of big defensive ends that the 3-4 system requires?

I'm not saying it's happening, and I'm not taking a position on whether it should happen. The circumstances have simply made me suspicious about our plans for the future of the defensive tackle position.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Class of 2009: JUCO DT Akiem Hicks

Richard Pittman — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:00:10 -0000

via media.scout.com

That is one of my favorite pictures ever. It almost rivals that picture of Trindon Holliday and Herman Johnson. By the rules I set up in doing this series, I have no choice but to label Akiem Hicks a mystery man. There's no film of him. There are hardly even any pictures of him in action. If you search for photos of Akiem Hicks on Google, you come up mostly with pictures of other prospects, like Kenny Bell, Chris Davenport, and Craig Loston. Even the official LSU bio of Akiem Hicks is sparse in its information. Do not fret. Our mystery man from the 2008 class is getting raves as one of the next great offensive linemen at LSU.

This is not to merely surrender. There are still things we can tell you about Akiem Hicks. He is a product of California high schools and went to Sacramento Community College to play his first two years of college football because he could not get eligible to play FBS football. He was fairly heavily recruited at Sacramento CC, earning offers from multiple BCS and non-*BCS institutions ranging from LSU and Tennessee to Oregon and South Florida. I wouldn't go so far as to say, "Everyone wanted him," because frankly not everyone has a need for a JUCO defensive lineman. LSU did, and that's going to be where we put our focus.

One of the difficulties facing LSU this offseason has been the loss of 5 of our top 8 defensive linemen. Tyson Jackson, Marlon Favorite, Kirston Pittman, Ricky Jean-Francois, and Tremain Johnson are all gone off of last year's squad. Those are 3 starters and 2 primary backups. Even though we all think Drake Nevis is going to be a star, and that Rahim Alem is a star already, we have to be concerned about defensive line depth. Our top 3 defensive tackles are Charles Alexander, Al Woods, and Drake Nevis. Both Alexander and Nevis have had injury problems of varying degrees. After those three, we are going to have to ask freshmen to step in to play. At defensive end, only the starters Rahim Alem and Pep Levingston have any experience at all playing on a college field. While we all believe that Lavar Edwards, Cordian Hagans, Chancey Aghayere, and Chase Clement can play (plus all the really good-looking defensive linemen from the 2009 class), I can't blame Miles for wanting to bring in a more mature and experienced alternative while the freshmen get acclimated.

Plus, after the 2009 season, the only contributors to the 2008 season remaining will be Nevis and Levingston, who were probably the 9th and 10th defensive linemen on the 2008 squad. Adding Hicks to the equation is a nice insurance policy. I'm not saying he's going to be a star player, but who knows, he might be. As I said, it's not like we really know much about him. It's just that after the first few defensive linemen in the rotation, our DL gets awfully young awfully quickly. It's a smart move to bring in an experienced player who will be here for two years while we sort out the next generation of defensive linemen at LSU.

Hicks reportedly can play any position on the defensive line, though his 6'5" 295# frame would suggest he's more natural on the inside. He would be an awfully big 4-3 defensive end, but I suppose he'll play where he's needed.