As for who’s catching on fastest among his new backer mates, Sheppard continued, “Actually, Ryan Baker is probably the most up-to-speed out of everybody aside from myself.”
The Stone Mountain, Ga., native then suggested LSU’s linebacking corps, in year two under defensive coordinator John Chavis, can be fruitful with any number of lineup combinations, not just ones which have him playing in the middle.
“We can be successful with any combination,” said Sheppard. “Of course Ryan Baker probably won’t see the middle because of his speed and size. He fits that outside Will linebacker position, maybe even the Sam, because he played the Sam when Chavis first got here. And (Kevin) Minter can definitely play the Mike or the outside, so it’s really whatever Coach Chavis wants.”
On Minter, a redshirt freshman, Sheppard elaborated, “Kevin Minter is a really good one in my mind. I keep praising him because I see (how far) he’s come from his first day last spring when he was getting yelled at every day. Now, he’s in position to push somebody to start.”
Sheppard declined to mention who “somebody” is, but it’s pretty clear Minter, a physical player who goes by “Thump,” is nipping at the heels of Baker and Stefoin Francois, the projected starter at Sam linebacker. If nothing else, the combination of Minter-Sheppard gives the coaching staff a more physical line-up alternative to the speed-first, “contain the edges” option brought by Baker and Francois, two former standouts on special teams.
Moving on to Francois, Sheppard commented, “Stefoin’s always been a football player. He can move around, he can hit. That was a given. You saw him (do all that) on special teams. The biggest thing in the transition from safety to linebacker is the technique. You can ask Harry (Coleman). Even Harry would ask me ‘Man, how do I get these big guys off me?’ It’s gonna be the same thing with Stefoin. He’s a bit undersized, but he’s put on weight now. But his thing is gonna be technique.”
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