SB Nation - Lazarius Levingston

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.

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.

Depth Chart Thoughts

Richard Pittman — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:00:15 -0000

by Bill Haber - AP

(AP Photo/Bill Haber, File)

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Once again, we aren't exactly quick to react here, thanks to our day jobs, but we do give you things that most other places can't. Namely, us. Here's a look at the newly released depth-chart-les-miles-wants-you-to-think-is-right:

X 80 Terrance Toliver 6-5 206 Jr.
2 Rueben Randle 6-3 201 Fr.

LT 70 Ciron Black 6-5 322 Sr.
76 Chris Faulk 6-6 316 Fr.

LG 68 Josh Dworaczyk 6-6 281 So.
60 Will Blackwell 6-4 298 Fr.-RS

C 53 T-Bob Hebert 6-3 282 So.
-or- 64 P. J. Lonergan 6-4 300 Fr.-RS

RG 65 Lyle Hitt 6-2 295 Sr.
72 Alex Hurst 6-6 324 Fr.-RS

RT 78 Joseph Barksdale 6-5 315 Jr.
75 Greg Shaw 6-5 301 So.

TE 18 Richard Dickson 6-3 240 Sr.
19 Deangelo Peterson 6-4 240 So.
83 Mitch Joseph 6-5 275 So.

Z 1 Brandon LaFell 6-3 206 Sr.
21 Chris Tolliver 6-1 178 Fr.-RS

3-Wide 86 Chris Mitchell 6-0 185 Sr.
28 R.J. Jackson 6-0 202 Sr.

QB 9 Jordan Jefferson 6-5 220 So.
12 Jarrett Lee 6-2 225 So.
-or- 10 Russell Shepard 6-1 188 Fr.

RB 32 Charles Scott 6-0 234 Sr.
5 Keiland Williams 6-0 221 Sr.
-or- 8 Trindon Holliday 5-5 161 Sr.
26 Richard Murphy 6-1 204 Jr.

FB 45 Richard Dugas 6-1 271 Jr.
35 James Stampley 5-10 240 So.
33 Dominique Allen 5-11 275 Fr.

LE 84 Rahim Alem 6-3 263 Sr.
87 Chancey Aghayere 6-4 263 Fr.-RS

LT 97 Al Woods 6-4 311 Sr.
77 Josh Downs 6-1 275 Fr.

RT 91 Charles Alexander 6-3 298 Sr.
-or- 92 Drake Nevis 6-1 292 Jr.

RE 95 Lazarius Levingston 6-4 269 Jr.
89 Lavar Edwards 6-4 265 Fr.-RS

Sam 24 Harry Coleman 6-2 206 Sr.
11 Kelvin Sheppard 6-3 239 Jr.

Mike 54 Jacob Cutrera 6-4 236 Sr.
-or- 11 Kelvin Sheppard 6-3 239 Jr.

Will 56 Perry Riley 6-2 245 Sr.
22 Ryan Baker 6-0 221 So.

LCB 29 Chris Hawkins 6-1 182 Sr.
4 Jai Eugene 5-11 182 Jr.
13 Ron Brooks 5-11 175 Fr.-RS

SS 15 Brandon Taylor 6-0 191 So.
37 Karnell Hatcher 6-2 207 So.

FS 3 Chad Jones 6-3 225 Jr.
44 Danny McCray 6-1 206 Sr.

RCB 7 Patrick Peterson 6-1 211 So.
17 Morris Claiborne 6-0 171 Fr.

PK 30 Josh Jasper 5-11 165 So.
38 Drew Alleman 5-11 185 Fr.-RS

KO 30 Josh Jasper 5-11 165 So.
38 Drew Alleman 5-11 185 Fr.-RS

PR 8 Trindon Holliday 5-5 161 Sr.
3 Chad Jones 6-3 225 Jr.

KOR 8 Trindon Holliday 5-5 161 Sr.
13 Ron Brooks 5-11 176 So.
5 Keiland Williams 6-0 221 Sr.

P 38 Derek Helton 6-0 188 Jr.
30 Josh Jasper 5-11 160 Jr.

SNP 85 Alex Russian 6-5 247 So.
50 Joey Crappell 6-2 242 So.

HOLD 38 Derek Helton 6-0 188 Jr.
12 Jarrett Lee 6-2 225 So.

Thoughts after the jump.

It's a mild surprise that true freshman defensive tackle Josh Downs is in the 2-deep ahead of his more heralded classmate Chris Davenport, but given the tenuous nature of defensive tackle depth right now, I think both are going to play a good bit.
T-Bob Hebert apparently beat out P.J. Lonergan at center, at least for now. At least, Hebert's name is listed at the front end of the or-clause and Lonergan's is the back end.
If you're a scholarship player who has been in the system for a full year or more, and if you're not on this list, I would say your prospects for playing time now and in the future are not very good. An exception to that might be at linebacker where we are just so flush with senior talent and where junior Kelvin Sheppard is occupying two spots on the 2-deep. I could really see Stefoin Francois or Kyle Prater busting through if they're patient. Stevan Ridley would be another exception.
There are some true freshmen on there: Russell Shepard, Rueben Randle, Josh Downs, Chris Faulk, Dominique Allen, Morris Claiborne.
It's a mild surprise that Michael Brockers and/or Sam Montgomery did not make the 2-deep. They're true freshmen defensive ends, and word was that both were really pushing Edwards and Aghayere for time. I hope Aghayere's healthy. He will be an absolute beast if he gets healthy and can round into the shape it looked like he could round into during his recruitment.
Other notable freshmen not on the list: Barkevious Mingo, Michael Ford, Craig Loston, Bennie Logan, Kevin Minter. Some of these are likely to see time on special teams though, as might Josh Johns, Rockey Duplessis, and others.
Rahim Alem is listed as a left defensive end and Pep Levingston is a right. I think this is a simple mistake and that Alem will be at RDE and Levingston at LDE.
I think that the second team OL could end up being beastly when they get their chance.
I still want Chris Faulk and Morris Claiborne to redshirt. We have guys who have been in the system who can fill in when the game is already decided. I hope they figure out a way to avoid using these guys unless they can really contribute in a competitive game.

5 Keys To A Successful Season, Part 1: Veterans Step Up

Richard Pittman — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:50:48 -0000

In particular, veterans on defense step up. In more particular, veteran former role players increase their production. In extra-particular, I am thinking of linebackers Jacob Cutrera and Perry Riley, and defensive end Pep Levingston.

These three players, two seniors and a 4th year junior, are all going to be counted on to make plays this year. Cutrera and Levingston have been the consummate role players in their careers. Both have waited their turn behind good players who were ahead of them: Cutrera's been behind Darry Beckwith and Levingston has been behind Tyson Jackson, Tremaine Johnson, and Kirston Pittman. The way is cleared for these two to stake a claim to a starting spot and both are reportedly having great offseasons.

In particular, people are saying Jacob Cutrera has really increased his level of play. He has always been a solid backup, but now people are saying he's one of the best players on the defense. It might surprise you to learn that Cutrera has actually started in 5 games; one in his freshman season, two in his sophomore season, and two in his junior season, and he has 91 tackles on his career, including a career high 11 tackle game in his freshman season. His junior year was actually less productive than his freshman season from a tackles standpoint, even though he filled in for an injured Darry Beckwith for part of the season and played significant reps in every game.

They are saying that he is a man among boys this year, and really ready to increase his production. In particular, Cutrera will have to improve against the pass, and will have to make more "big" stops, i.e. stops for losses or for short gains.

Lazarius "Pep" Levingston has always looked like a good player at his defensive end spot. When he gets into the game, he always gets penetration into the backfield and makes plays. He has only made 17 tackles on his career, but 5.5 have been for a loss, which I think is a very good ratio for a defensive end. He has simply been behind a very deep and very veteran defensive line corps led by the likes of Tyson Jackson and Kirston Pittman. The opportunity just has not been there. Pep is probably the player who will most benefit from having 5 of our top 8 defensive linemen graduate or leave early.

The coaches expect Pep to step right into Tyson Jackson's spot and be a playmaker on defense.

Riley has been a starter, and I for one expressed surprise at how much offseason hype he is getting. Perhaps I shouldn't though. However, CFN was not the only accolade he received, as he was also 3rd Team Pre-Season All-SEC as chosen by the coaches. He was a Butkus Award Finalist last year, an honor that came as a big surprise to me.

Riley has a surprising 88 career tackles including a surprising 60 last year. He was the defensive MVP of the Peach Bowl (still refusing to call it by its official name) with 11 tackles and an interception, his second interception of the season. Was that performance in the Peach Bowl the start of something great? Is this a guy who should have redshirted in his freshman year? I would love to think that Riley is due for a breakout year under the tutelage of master linebacker coach John Chavis. In particular, you have to love what he was able to do in pass defense at the end of last year, picking off a pass in each of his last two games.

Like with Cutrera, we will want to see more big plays from Riley. More plays being made at the line of scrimmage or behind it. We would like for him to continue being productive in pass defense.

The LSU defense certainly looks to be improved over the nightmare that was last season. If these three guys show themselves to be impact players rather than just role players, they could take a defense from good to great and help put us on the road to a special season.

Tomorrow: Special Teams.

Questions Coming Out of Spring Practice

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Who will be our backup defensive linemen?

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

5. Whither the defensive backfield?

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

Spring is Winding Down

Richard Pittman — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:24:16 -0000

You thought that here on April 3, 2009, that Spring was just getting started? On the football calendar, we are on the downside of Spring, and it will end soon. LSU had a scrimmage yesterday, and now they take off for Spring Break. After the team returns from Spring Break, there will be a few more practices and then the Spring Game on April 18. That will be the end of the Spring and the start of Summer. Summer lasts until around August 1.

So, the approaching break makes us consider the question, "Where are we?"

To this point, I think everyone seems to be in agreement that the defense looks outstanding. The new hirings on the defensive side of the ball seem to be paying off. Everyone says that the defensive line and the defensive backs are playing outstanding football for this time of the season. The defense seems eager to prove itself after a disappointing 2008 campaign.

In particular, word leaking out of the practices is that Patrick Peterson, Chad Jones, and Drake Nevis are looking like they're ready to emerge as serious playmakers. Al Woods looks like a different player with coaching from Brick Haley and is ready to be a solid contributor. Pep Levingston is looking beastly at left defensive end.

Reading between the lines a little bit, there are still a few spots that are not won. In particular, I think the linebacker situation is unsettled. I believe that 2 out of 3 of Perry Riley, Kelvin Sheppard, and Jacob Cutrera will be starting, but it's hard to say which two. All three may be starters, but I believe that the coaches are giving Ryan Baker a long look at outside linebacker, and are also seriously considering moving either Danny McCray or Harry Coleman to linebacker to get a little more speed on the field.

I've gone on record as saying that I think Ryan Baker looks like a playmaker, and that we should get our playmakers on the field as much as possible. I'm not the coach and I don't see these guys all the time like they do, but I'm rooting for Ryan.

Of course, if Harry Coleman moves into the linebacker spot, it opens up the safety position for Ron Brooks to slide right in.

The offense has been a different story. It has been a hard slog for the offensive side of the ball, though apparently things went better at yesterday's scrimmage. I think if there has been an area that has struggled the most, it has probably been the offensive line. We have to replace two starters there, and it is apparent that the unit has a little ways to go if they're going to be a good unit. O-line is probably the most chemistry-dependent position on the field, and there's a lot of time for the unit to get to where it needs to get, but it's a little problematic that they aren't further along. It seems that the line is missing former center Brett Helms a lot.

The quarterbacks are another problem area, but it's to be expected. We still have very young quarterbacks. The most veteran QB on the roster is a redshirt sophomore. The starter is going through his first Spring Practice. Jordan Jefferson, Jarrett Lee, and Russell Shepard are all going to make progress between now and the first game of the season. I think with Jefferson at the helm, we are going to see some big plays, but we are also going to see some mistakes. He's still just so raw, and has only scratched the surface of what he can do. Shepard will probably play QB in a limited role, and will also be used at other positions to put the ball in his hands in a lot of different ways.

I am reasonably confident that our running back situation will be good, barring further injury. I did not like what Les Miles said of Keiland Williams today:

Keiland Williams has spent a lot of time around here and we need him to really compete and be the guy. I think he had a run today that I though [sic] looked different than I’d seen him run. It looked like he may well have stepped it up a bit.

Reading between the lines, it seems Miles is not pleased with how Keiland has played this Spring. This is after Keiland was not productive in the first half of last year because he ran tentatively. If his one run yesterday looked "different" than Miles had seen him run, and that this is a good thing, it suggests to me that he has been running tentatively again. Hopefully, I am either reading way too much into this, or Keiland really has stepped it up.

I still think the wide receivers are going to be a fantastic unit, but they will need the QBs and the offensive line to play well or they will not be able to be used to their maximum ability.

So the grades right now are very good for the defense, but the offense needs work in general and especially on the offensive line. That's the message I'm getting. Are you seeing anything different?