Well people that have actually been at the practices on the scouting services are all repeating it......people that are actually in the mode of evaluating talent
Exact opposite. Jefferson will only be on the field when LSU has momentum on its side. They want to protect this kid. Not throw him to the wolves. either way, I claimed here a few months back that Jefferson was a more dominant high schooler and more college-ready high schooler than Perrilloux was and got laughed at, because "star-crazed" people saw Perrilloux's 5 stars and flipped out. But Jefferson figures to do what RP did not -- play as a true freshman.
It isn't that Hatch CAN'T throw deep passes. He just is hesitant to and prefers to throw 6-10 yard balls. With the way this team will be able to run the ball, there won't be a lot of 3rd and 18's, so that's why it is not an issue with him.
If RP was coming in with Hatch and Lee being the QBs he would've played as a True Freshman as well. There is a big difference in Hatch/Lee than JR/Flynn.
So true, on many occasions we all forget who was ahead of a highly touted or even moderately touted player when we discuss how much playing time they get early in their careers. islstl, I know of all the reports and who is giving them, I'm just real skeptical no matter what unless I see it with my own eyes, always have been and always will be. And I'm praying I have real good reasons for being skeptical if Hatch wins the job.
I know you understand football enough to know you need to keep the safeties honest with the ability to throw the long pass. A extra safety roaming the line of scrimmage will be a real detriment to our ability to run the ball as successfully as we would like. It has little to do with 3rd and 18s. Plus that only requires a 20 yard pass, which Hatch seems to have the ability to complete.
I understand all of that. The plan is not to catch a 4 yard pass and then fall down. The plan is a lot of dinks and dunks to let guys run after the catch. LSU does not figure to have guys with 6 catches for 40 yards. They do plan to convert some big gainers, too. The only thing better than having a good run blocking offensive line is having an offensive line that can block down the field on little screens and such.
Understandable Clair, and I agree with what you said. I still contend LSU will not be successful "enough" on offense with a QB who can't get the ball down the field past 25 yards. Enter Jarrett Lee.
Take a stab at how many passes past 25 yards (on the fly, not counting running after the catch) that Flynn hit last year. Answer: 6. One every other game. I can think of a lot of long hitters (keiland's swing pass against Va Tech) or Byrd's bomb TD against Tennessee (thrown by Perrilloux). But most of Flynn's damage was down in the 8-15 yard zone. I expect it to be the same this season. Edit: This is not a stat I have researched personally, but is rather one I was told by someone reliable, so I take it that it's true. If it is not, I apologize.
I can believe the number was only 6. Given the fact that we probably completed less than half of those passes, that means we may have attempted some 20 or so passes of that length. That, in turn means we would have tried to go deep about 2 times every game on average. That's just enough to keep the safeties honest. If Hatch is our QB heading into the Auburn game, trust me they will know we can't go deep and it will be like the 06 game in which we could not effectively run the ball. Short to intermediate passes will be much less effective as well. My prediction of an upset over Auburn would be in peril.
