I believe criticizing RS about a few dropped passes at this point is pushing it. He wasn't brought up being a wide receiver. The guys a pronominal athlete, give him some time working to improve his mechanics and I believe he'll be something really special. The thought of he and RR together makes me kind of giddy for our future. Really like our running back situation, even more so considering the talent we have coming in. Mingo and Montgomery are going to be really special. Did not like the run stuffing of the DL. Maybe Ferguson could help there once he arrives. Looking forward to seeing the other DL signee (Copeland). His film was as good as I've ever seen. QB on the other hand, I can't see why CLM is so inclined to want to hand the reins to JJ when he may, on the whole, be our second or third best QB. He's probably the best athlete of the all the QBs but look at the greatest QBs' ever and it's the other things that set them apart from the rest...decision making, ability to throw into narrow windows, etc. Anyway, with the talent we are able to bring to the table it's a shame we can't seem to find a QB to top things off.
The way the O line seems to be shaping up, the big question mark will be QB. If Jefferson is not better than he showed yesterday we are in deep trouble offensively. If Jefferson does not shape up we don't have a lot of options. Lee does not have the confidence of the coaches, players or fans and Garrett is green. We definitely need to recruit a big-time QB this year.
There were quite a few situations where Mingo was in Lee's grill as soon as he turned around, he either had to throw it away or take the sack. I felt like other then maybe 2 passes Lee made the most out the plays that he could have. For the most part he was on the receiver and he hit quite a few in stride on crossing routes. Mingo really disrupted the passing game to really get in there and look at stats. Lee isn't going to outrun anyone let alone Mingo. It was actually getting to the point to where they should have taken Mingo out so they could see how Lee would perform. Lee or Jefferson or any other QB would have been killed by Mingo if they were taking sacks yesterday. I am seeing more screens, more cross patterns and that should help both QB. You can see Lee at least check down even if he didn't have time to get rid of it because of Mingo. As far as Jefferson, he is trying hard and i like that but unless you are doing rollouts which every team figured out by the beginning of last year he is going to be mostly ineffective. Now if you have a running game that is getting 250 yards even though they are stacking the line, well he might have enough skill to limp you through games. Either way, Crowton does that send 4 WRs deep crap like he has been doing it's probably going to be another long year for the QBs. Overall, saw more good things than bad. Seems like to me LSU is going to use more screens to make teams pay for putting pressure. Ford and Ridley look like they are in mid-season form, it wasn't all just good blocking and or bad tackling... they had great vision. All around backs.
Well, I was at a pig roast yesterday and TiVoed the wrong damn channel on the way out the door, so I didn't see a blasted thing. I appreciate the comments from those who did. I have a question: Who, if anybody, unmistakably moved up the chart or impressively solidified his starting position . . . and who, if anybody, was not on his game at all.
Red, That is a hard one. I would say Ridley and Ford looked solid. Other than that I don't know if anything that was a question mark has been solved. The running game blew up the defense on both teams, whether this was the result of bad DL run stopping or good block and excellent running is the question... with that said Ridley and Ford can run if they are given a chance. Both Ridley and Ford looked very sharp. On the other side of that though, the defenses blew up the offenses on getting to the passer.... Mingo was so disruptive in the passing game that I think he should have been taken out... he was in Lee's grill as soon as you got back in the pocket. Shepard was so-so, he made a couple of good catches but dropped a couple... one of them should have been a huge play. Jefferson definitely has taken steps backwards if you base it on this performance. Lee had two passes he kind of blew(one for an INT TD) but he looked like he was in control and moved the offenses on both teams. Lee had some very long drives with both the purple and white team. - DL very bad in the run game - OL appeared to winning the battles in the run game on both teams - OL could do nothing against Mingo in the pass game - Ridley and Ford are all around backs... they look like mirror images of each other... and they broke tackles, evaded tackles, setup screens and had good vision - Shepard so-so... but you can see he has talent - D. Peterson looks way too quick for a LB to cover him - P. Peterson would have had a TD on a kick return but they stop the play - Kickers look awesome - Lee looked solid but threw a pick six... to be honest Loston knew it was coming - Jefferson looked about lost as I have ever seen a QB... not in synch and just a negative vibe - Randle looks like a solid #2 Other than RB I don't know if anything was solved on the player side and maybe using Peterson in the return game.
Murphy will have a hard time outplaying Ridley/Ford. I think the OL is completely set - they looked good. Only guy maybe vulnerable at all would be the RT (Hurst?) who just could not handle the speed rushers. Peterson should be the primary return man outside of maybe Shepard. He looked dangerous. Jefferson is the leading candidate for "not on his game at all." Although, it remains arguable that he has ever really developed his game to begin with. I hope it was a bad day. None of the DTs seemed impressive to me. Is the OL that good? Or, as the azztards on TV kept insisting, is our DL just too light?
I appreciate the fact that he looked better than JJ, but his drives couldn't have been that long. He had 114 yards total on 10 of 20 passes. That's the thing LSU really needs - some RBs that will break tackles. Because our OL has not been opening holes big enough for our RBs. Ridley has looked really good at times, but struggled against Arkansas and Penn St. Hopefully they will both do good things this year. Please review footage of La. Tech game last year. That was an actual game late in the football season after a ton of practice (against the La Tech D). Some short memories around here...
