SB Nation - Cordian Hagans

Things I Worry About: Football Edition

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

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Class of 2009: JUCO DT Akiem Hicks

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

via media.scout.com

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

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

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

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

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