Here's an "in my living memory" list: (good idea, PP) QB: JaMarcus Russell - best arm ever in BR, Bert Jones is next. RB: Billy Canon RB: Jerry Stovall WR: Wendell Davis WR: Dwayne Bowe TE: David Lafleur OL: Alan Faneca OL: Eric Andolsek OL: Kevin Mawae OL: Ralph Norwood OL: Lance Smith DT: Glenn Dorsey DT: Leonard Marshall DE: Marcus Spears DE: AJ Duhe LB: Michael Brooks LB: Mike Anderson (was on the 69 team, may have made AA in 70) LB: George Bevan (all american on the 69 team) CB: Tommy Casanova (soph on the 69 team) CB: Cory Webster SS: Mike Williams FS: Laron Landry
considering JR rewrote the LSU books in virtually just 2 seasons and considering most of those passes were to D-Bowe, I say they both deserve a spot on the list.
Bert Jones >>>>>>> JR, and I can think of several receivers including Reed, Carlos Carson, Wendell Davis, Eric Martin, and Eddie Kennison that I'd put above DBowe.
how many of those guys that are >>>>>>>>>>> than Russell were drafted No. 1 in the NFL Draft? :grin: While I am young and am giving Russell and the younger guys more love than the older guys I never saw, it works both ways. The wounds of some of the losses in JR's career is not giving him as much love as he should get.
JR was very underappreciated while he was here, that's for sure. Personally, I put Hodson over JR simply because Hodson was productive for 4 years, while JR was productive for only two. If JR had come back for his senior year, I think he would definitely have overtaken Hodson. He definitely had better physical tools, but Hodson was a little quicker to develop and didn't go to the NFL early, so he had a very long productive life at LSU. I'd have put JR at #2. For what it's worth, I don't think it's accurate to say that JR re-wrote the record books. Hodson is the career passing yardage leader and Rohan Davey is the single-season passing yardage leader.
Hodson "appeared" to develop earlier, but he was throwing to a mature Wendell Davis if I remember, early in his career. After Davis graduated, Hodson "cooled off" a little. I loved Hodson, probably the toughest LSU QB I saw, but I think Davis made him look good early in his career. Russell only played 2 years because he was good enough to go pro and be the #1 overall pick. I will not hold that against him. I've never seen an arm rival his. He made big plays all over the place, lot of them with Bowe.
Well, if you want to talk NFL . . . Bert Jones was the #2 pick behind John Matuzak, #4 in the Heisman vote, and he had a long and distinguished pro career with an NFL MVP award in 1976. And Y. A. Tittle, in a career lasting 17 years, passed for 33,070 yards and 242 touchdowns, twice received the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is one of only seven quarterbacks in NFL history to have achieved consecutive 30-touchdown passing seasons. The others are Steve Bartkowski, Brett Favre, Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, Jeff Garcia and Peyton Manning. Russell has amazing potential, but hasn't done squat in the NFL yet. Russell also left LSU early. Tittle, Hodson, and Jones played out their college eligibility.
Yes, but they HAD to! I am not counting what anyone did in the pros, just college. Heck, if we counted the pros, Cannon is not on the team. His first two years with Houston Oilers were good, and they won the first two AFL championships with George Blanda at QB, and Cannon and Charlie Tollar (he was from Northeastern in La., I think, about 5'7" and 180, a short squatty back) at running back. But after that, Cannon was pretty quiet. I think he suffered a back injury in yr. 3, and never was the same after it, and I think it was a cheap shot. Johnny Robinson had a much longer and productive career at safety for the KC Chiefs. Cannon was drafted #1 by the Rams in 1960, Robinson #3 by the Lions the same year. Both had played running back and linebacker for the Tigers. Both chose to sign with the new AFL. Anybody remember a team with 2 first round picks in the first 3 players? I don't. Not even Caddilac and Ronnie Brown, but they were really close.
