SB Nation - Karnell Hatcher

The LSU Preview

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

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

Alabama Offense v. LSU Defense

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alabama Defense v. LSU Offense

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Putting It All Together

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

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

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

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

Hope for the best.

LSU 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)

View full size photo »

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

Miles Names A Strong Safety Starter

Poseur — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:41:52 -0000

In a classic example of burying the lede, The Advocate reviewed Les Miles' radio show and after several pages of the usual "we're working hard" stuff, there was some actual news:

Miles said senior Danny McCray could be the starter at strong safety against Washington. McCray has played mostly nickel back in his previous seasons at LSU.

McCray, like just about every returning member of the defense not named Jones, Alem, or Peterson, has come under some, shall was say, intense scrutiny. It's kind of a bizarre exercise to single out one or two players for the blame of last year's abomination of a defense, but that's what fans do.

A quick perusal of the LSU message boards reveals that McCray and Eugene are probably neck and neck for Most Blamed LSU Defensive Player (Jarrett Lee is a runaway winner on offense). I'm not going to argue that either of those defensive backs had a good year because they clearly didn't, but I'm still loathe to blame any one player for last season. It was a collective effort.

Loston is already earning absurd raves and, well, I'll let Dandy Don take it in his review of the radio show:

Dustin wanted to know when the earliest LSU fans could expect to see Craig Loston on the playing field. Miles said that Loston has great talent and would likely play against Washington with less than two weeks of practice.

Loston must be awesome. Absolutely awesome. Do you know how absurdly gifted a player must be to come in as a freshman and earn playing time after only two weeks of practice? If Loston can push for playing time after being here for a week, he will probably be in the mix for a starting job by midseason. I'm not prone to optimistic predictions for freshmen, but I'm absolutely floored by this. And I still am curious where Ron Brooks and Karnell Hatcher, two pretty talented sophomores, are going to play.

Safety might be transforming from a team weakness to a strength before our very eyes (that Chad Jones guy has of course locked down the free safety slot). There's just tons of underclassmen fighting for time, which is probably why McCray is getting the start now. He's about the only senior on the depth chart. Someone's got to show the young kittens the ropes before he eventually slides back to more of a support role. Experience matters, but eventually, talent wins out.

Maybe, just maybe, the Tiger faithful will stop blaming McCray for last year's pass defense.

Fans Will Be Watching LSU Defense

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fall Camp's Biggest Surprise

Richard Pittman — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:44:21 -0000

via www.tigerrag.com

In the Spring, defensive back Ron Brooks was the story. He moved from cornerback to strong safety, and despite his cornerback-sized frame, he was the talk of the Town, the next playmaker in the LSU secondary. While no one said he had won the job, most people were saying he was clearly the best option at the position, and the one that the coaching staff liked the most. He had the inside track.

Now, if you substitute the word "Fall" for "Spring", the words "Brandon Taylor" for "Ron Brooks", and change everything from past tense to present tense, you have the current story.

When Fall Camp opened, everyone was surprised to see the true sophomore backup cornerback, who recorded all of 4 tackles and 1 pass breakup in 2008, not only practicing with the safeties, but running with the first team. At first, many believed that it was an experiment, that he was "cross-training" so he could be more versatile. Perhaps he was in training to play more of a hybrid nickel or dime position?

Not so far.

In every practice report I have read that has mentioned the subject, Brandon Taylor has been listed as running with the first team at safety. Ron Brooks was behind him, but now it seems that Karnell Hatcher is behind him, with Ron Brooks running third.

You have to keep in mind that the media sees only a small fraction of the practice, and sees no live contact. And no, I would not put Les Miles above deliberately hiding who his starter would be. If he really is taking that kind of approach though, we just have to live with it.

For what it's worth, Brandon Taylor is still listed at cornerback on LSU's semi-official (but probably not up-to-date) roster at Lsusports.net.

When Brandon Taylor was recruited, he was considered one of the best players in the 2008 class. He was body-ready, a skilled athlete, and came from a football-playing family that surely put him a little ahead of other recruits mentally. The problem was that the absolute best player in the class, Patrick Peterson, played the same position Taylor played. It was an awkward situation where Taylor was good enough to be an immediate contributor, but the coaching staff had to wonder how much they wanted two true freshmen to be in the rotation at corner.

In the end, the defensive coaching staff probably made the worst move they could have made. They played Brandon Taylor, but not very much, and rarely in situations that mattered. He also played some special teams, but was not a very big factor there either.

Heading into the 2009 season, Taylor was expected to compete at cornerback, possibly as a dark horse to beat out Jai Eugene and Chris Hawkins for the spot opposite Peterson. No one guessed he might get a look at safety and then keep the job. It looks now like that very well could happen.

The competition is certainly not over. I really liked Karnell Hatcher in 2008, and of the three people competing for that spot, he is the one who saw the most significant playing time last year. He was very strong against the run, recording 13 tackles while backing up Brandon's older brother Curtis Taylor. Ron Brooks is still, of course, an outstanding athlete who was a special teams standout last year.

Soon, practices will be closed and we will no longer get any kind of reliable information on what's going on. We will know when we see the Tigers take the field on September 5.

Fall Camp Storylines So Far

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2010 Recruiting: The Little Guys, Part 1 of 2

Richard Pittman — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:30:09 -0000

If you believe the title of the blog Team Speed Kills, then speed is a very important consideration in football. I'm not so sure that speed at the inaptly named "skill" positions is any more important than is strength at those positions and/or strength on the lines, but anyway, the speed guys get all the girls, so that's where we'll start.

As of this moment, there are 11 players committed to LSU who are listed as a defensive back, wide receiver, quarterback, tight end, or running back, thanks to the recent commitment of Tyrann Mathieu. Because that's close to half the total, we'll start there and consider linebackers to be part of The Big Guys.

Tharold Simon of Eunice is one of the most impressive prospects in this class to this point. He is a 6'4" speedster with the size and the hands to be a wide receiver, the speed and athleticism to be a cornerback, and with the bulldog mentality to be a safety. He's an outstanding prospect and a perfect example of one of those players who is right now being under-appreciated because of the general indifference towards Louisiana prospects and LSU recruiting this year, as discussed yesterday and in previous columns. Simon is a guy who had almost no media attention before his commitment, but whose highlight videos are so impressive that anyone who watches them cannot help but drop his jaw in wonder. Nevertheless, he is only a 3-star on Scout and is a low 4-star on Rivals. It is not known exactly where he will fit into the roster, but I would bet he ends up on the defensive side of the ball. A tall, rangy corner who relishes contact is the wave of the future, and I think Simon could be outstanding at that position. In my opinion, he is every bit as good of a prospect as Janzen Jackson was last year (and I'm not downing Jackson just because he picked another school. I just think this kid is THAT good), and Janzen was a 5-star at corner.

In a year when Louisiana prospects are generally being poo-poo'd, Ronnie Vinson of Newman High School in New Orleans is one of the guys getting some respect. Like Tharold Simon, Vinson is a do-it-all athlete for his high school team. He plays running back and defensive back, and also plays a little wide receiver. Some schools reportedly were trying to lure him away from LSU by promising him an opportunity to play running back in college. LSU reportedly has been recruiting him to be a defensive back. In the end, he decided to go with the big school and the opportunity to be a defensive back. Vinson is a very solid prospect who will probably need a little development time before he could break into the defensive back rotation, which is looking kind of deep unless he can be a cornerback.

If you want to talk about "interesting" prospects, how about quarterback Zach Lee of McKinney, Texas? He's a pretty big kid at 6'4". Not only is he a good quarterback prospect, but he is a Major League Baseball prospect as a pitcher, and he is a standout in high school track & field, listing an 8'9" broad jump. Like Chad Jones, he is just an outstanding all-around athlete and a good student as well. The problem with him? Well, it's that he really isn't 100% focused on football. He committed to LSU and plans to be a quarterback for the football team and a pitcher for the baseball team, and that's only if he doesn't sign with MLB. He says all the right things about wanting to go to college rather than straight to the pros, but who knows what will happen when the money is shown to him? Assuming he ever gets to LSU, I am not sure how you can advance very far on the depth chart at quarterback of all positions if you're only a part-time football player. If he makes it, though, LSU will have an outstandingly athletic group of quarterbacks in 2010 with Zach Lee, Sam Gibson (more on him tomorrow), Jordan Jefferson, Chris Garrett, and Russell Shepard on the roster. Oh, and Jarrett Lee (no relation).

While Luke Muncie of Klein Oak High School in Spring, Texas is listed as a safety, I would fully expect him to end up at linebacker before he actually sets foot on the field for a game at LSU. He's already a pretty big kid at 6'2" and 220#, and if patterns from past years are any indication, he will probably put on 10 or 20 pounds before he gets to campus and a total of about 30 before before the end of his true freshman year. Muncie is just a tackler. He goes after the ball carrier and gets him to the ground. In coverage.. he looks like a linebacker. Don't get me wrong; he's not bad. He's just not Craig Loston or Karnell Hatcher or Tharold Simon or Chad Jones. Or even Josh Johns. No, I think Muncie's future is probably more towards the middle of the defense than towards the back third of it. Muncie is a very quiet prospect. Not a whole lot is known about him. He reports a very nice set of offers, though, including Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, and Arkansas, among others.

Tight end Nic Jacobs of Many, Louisiana, is a big long-armed kid who might end up on the offensive line or at defensive end. He is listed at 6'5" and 245# and judging from his pictures, it is all muscle. He is reportedly also a standout on the basketball court. There are some questions about his pass-catching ability, which leads to the talk that he might bulk up and play offensive line, but the world needs blocking tight ends too. Of course, if he bulks up to 275#, he may not have a choice but to move inside.

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

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

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

Continuing on with the topic at hand.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5 Players LSU Can't Afford to Lose to Injury

Richard Pittman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:34:54 -0000

Back in August of 2008, I wrote a post entitled "5 Players We Can Ill-Afford to Lose to Injury". The title was self-explanatory. I attempted to name off five players who were too important to the 2008 season for us to lose without significant costs. Those players were, in order, Ciron Black, Colt David, Darry Beckwith, Ricky Jean-Francois, and Richard Dickson.

Alas, Darry Beckwith got hurt and missed time, seeming to not return to full strength for the rest of the season. Ricky Jean-Francois ended up not being all that important despite being healthy. Many of us overrated him. Otherwise, it was a good list.

This year, I found the list of 5 essential players to be harder to compile.

1. Ciron Black, LT. Last year, we were mainly concerned about the fact that there was no backup plan to Ciron Black. backup left tackle Jarvis Jones had been expelled from the team and it appeared that if Black went down we would have to go with an out-of-position guard or a true freshman. Now we at least have a backup plan, as Greg Shaw did some nice things as a true freshman backup tackle last year, and we have a nice true freshman class of linemen as well. The depth is there, but Ciron Black is the most experienced player on the team, having been a full-time starter and every-down player for the past 3 seasons. He actually has a chance, if he stays healthy, to tie a record for most games started by a college player. If LSU goes to the SEC Championship Game and then to a bowl, Black will share that record. It will be a big luxury to have such an experienced player at left tackle.

2. Brandon Lafell, WR. I defended LSU's depth at wide receiver last night, but the fact is that Brandon Lafell is the only proven high-level player at that position. People seem to forget how productive Lafell was last year, and how productive the passing game in general was. In a league where Julio Jones and A.J. Green got most of the press, Brandon Lafell led the league in receptions, was second (to Green) in receiving yards, and tied for the lead in touchdown catches. He was a deserving 1st Team All-SEC player, and he is returning for a 5th season. The most productive wideout other than Lafell returning is Terrance Toliver, whose 22 catches last season for 257 yards was probably a disappointment, but it's not at all too late for Toliver to reach that vast potential. It would be nice to let him do it while Lafell is getting double-covered though.

3. Rahim Alem, DE. Alem is an outstanding player, but here is where the picking gets tougher. I really think the depth is there on defensive line that we will have good players there no matter what. Alem is just such a good pass rusher and such an athletic guy that he adds a dimension to the defensive line that would be very difficult to replace, even if we could easily plug a competent guy in there after him. I just don't think we could plug in a dynamic penetrator and pass rusher like Alem. If Alem were to get hurt, we would have to turn to unproven freshman Chancey Aghayere and Sam Montgomery in an attempt to find that spark.

4. Richard Dickson, TE. I picked him last year, saying:

The big passing target is going to be an important outlet for our young quarterbacks all season long. If they struggle to get the ball to the outside, Dickson will be there finding holes in the zone and giving them a big target to throw to. There is no receiving tight end to speak of behind him, and no receiver quite like him on the team, so he is going to be an essential part of the offense.

You could just cut and past the first two sentences of that entry here and it would still true. We still have young quarterbacks. We can still expect them to struggle at times. Dickson was our #3 receiver in both catches and yards last season, and I would expect the same this season. One difference is that I think we have better depth there now than we did last season, but like Ciron Black, Dickson has been a 3-year starter and it would be impossible to replace that experience.

5. Chad Jones, S. It gets harder and harder here. Chad Jones looks like a star at this position, but we are really getting into areas where the depth is also outstanding. If we were to lose Chad Jones, we could plug Danny McCray in there, and he would do very well as a regular safety, as opposed to nickel back where he has been used and where he struggles. Or we could insert Karnell Hatcher, who I thought was outstanding as a freshman backup last year. Or we could move Harry Coleman back to safety again. Jones is great but there are options, and losing him would not be the end of the world. The same could be said in varying degrees of Patrick Peterson, Drake Nevis, Charles Scott, Lyle Hitt, Joseph Barksdale, Perry Riley, and others who are sure to be important players on this team. You have to choose someone, so you might as well choose the best left-handed pitcher on the football roster.

Of course, this list could change between now and September 5, 2009, as it is always possible for us to lose more players to injury and/or attrition, screwing up the depth at various positions.

Who are your five?