Kevin Minter on the LBs: "We have to step it up as a linebacker corps"

Gotta disagree with you that LSU doesn't have a very good history of offensive linemen over the years as well as recently. Here's quite a few I came up with without much trouble, in no particular order:

1. Todd McClure (NFL/Falcons)
2. Eric Andolsek (NFL/Lions)
3. Andrew Whitworth (NFL/Bengals)
4. Kevin Mawae (NFL/Jets)
5. Steven Peterman (NFL/Lions)
6. Nate Livings (NFL/Cowboys)
7. Nacho Abergamo (All-American)
8. Alan Faneca (NFL/Steelers)
9. Herman Johnson (NFL/Bears)
10. Rodney Reed
11. Rudy Niswanger (NFL/Chiefs)
12. Ben Wilkerson (NFL/Bengals)
13. Joseph Barksdale (NFL/Raiders)
14. Brett Helms (NFL/Texans)
15. Ciron Black (All SEC)
16. Brian Johnson (NFL/Ravens)
17. Will Blackwell (All American)
18. Louis Williams (NFL/Panthers)
19. Ben Bordelon (All SEC)
20. Ralph Norwood (All SEC)
21. Blake Miller (All SEC)
22. Al Jackson (NFL/Cowboys)
23. Lance Smith (NFL)
24. Brandon Winey (NFL/Miami)


I'm sure there are several other pretty recent ones that I've missed that others might add. And the list doesn't even include the current OL lineup (Faulk, Collins, Lonergan, Williford & Hurst) of which ALL or MOST will have NFL careers. Don't want to leave Josh Dworacyzk (sp) off the list either. So while I'll agree with you on LSU's past history regarding QB's & LB's, the OL has had a LOT of stellar players over the last 20 years or so and it looks like that trend will continue for years to come.

 

Most of those from this list either were backups in their NFL careers or surprises who did little at LSU. And you listed 5 who never played in the NFL....slick to slip those in though. You did correctly say that was over a 20 year period. But a recent perfect example of my point is Will Blackwell...he was all SEC 1st team right? The guy didn't even get drafted! Ciron Black as you stated was All SEC. The guy didn't even get drafted. Peterman is a journeyman OL. Livings was really not much at LSU. Rodney Reed I have never even heard of, but I'll take your word on him. Same with Louis Williams. Brandon Winey....did he ever start for LSU? Anyway, you have less than 1 OL per year in the last 20 who even sniffed the NFL and far fewer than that who ever made a name for themselves. You and I will just disagree on this one.

 

NFL isn't always the point of being a great college player.

Aks, JR.



I dont like NFL anyway.

 

Agree with that 100%, but the odd thing and using that OL list an example, there are probably more cases on that list than not that they had BETTER careers in the NFL than they did at LSU. Makes you wonder if Stacy Searles et al were very good OL coaches, huh? About 5 of those guys I either never remember or IMO had nothing careers at LSU. But I think the NFL is the gold standard of your reputation. The kids don't say, "Oh, LSU has had a lot of WRs that made All SEC". What they say is "Man, LSU has surely had a lot of guys move on to the pros at WR." So, to attract the great kids, you have to prove you coach the guys to the NFL level.

 

Don't bother pointing out all of these factual observations; he'll just find the most insignificant, subjective detail about each of them and then repeat it about 6 times.

 

So?

 

Yes, we certainly will. Fact is, most of these players were at LSU during the last 15 years. Additionally, even if you're a "backup in the NFL", you still had to be pretty damn good OL in college to even reach that level. If you were "All SEC" at LSU you had to be a pretty damn good OL to be recognized as such. You mention Rodney Reed, he played on the 2003 National Championship Team and had about 48 consecutive game starts for LSU on the OL (mostly at RT). Ciron Black started 53 straight games for LSU at LT. He was a starter all four years he was at LSU and would be in the NFL right now had he not stayed for his Sr. year and got hurt. He projected as a 1st round pick after his junior year. Brandon Winey, an OT, lettered three years at LSU and was drafted in the 6th round by Miami. Also played a couple of years with the Giants & Redskins. Louis Williams was a four year letterman at LSU and had about 30 consecutive starts on the OL and was All SEC as a senior in 2000, prior to being drafted by the Panthers. Livings, Peterman, Whitworth, McClure & Barksdale are still playing in the NFL. Faneca & Mawae both retired just after last season I believe and both were All Pro's. The bottom line is that your statement that LSU does not have much history in turning out quality offensive lineman is false.

 

How many OL from Southern Cal during that time frame which BTW is 20+ years. Mawae 20 years...Andolsek 25 years....Abergamo 20+ years ago. How about Alabama? Florida? Georgia? Texas? Oklahoma? Florida State? Washington? Ohio State? Michigan? Nebraska? Wisconsin?, etc, etc, etc. I will stick with my original statement that LSU has not been known for producing OL like they have DL, WR, secondary guys, etc. You have 5 OL positions...the most of any unit on a football team. You list a bunch of guys over a 20 year period, 20% of which never played 1 down in the NFL. Once again, we need to compare how many LSU put in the pros over that 20 year period vs the schools I mentioned and even some others like Tennessee, Michigan State, Iowa, etc.

Just found a summary from November of last season listing the top 5 according to someone who went through the current NFL rosters near the end of last season.

Miami - 8 OL Texas - 8 OL Boston College - 7 OL Iowa - 7 OL Nebraska - 7 OL BTW, he didn't list any more schools after that.

 

no doubt, I thought Cameron Vaughn was great his freshman year but then declined.

 

more quotes from the LBs from the Advocate:

Minter (6-2, 245) on the freshmen LBs: “They have so much talent and they’re so fast.
They’re learning a lot quicker than we did. They played in different coverages in high school and have a better feel for it than we did coming in.”

Ronnie Feist (6-2, 230 from West St. John High School) on the significance of Chavis comparing them to the defensive backs of the 2010 class (Mathieu, Reid, Simon):

“Those guys are great players,” Feist said. “They’re all superstars, and to compare us to them that means he thinks we’re going to do great things as freshmen and have great careers here.”
“I tweeted my guys the other day and said we want to be one of the best classes of linebackers ever to come through LSU,” Feist said.
“We’re six guys and hopefully we can all be six first-rounders and help this team win a national championship.”

Lamar Louis (6-0, 220 from Breaux Bridge) on being an early enrollee in Jan and going through spring practice:

“In college, you have a lot of plays, you have a lot of different schemes, a lot of checks compared to high school,” Louis said. “Just me coming in and learning the schemes, learning the plays, learning the coaches and learning the culture around LSU, it was real big for me.”

Louis was one of the stars of the spring game, intercepting a Zach Mettenberger pass that bounced off the hands of tight end Tyler Edwards and running 74 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown. Feist, who also enrolled early, had seven tackles, two more than Louis.

Deion Jones (6-2, 202 from Jesuit):
“I’ve dreamed of wearing purple and gold since I was a little kid.”
“I’m fast and I’m physical, but that’s true of a lot of guys in this group,” Jones said recently. “I still have to get used to the defense, the tempo, the intensity level that everyone plays on.
“I’m still picking things up from (the older linebackers). I’m trying to learn the little things from them.”

Lorenzo Phillips (6-2, 215 from Patterson) on putting on 20 pounds since playing his last high school game:
“I think that’s perfect for an outside linebacker,” he said. “It’s just something I felt I needed to do. I always played at a fast pace and with me coming in here I felt like me playing in the SEC I was going to need to get a little bigger.”

Kwon Alexander (6-foot-2, 215 pounds from Alabama) on why he chose LSU:
"I wanted to play under a great coach and a great defensive coordinator."