We ened up leading the SEC in rushing last year & did actually performed better when Wilkerson went down with injury. We've got the same 5 coming back & we now have legitimate backups at each position. If this doesn't push the starters to work harder, I don't know what will. H. Johnson, Dyakowski, Miller, McGill & Helms are formidable backups. My biggest concern is at DE. We had dominant DE's during '03 both of whom were either #1 or #2 at their respective positions coming out of HS(we don't have that type of NFL caliber talent at DE on squad right now IMO). Hopefully the coaching staff will be able to find the right match when when plugging in different guys depending on down & distance.
Special Teams - Placekicking has got to be better. We can't lose football games because of missed extra points. Jackson has got to take some of the maturity he showed in baseball over to the football field. It's time for Patrick Fisher to prove why he was recruited by taking over the punting duties. And the punting has got to be quicker. Getting punts blocked is inexcusable. And we've got to have a punt return replacement in case Skyler goes down again. The return game sucked when Skyler was out, but there are plenty of capable players who should be able to help out (Carter, Doucet...etc.). Other than special teams, I stick by my belief that LSU currently has the talent on campus right now to fill-in/replace any player who departed, with the exception of Marcus Spears. You don't just replace a talent like Spears, but as an entire unit because of the quality of depth I think the defensive front will be very, very solid.
I agree... It seemed that every year we had that one great defensive player, then the budding star who he handed the torch to for the next year... Faulk to James to Lavalais to Spears.. Who will hold the torch this year? My guess is Landry.
Williams.. he has the "*!?MOTOR?!*"... My worries are definately the kicking game. Not sure about the college stats, but I've read that in the NFL, a full 1/4 to 1/3 of the points are from kicking (FG and PAT). I'm sure the figure is lower in college, so i would put it at 1/5 to 1/6, or 16 to 20 percent of the points. Now, If LSU can not capitalize in this area of scoring, then it will surely cost them. Look at OSU and AUburn last year.. OSU game, Jackson missed a 48 yarder early that would have kept them out of overtime (and dont forget about OSU's kicker).. Auburn game goes without saying
