Just an offseason prediction thread revisiting our signees from last year. I am in no way claiming to be a scout or an expert, just trying to spark some speculative predictions that will be interesting to revisit a couple years down the line to grade ourselves. All of this is IMO. Please feel free to include your thoughts and related reasoning. *Disclaimer, I support all Tigers past and present, and wish only the highest level of success both on and off the field for every Tiger student athlete* On the Rise: Andy Dodd- really high on this guy. Extremely quick for a guy his size, loves contact, and plays with a great mean streak. This steal from Bama was not celebrated nearly enough. Will be a huge asset down the line. I feel like he could play many positions on the OL and would even plug in well at fullback. Great utility guy, but will find his true home at guard. Lewis Neal – guy was underrated because he lacks measurables. Other schools didn’t take Mathieu because of his size. You cant measure heart and instincts, but if you could this guy would tip the scales. I expect him to play the gunner role and produce. Frank Herron – I don’t think he will play often as early as most people do, but its not a slight on him. We will want to bulk him up to play DT and that will take a while. Guy is a future stud with his first step. I expect him to play in packages sorta the way Rasco was worked in at first, and once he gains weight, could be similar to what happened with Brockers. Christian LaCouture – Cheating a bit here based on his EE footage with the team. Out of all the DL, I can see him contributing first. Not because he has the highest ceiling, but he is the most college ready IMO and the summer workouts only helped the cause. Ethan Pocic – guy is good enough that we are placing him at Center temporarily just to get him started on reps and chemistry. Will be an excellent tackle. Huge guy with well-proportioned weight and extremely quick feet. Will make a lot of money in the NFL one day. Josh Boutte – Very physical player. Will make a great combo with Dodd. Very underrated when we took him, and a great find by the staff. Will be a future Cornerstone OG along with Dodd. Kendall Beckwith – Guy is built for football. Has all the tools in the world, and with Chief at his disposal, he will thrive. I really want this guy at LB, as I think we will be extremely stacked at DE, and could really use someone of his size to anchor the LB position. He seems to have the lateral quickness to pull it off, and if he does, it will be a spectacle. DeSean Smith – Soft hands. His style reminds me of Reuben Randle(very effortless looking in both stride and catch), and will absolutely thrive in Camerons offense. Look for TE play the likes of which we hadn’t seen since Richard Dickson in 07, and maybe even before that. Perfect timing to add a guy with his skillset to the new offense. A very smart decision by Smith to come to LSU. Michael Patterson – I think he will take about two/three years in the program to develop, which is a great luxury to have because when he does turn the corner, he will be a terror. I peg him to be one that goes unnoticed for a bit only to shock fans on the field his RSSoph year to come seemingly out of nowhere. He is raw, but his ceiling is very high. Kevin Spears – Though it seems like he was a late target due mainly to missing on other prospects, I really liked this pickup. This kid is the Boom or Bust guy in the class. I for one believe he was worth the risk as he had only been playing football one year, and his highlight reel was extremely impressive. I believe he is one of the true under the radar prospects as his film didn’t even begin to circulate until after his senior year. I look forward to seeing him thrive in an offense that caters to larger receivers and of course, once moffitt famously gets a hold of him. Tre White – I feel like he was well touted on this board, so I wont elaborate much. Loved his film from get. At the all star game, he proved what many of us had already suspected, he is the next great in line at DBU. Anthony Jennings – I didn’t need to put him near the top of the list because he has been rightly praised on the board already. I rarely agree with the majority of the ranters, but in this case, I couldn’t agree more. I really think that with his skillset, and with LSU’s true new chapter on offense, we will see for the first time in a long time, a full golden era of QB play during his time here. He has it all. Quick feet, down field vision, leadership ability, work ethic, and accuracy. The kid is a gamer.
On the Decline: Hayden Rettig – needs at least three years to develop. This isn’t necessarily bad news; however, because he will have the time to develop, and has a great QB coach in Cameron to learn from Maquedius Bain – very raw project. Will need at least a couple years to develop. Least talented of the DL we took last year IMO. Duke Riley – I don’t see him as a game changer, but that’s not a bad thing. Teams aren’t just built from stars, and some guys are good for morale and work ethic. Could see him being a solid special teamer Jeryl Brazil – I don’t know how he will fit into Camerons offense, and I think there is just too much overwhelming talent in our backfield for him to overcome. I see him as PK, and a partial utility guy Greg Gilmore – Not as high as most people are on him. He has real potential, but could use the work. IMO it is Herron>LaCouture>Gilmore>Bain Overall Analysis: Though our class was not ranked very high last year, I honestly believe we were vastly underrated(I do my best to be unbiased and realistic). More importantly, we did a great job filling NEED positions. Our best recruits by position were respectively the Oline, then DE,*best two with a considerable gap and all the rest followed by LB, CB, QB, TE. It was quite defensively heavy, which is why I think we will take more offensive guys this year.
DEFENSE Pocic, Boutte, and Dodd will likely get plenty of playing time by the end of their sophomore year. Pocic, I think, will be an All-American. Fanaika might be limited to obvious run plays -- such as 4th and 1 or 3rd and 2. I think both White and Robinson could, by the end the 2013 season, be the two CBs getting the most playing time. White is clearly that good NOW. K. Beckwith will contribute in 2013 to keeping the LBs with fresh legs and maintain a high-level of talent on the field. Melvin Jones will emerge after 2-3 years as a solid inside linebacker, but this might be a redshirt year unless he gets on the field with special teams. He's such an athlete that I wonder if he might play fullback. At this point, it's hard for me to see how any of the 2013 D linemen will pan out in 2013. Really curious to see how fall practices go and how the depth chart unfolds throughout the season. SPECIAL TEAMS Imagine this: on kick-off returns, at the end zone are T. White and J. Brazil. At the 15 yard-line are Rickey Jefferson and John Diarse. Opposing teams, if they can, might consistently kick it out of the end zone to avoid a dangerous return by a true freshman. OFFENSE As advertised, D. Smith will be a matchup nightmare. As a TE, how many linebackers can defend him? If he lines up as a WR and is thrown "alley oops" along the sidelines, how will CBs defend him? On the field, he's also going to be a good decoy and help open up passing lanes for others. Stokes will get playing time this year, including some short-yardage passes. He'll be a good blocker for the running game. Q. Leslie will have some big plays (20 receptions, but at least 50% of receptions will be for 20+ yards). D. Smith and Q. Leslie will help open up lanes for OBJ and Landry as slot receivers. J. Brazil, bulked up to 195-205 pounds, could become a dangerous weapon on offense. Anthony Jennings is a competitor! And he's good. He will press for playing time the whole 2013 season. He's slowly (or quickly?) gaining the respect of his teammates, who will be confident if/when he comes onto the field. Not sure how much upside he has, but I'm willing to make a bold comparison. Jennings might be a future Drew Brees type of QB: team leader; field general; throws short, middle, and long; throws in the pocket and on the run; can scramble to avoid sacks and make passes; can scramble for a first down if the defense continues to defend his passing and not his running. 2013 Class Player Most Likely to Have a Breakout Freshman Year? Shaq White! "Sleeper" in the 2013 Class? Karl Malone, Jr. Sure, the name is familiar, but in high school he played against relatively low-level talent.
On the decline was the wrong terminology. Based on the very limited plays in the spring game only, my amateur opinion is that he will need more developing time compared to Jennings. Luckily, he will be afforded that time. I stand by Neal, white, Dodd, pocic, beckwith, smith, and boutte being the immediate impact difference makers. I would also add Jefferson to that list
