OBJ is not the one suffering because of Shep's inadequacy at WR. Landry is. OBJ is getting his. Shep took Landry's touches...and thus far, unfairly. I don't see how you criticize CBG either. The receivers run good routes. They run the right routes. They block well. They know what they are supposed to be doing in zone read situations. They are in synch with the QB's (save for the miscommunication between JL and RR on the MooU pick) The one thing that is 100% on the receivers, no matter how much you practice it, is catching the dang football. That's not on coaching. It IS on coaching if you continue to play a guy who you WANT to be a WR ahead of a guy who IS a WR. Shep is two years older, but Landry has still been playing WR much longer. He catches those passes...guaranteed. That is so dangerous. A WR who can't catch a high pass that hits him in the hands has weak hands. That means he stands a good chance of fumbling as well when he does catch it. Give me the guy with the strong, soft hands (no homo).
What more do you wasnt ?? I agree the two QB's we have will never work . When JJ is in it is run run run , a pass is a after thought .JJ would be better as a running back with the option to pass off the run . This Tiger team has yet to have to do anything , starting this week that will change , we are in a pack of games that we can lose 4 games back too back.
My biggest disappointment is having to watch my team play day games. My second biggest disappointment is watching my team play day games with SEC refs.
The team has been loaded with highly talented WR's since BG arrived and the WR's have been a disappointment since he arrived. On this years team you have two very very highly rated 3rd year WR's and your best WR is a true freshman. I don't see very much development at all. Sheppard still can't catch his azz with both hands and a head start, Randle seems to disappear a lot and gets the butter fingers too. There are going to be busts, but in the years he has been here and the talent he has had it seems like he could have found a couple WR's to develop into consistent players. Beckham is LSU's #1 WR and go to guy as a very young TF. Randle looks SEC average at best and there really isn't anyone else.
With reguards to the running game--specifically the selection of running backs: 1.) Ware took a bit of a "knock". Why risk him when we obviously have suitable RB's waiting to get their shot? Ware is the "punisher" of the group and we'll obviously use/need that style moving forward. 2.) We all know Ford's got the big-play potential and has featured along side Ware in every game until this week. You KNOW what Ford brings. 3.) Blue is very capable and showed. Though he's #3 on our depth chart, he could EASILY win the starting job at MANY other schools in the SEC except for us, Bama, So. Carolina and possibly Auburn. The rest? He'd be a featured runner. Gotta give him some work in the unfortunate event that Ware and/or Ford REALLY have to miss extended periods. 4.) McGee was my only surpise. It's obvious that Gore and Hilliard's fumbles in the NWST game has landed them in the "doghouse" (LSU RB's had gone over 400 carries without fumbling before those two caughed one up). Bottom line is that it's a long season with some very physical games coming up. So when you've got an opportunity to rest your starters (co-starters in our case), and STILL get solid production, you've got to do it. It's a blessing to have so many talented runners and ALL either Freshmen or Sophomores. The backfield tradition will remain very bright for us for the next 3 years--even just with the current stable of horses we have. :thumb:
You know, last year I thought I had seen it all when we were 5-0 and fans were calling for Miles' head and complaining about how bad things were. Then there's this year... We're 5-0 once again, the team looks as impressive as almost any LSU team I can remember seeing as a whole, yet there are still tons of threads focusing on negativity, and a bunch of people trying to read something bad in to every little snippet of news that comes from campus. That's my biggest disappointment. With that said, it's a beautiful time to be a tiger.. Our team is 5-0, they're ranked #1, as deep as they've ever been with talent, and they've decisively beat and dominated every team they've faced this year. Life is good, people.
So they run the correct route, virtually to precision, the quarterback delivers a catchable ball, and because they don't catch it, it's the coaches fault? That ain't on Billy. I see improvement in every phase where a coach has the most control. Dropped passes are no more the fault of Billy than JL throwing off his backfoot is Krag's fault. You can coach a player to do things a certain way. Sometimes, that player just reverts to bad habits...like trying to catch with the body. Sometimes it happens at inopportune times. I don't think Shep's issue is a coaching problem. It's a Shep problem. Watch Landry and then watch Shep. Landry looks like Fitzgerald when he catches a pass. He attacks the ball. He doesn't reach up for a high pass until it's time to catch it. Shep raises his arms waiting on the pass and it goes right through his hands. He doesn't attack the ball. The ball attacks him. I'd bet money they're both coached to do it the same way. Some guys get it, some don't. When Rueben caught that pass in traffic, he attacked it like he was supposed to...like he was coached to. He's far from average talent-wise. His problem is between his ears. When he missed the one against WVU, the ball attacked his chest, when he should've been attacking the ball with his hands. But again, I'd bet money he was taught to do it the right way...
Great post. Brilliant observation. What causes this? Is it the pressure of the moment or the fear of being hit? Something else?
Just like any young player, they want the high-light reel play. They want to run and razzle-dazzle before securing the ball. ...at least Shepherd looks that way.
Well I don't know with certainty, but my best friend coaches receivers. He coached Rueben in Bastrop. Played receiver at Tulane. He was the slot guy on that undefeated team in '98. According to him, most of the time when guys drop passes it's because they're too concerned about yards after the catch, when all they should be thinking about is catching and securing the ball. Sometimes it's big hits. If anyone watches Florida State, they've got a talented freshman who got turned inside out against Oklahoma on a big hit. The next week against Clemson, he alligator armed four good passes, fearing the hit. My friend does drills where he throws stuff at WRs forcing them to concentrate on the ball, not what's being thrown. It might be an empty plastic bottle. It might be a medicine ball. Point being, it doesn't matter. Catch the friggin ball.
