-The first defensive unit was Barkevious Mingo, Josh Downs, Bennie Logan, Sam Montgomery, Tahj Jones, Kevin Minter, Lamin Barrow, Tyrann Mathieu, Tharold Simon, Eric Reid and Craig Loston. -The second defensive unit was Lavar Edwards, Anthony Johnson, Ego Ferguson, Chancey Aghayere, Deion Jones, Ronnie Feist, Lamar Louis, Jalen Collin, Jalen Mills, Ronald Martin and Micah Eugene.
i remember someone saying last season how impressive our D looks after an INT, how everybody on the D goes straight on the offensive, looking to pick up a block, etc. well, we are running drills like this one: The defense began the day by running full unit interception drills against air. ... At the snap of the ball, the defensive line would hold position while the LBs and DBs dropped into coverage with a different DB being targeted each time. The drill would finish with the entire unit sprinting to one corner of the end zone leading the ball carrier to a TD.
-Yet again the play of the day came from Jarvis Landry. On the 30-yard fades, Zach Mettenberger lofted a ball to the pylon on the front left corner of the end zone. Landry waited until the last moment and then lay out fully extended to make a diving catch as he crossed the goal line in mid air. #STUD -Zach Mettenberger has improved his accuracy on the run tremendously. This was probably his most obvious weakness when he first arrived on campus, but clearly is not an issue anymore. -Steven Rivers continues to improve, but with Mettenberger as the only direct comparison, there is a sizeable gap between the two in arm strength and accuracy. Let’s remember, Rivers is still only a redshirt freshman. Watching Rivers and Rob Bolden side-by-side Sunday will be a good indicator of his progress. bad news regarding our TEs... -After working with the WRs, the QBs moved on to spend time throwing to the TEs -There is not a consistent pass-catching (TE) on this team. Travis Dickson has been the most consistent, but needs to get bigger. Nic Jacobs is big, but watching him try to catch 5-yard bullets from Mettenberger is a comedy of errors at times. Chase Clement will be the leader of the group, but hasn’t been an impressive pass catcher during his career. Some reports have freshman Dillon Gordon turning heads, but I have yet to see him. I will get my first look Saturday afternoon. (turned out he didn't mention Dillon at all in his Saturday afternoon report)
and here is some of his notes on the Saturday afternoon practice: Since this was my first opportunity to watch Penn State transfer QB Rob Bolden, I spent almost the entire time allotment watching him My initial observation of Bolden is his size. He is a legit 6’4, 215 pounds Bolden took the first reps at QB during the afternoon practice, ahead of redshirt freshman Jerrard Randall and walk-on Brad Kragthorpe. On every pass—fades, digs, screens—Bolden stood out as the most talented passer. He has a quick release, excellent touch on deep balls and looks effortless when he throws. It is easy to see why he was so coveted as a prospect coming out of high school two years ago. It will be interesting to watch Bolden and Stephen Rivers throw side-by-side Sunday to gauge which one has the edge physically. I fully expect Rivers to run second team since he has been working with the veterans in the mornings. (1st and 2nd team have been practicing in mornings, while 3rd and 4th teams have been practicing in afternoons. Sunday will start the full-team practices) While it is hard to fault Bolden for anything as of yet, Randall deserves compliments as well. The two big knocks on Randall during his freshman year were accuracy and his release. Both have improved drastically.
also, some explanation of why Fobbs and Armaud Williams haven't gotten much playing time: Fobbs is undersized and has had trouble holding on to the football since he arrived in Baton Rouge. Williams looks the part of a future NFL WR, but has the same issue catching the ball as Fobbs. Both struggled, dropping fades and crossing patterns that were well thrown. If Williams could ever develop his hands, he could be an NFL WR. and this was nice to read: Every year there is a freshman that obviously won the genetic lottery. Recent Tigers who won the distinction are Chad Jones, Patrick Peterson and Anthony Johnson. This year’s winner is safety Corey Thompson. When Tiger fans see No. 12 in uniform they may get the sense that he is more than a consolation prize after missing out on Landon “You Know Who.”
here are some of his notes from the Friday morning practice (1st and 2nd strings): defense A lot of LSU fans want to know about Anthony Johnson, but he came to LSU as an 18 year old who looked like he was 25. Physically, he looks like same, but the key for him so far seems to be working on technique instead of brute strength that allowed him to dominate in high school. on the three true freshmen LB (Ronnie Feist, Lamar Louis and Deion Jones)... Quite a few members of my media brethren seem to favor Louis over Feist to get on the field first. That may make sense if the coaches are planning to use Feist in the middle because he will not beat out Kevin Minter. However, it is impossible to ignore the size and athleticism Feist possesses. LSU fans will love watching the 22/23 combo in the middle of that defense for a long time. -Kevin Minter is still a beast. There hasn’t been much talk of it, but physically he is ready for the next level and if he produces like he is capable, he will have a tough decision to make as to whether or not to return for his senior season or head to the NFL. It is easy to see why LSU’s DBs boast great ball skills. They work on catching passes literally everyday, not only defending passes. offense The play of the day again came from Jarvis Landry who slipped to his knees while cutting and reached up, fully extended from his knees to grab a bullet thrown by Zach Mettenberger. This will begin to sound like a broken record, but if Landry isn’t the breakout player on the LSU offense in 2012, I will be stunned. Each of the three TEs (Chase Clement, Tyler Edwards and Jacobs) dropped short 5 yard pop passes, much to the chagrin of TE coach Steve Ensminger. -I continue to be impressed by Steve Kragthorpe. If you didn’t look for him, you may not know he is there. He is so subtle and never yells, but is teaching the QBs after every throw they make. Kragthorpe may be better defined as a “teacher” instead of a “coach.”
and here are some of his notes from the opening practice of the fall, the Thursday morning practice (1st and 2nd strings): -Mettenberger is in great shape, showed accuracy, arm strength and was even much more vocal with his receivers pointing out instruction and encouragement. -Rivers has added some obvious size, but still appears to be struggling with accuracy mostly on out routes and deep balls. It will be interesting to watch Rivers and Rob Bolden throw side by side later in camp to compare the two. The most interesting drill was when a receiver ran the width of the field with five passers throwing balls and the receiver had to catch them without breaking stride... It was comical watching full back JC Copeland run this drill. Not only did he not catch a pass, but had trouble staying on the line. For those of us standing near him, we hear Mettenberger drop the line of the day when the last thrower of the line was having trouble hitting receivers he said, “Whoever’s on the end sucks at throwing!” Whoever that poor Grad Assistant is, we feel your pain. -We got our best look at pecking order when they ran a two-minute offense against air. Mettenberger started with Ware and Alfred Blue behind him. The first three receivers were Wright, Beckham and Landry (note Shep was on 2nd team) Landry had the catch of the day leaping on a deep slant to tip the ball to himself and coming down with a juggling catch for the TD. Beckham also made a great catch on an out pattern after slipping then recovering to make the catch on his knees. OL. The first unit from left to right is Chris Faulk, La’El Collins, PJ Lonergan, Josh Williford and Alex Hurst. Running second was Chris Davenport, Josh Dworaczyk, Elliott Porter, Trai Turner and Vadal Alexander. true freshman LB Deion Jones from Jesuit looks the part of an athletic LB that John Chavis likes. first string LB Tahj Jones is 6’2 but only 205 pounds and looks more like a free safety than a LB. He will have to fight off these freshmen during all camp if he wants to take meaningful snaps in 2012. -Minter is a beast. DB Micah Eugene: physically he looks the part and is a guy Tiger fans should be very excited about watching develop. He could be the next great one from DBU
I'd be surprised if Johnson and Ferguson don't play more than Downs at DT. The guy looked awesome at the Under Armour game a few years ago but simply hasn't stepped it up...yet. The worst recruiting by far has NOT been at QB...it has been at TE. My God, how many TE's have come through since Richard Dickson and NONE of them are remotely SEC starting caliber. The TE unit sucks and has sucked since R Dickson left. Yep, that is why it was a brilliant pickup by Miles and Kragthorpe. He clearly is a much better QB than Jefferson or Lee which I agree may not be saying a lot. But Jefferson for example could never throw a touch pass/fade which is why Lee came in the game for him near the goal line most of the time. Lee of course had to avoid the center of the field his SR season because Kragthorpe had determined like most of us had that Lee can't read coverages. I do NOT think if Bolden had been here last year that LSU would haven't beaten Alabama twice because LSU still got dominated on the OL LOS, but it would have been a closer game for sure. Saw some plays on Fobbs in the 1st day's practice video. He made an outstanding diving catch across the middle but then in the sideline to sideline catching drill he looked like a DB...knocking down passes. I said last year that Kevin Minter was the best LBer out there...Baker was adequate, but Hatcher and Francois were just downright awful. Their essentially 5.0 times at the NFL combine show why. They had to be about the slowest guys on the field and that INCLUDES the opposing OL. I agree on Landry 100%. The clearcut starters should be Landry and Beckham. LSU TEs suck {repeated}. I knew the Kragthorpe hire would be a good one...too good of a record as a QB coach and OC (course not that now due to Parkinsons). Crowton was NEVER a teacher of QBs...not at BYU....not at Oregon...not at LSU. Crowton NEVER developed a QB anywhere. Sometimes he did take a QB like Flynn developed by others (Jimbo Fisher in that case) and utilize them well.
