NFL scouts down on LSU players, consultant says | - NOLA.com i know there is a similar thread in Pro Sports but i wanted to pose a few questions. You have to go back to 2003 which was the last time LSU didn't have a first round draft pick, and they didn't have a 2nd rounder or a 3rd rounder that season, when Domanick Davis and Bradie James were drafted in the 4th round, coincidentally only 1 pick separated the 2. The following year LSU started the run, winning a national championship and being a dominant force in the draft. What i don't understand is why LSU players are getting trashed in the NFL. Is this due to lack of preparation, sense of entitlement, poor work habits, or just poorly evaluated? I also don't understand how you can label someone a bust after 2 seasons. Dwayne Bowe they say isn't living up to expectations, Bowe missed 5 games last season and still had the second best receiving totals on the team being only 20 or so yards shy of the guy in first, was 2nd only to Tony Gonzales by 30 yards in 08, and 2nd behind TG in 07 by about 200 yards. Dorsey and Jackson have had to learn to play in the 3-4, and Glen has been there 2 seasons, Tyson in one. How can you label that in such a short period of time. Has Jamarcus Russell done more damage to the reputation of LSU players than we have realized? At least we know if history repeats itself, then we will win a national championship this upcoming season.
The Kansas City article suggests that it is poor practice habits. The NFL is cutthroat competitive and guys that slack in practice or in off-season conditioning, even a little bit, get lapped and quickly dropped. There are many more NFL players with this problem than just LSU athletes. High-paying jobs come with serious responsibilities and convictions that some guys just aren't up to.
Telling article in Times-Picayune a couple days ago... NFL scouts down on LSU players, consultant says | - NOLA.com
Funny how we don't see these kinds of articles about Florida QBs and their abysmal combined track record in the NFL. That didn't deter Denver, apparently.
With nobody selected in the 1st or 2nd, maybe, in hindsight, our season was better than many of us thought, last year. Even Tennessee had 2 first rounders!
We've had our share of 1st round picks who haven't lived up to the billing. Clayton, Lavalais, Spears, Craig Davis, Dorsey, and of course Russell.
Bad combine performance and bad NFL production is not a good combination for any school to have. Our combine performance in recent years has been underwhelming. I'm a tad concerned about our S&C program but ultimately the players must accept personal responsibility for their work outs and conditioning. The other knock on our players is technique. Our DB's and D-Lineman have been criticized for it. What works in college doesn't always translate to the NFL. We have always had a great selling point in recruiting by consistently placing players high in the draft. This year is obviously a low point so it remains to be seen what long term effect it will have. If it turns out to be a blip on the radar then no big deal but it would be better if articles had not been published about it. When you have scouts and other NFL people being quoted that's pretty bad PR. If we go through a couple years with similar draft numbers and poor combine results other schools will use it as a negative recruiting tool.
Some of it has to do with these "pro" scouts not being too smart. Les Miles said in one of the articles that he thinks sometimes the problem is in the evaluation. I have to agree with that. He said he was shocked with Tyson Jackson being picked at #3 though he was a good player at LSU. I agree with that. Now, Tyson could still have a very good career and is still young. But I wouldn't have even considered drafting him that early. He didn't do that good in his last year at LSU. He had a great sophomore year, but the following years weren't near as good. He has size and great speed, but has had big issues with being inconsistent. I don't know why anyone would draft him at #3. Even he was shocked. Based on his last couple of years, I wouldn't have drafted him any higher than the second round, but probably would have been a 3rd rounder for me. Jamarcus Russell - I would have NEVER picked at #1. Now, he did have a great junior year at LSU, but he also looked pretty terrible against a few of our best opponents in Florida and Auburn. He has a great arm, but Jamarcus never has seemed to have that drive that you see in most great QBs. I remember, right before Saban left, he was in Saban's doghouse apparently for his motivation/practice habits. Jamarcus did have great games for LSU and was clutch in a # of situations. But to be worth a high pick in the NFL as a QB, you have to have a special drive because talent alone will no longer do it. Glenn Dorsey - I can understand why they drafted Dorsey so early. Dorsey was a great team player and person who had a great senior year. And his motor never seemed to stop. He did have injury issues and at times seemed to let his weight go. I think his weight has been an issue in the pros as well. He's done okay and improved in his second year. He just hasn't been great yet. Dwayne Bowe - I think Bowe has been good on a terrible team. He had the suspension for illegal substances (diuretics) that cost him four games last year. He had a new QB last year too. But those were his lowest numbers last year. His first two years were pretty great. He led all rookie receivers in catches and TDs in his first year and was up for NFL Rookie of the Year. In just his second year he had over 1,000 yards receiving and was top 10 in the NFL. He has always had issues with dropping some passes, but he has always been a clutch, big play WR as well. I understand why he was drafted early. Craig Davis - He was a very good and consistent WR for LSU, but I wouldn't have drafted him in the 1st round. He never caught many TDs at LSU, so I wouldn't have drafted someone that didn't have huge impact catches in college in the first round of the NFL draft. He's had big injury issues that have led him to be a total bust so far. Joe Addai - He was drafted much higher than most thought he should be, but he has been a great player for them. He should have been the Superbowl MVP too the year they won it instead of Manning. He had injuries at LSU and was there with great competition, but he was a class act that gave 100% and came up big when we needed him. Marcus Spears - I would have drafted him early, but he has been sort of a disappointment. He plays well at times, but he hasn't been near as awesome as he was in college. Michael Clayton - He started off great, then took a huge drop after getting injured and hasn't done much of anything since. He was complete player at LSU and represented us well, but I still felt he had some ego stuff going on when listening to him. He has apparently had issues with that in the pros. LaRon Landry - He's been solid. He still goes for the big hit too much and will blow a coverage because of it. Someone mentioned Chad Lavalais - I don't think he was drafted until like the 5th round. So some of these picks were disappointments because they should have never been taken that early. Hell, the Saints just traded picks to get Al Woods in the 4th round and I didn't think he did much of anything his whole career at LSU (at least when talking about draft interest). I would have thought he'd be lucky to get on as a free agent. And maybe the Saints will do something good with him. But in general, if a guy doesn't come close to reaching his potential in four years of college, why would anyone think that would change in the pros? With some of these guys, once you give them even a little bit of money, whatever motivation they had is totally gone. A bunch of these guys look great at the combines because they know it's their last shot at making any kind of $ thanks to football. Otherwise, it's helloooooo real world! We also had more players invited to the pro combines than any other team. So to me, our season wasn't better than we thought. We had explosive offensive talent and one of the worst offenses I've ever seen at LSU. Lafell was thought to be a 1st rounder going into the season, but because of many dropped passes, etc., he ended up going in the 3rd round. It looks like Chad Jones should have hung around as well. Ciron Black also might have been a 1st rounder before his senior year.
I agree for the most part, especially about Russell. Seems like his problem has always been between the ears. I just thought the whole entitlement part was interesting when compared to performance the last two seasons.
