Spring Practice

Well, we are now a couple practices in & while the subject has been touched on in a couple of other threads, I figured it deserved its own.

From all reports I've seen, the team is looking very sharp - much more crisp than usual for this early in the Spring, but this may be attributable to the fact that we played a game a month later than usual.

The CB competition is coming along very well, with several guys really stepping up their game. It seems that my primary concern for next year may not end up being a big issue. Safety is in fine hands, but Chad Jones has yet to assert himself as a starter at anything but dime back as many fans predicted.

My second biggest concern however, was LB depth, which does appear to be as bad as I feared. Our second string consists of a walk-on, a converted safety, and a true freshman.

Many LSU fans, including myself, thought that we would be set next year with a starting 3 WR's in Byrd, LaFell and Toliver. While Toliver has hit the weight room hard, he still doesn't know the routes and is running at the very bottom of the depth chart this Spring. A number 3 isn't real clear right now, but I'd say Jared Mitchell is in great position to make a move as he's a very similar athlete to Early Doucet & could definitely fill that role.

The one issue I was not concerned about was QB, as I thought Perrilloux would stay out of trouble. Well, I was wrong. We'll see if RP makes it back for any of Spring practice, but right now we have Lee, a RS Freshman who I was very high on as a recruit, and Hatch a former Ivy Leaguer back-up taking turns with the first team offense. I've been pleasantly surprised by the reports on how these 2 have looked. Neither are physically imposing, but they are both smart and won't make too many mistakes.

OLine is the strength of our team, but the depth is young. We have 4 returning starters, but there's some tough competition at RG between Hitt & Josh Dworacyzk, while 2 future All-SEC sophomores are duking it out for the RT spot.

Not too much to report on the DLine, as we all know what to expect there. I was surprised to hear that Al Woods is ahead of Drake Nevis on the depth chart currently, as it looked like Nevis had passed Woods during the season.

No RB has asserted themselves as a primary guy thus far. I had predicted Charles Scott to be the man next year, but Keiland appears to be #1 on the depth chart right now while Scott is putting some reps in at FB as he's listed #2 on that depth chart behind Quinn Johnson. Steven Ridley, a TB/FB, who many are excited to see based on some fantastic reports out of practice this past year, is practicing solely at TB.

LSU is obviously set with our #1 TE in Dickson, but our #2 is a big question right now. We have a walk-on and first time TE (formerly DE) at that spot on the depth chart right now. That does not inspire a lot of confidence there.

 

Good post, out-of-town'ers appreciate!

 

And us in-towners as well. Thank you. :thumb:

 

Thanks for the report. I think all of us football fanatics are STARVED for true football discussion right now. I was happy to hear that we are looking sharp--that speaks well to the motivation of our team to try to repeat.

As for the QB position, I'm happy with your report on how Hatch and Lee are doing. We've won two NC's in the past five years with QB's that match that description; we didn't win a NC with one of the most gifted athletes to ever play QB at LSU (though we certainly had our shot.)

I'm not too worried about TE depth, since we don't throw a whole lot to the TE. I feel really good about Dickson having an incredible season, though. He will either tear it up with a good # of catches, or defenses will key on him, opening up some of our talented WR's. Win-win.

 

That was yet another way that I preferred his play-calling to that of his predecessor. Fisher acted like we didn't have TE's on the team most of the time. He typically only used them for blocking.

 

Even with super talented QBs, my main hope for them always is to play smart and to not make mistakes. I am happy to know that both Hatcher and Lee are doing well in that aspect.

I've spent so much time the past few seasons worrying about the OL that it seems funny to see it listed as a strength this early.

I think I'm most interested in the RBs, but didn't see Murphy listed in your update. He really impressed me the few times I saw him at the end of last year's season, so I was curious as to how he'd be used this year.

And thanks for the update! I'm already ready for football season to start.

 

I'm hoping that we answer the question marks at CB and LB the as well as they were answered heading into the 2003 season when we had to depend on an incoming freshman safety(Landry), had another CB and safety who were former WR's(Webster & Hunt, although both had already been at their present positions) along with moving 2 safeties to LB(Alexander & Mayes) and needing a freshman to step up(Vaughan). We can't always expect things to work out that well, but we do have a lot of talented guys to try out at those positions.

I'd not be surprised if we move someone to the TE position from the other side of the ball for more depth.