Watching the game on Tuesday, I got excited about a number of players who showed some increased potential and performance. Here's my list of the 5 players I believe are most likely to breakout next year as stars. 1. K'Lavon Chaisson Best name in all of college football. In the few minutes he played against Miami, I already liked what I saw. Kid looks the part of a pass rushing DE in every aspect. Aranda has had good success getting agile and lanky players to become top-tier pass rushers (see Arden Key). Arden Key and Barkevious Mingo both had great success in the same role as Chaisson, but I think Chaisson has a better body than both Key and Mingo for the position. I think he busts out next year and ranks top-3 in the SEC in sacks. 2. Ja'marr Chase Another kid who looks the part. I thought he did well catching contested balls, and he didn't struggle at all with the deep TD he caught over the shoulder. With Joe clearly improving in the passing game, including his ability to throw the slant and his ability to find the open receiver, I think Chase is set for a bust out year. 3. Jacoby Stevens Stevens had a monster impact on the Fiesta bowl. In my view, he seemed to be playing a role similar to Tyrann Mathieu when he was here: lots of blitzes from the nickel position, some man coverage, and some zone. He can tackle well, and actually shows a good pass rush against the backs who try to pick him up. I think he's an x-factor next year. 4. John Emery This is the first year in ages that I can remember us lacking a stud RB. I love CEH, but I think his role is limited. Enter Emery. I think we work him in from Day 1, and he provides that stud RB that we clearly missed this year. To be honest, I haven't seen him play, but it's been a long time since a 5-star RB didn't succeed at LSU. 5. Joe Burrow Not much to say here. Struggled early in the year. When he started to hit his stride, our WRs were plagued with some drops. Then he closed the year with his two best games by far. He was on-point in the bowl game. I think he gets a little more trust from the coaches, and he's ready to sling it against SEC defenses this year with the talent we have at WR. What players do you guys think are ready to bust out in 2019?
I wouldn't expect Emery to take the lead role early on. CEH will be very much needed and I think he will lay the ground work for the 1-2-3 punch to come later in the year with Davis adding to the list. Its a matter of E using them right. I don't know if he will. He used all our backs the same and they all had a different skill-set and style. Queen is going to have a breakout year. I would expect our incoming DB's to make an instant impact.
Breakout meaning a player who makes a significant improvement such that they become a noticeably better and good or very good player. Joe was top of he depth chart but he didn’t really wow me at all from a performance standpoint until the last two games. I expect him to be significantly better overall next year. Delpit is already an all American so he can’t really breakout.
The only thing that leads me to believe that Emery will be featured early and often is that CEH is not a work horse. He’s good, but he fits a unique mold. With Brosette gone, someone else is going to have to play a significant amount of snaps, and I think Emery does.
CEH is more of a workhorse than Brosette and that was why I said what I said about E. His scheme never changed depending on the back used. Emery is 200 lb's. He isn't all that big. Davis was listed at the last camp at a whopping 240.
Good list. J Chase sure looked good. Jefferson will continue to shine. I look for him to be really special. I also look for Emery to have an immediate impact. We need a power back. CEH has a place but he's not that. Too easily arm tackled. Queen is looking good too.
