Where to begin... It seems that the biggest situation that developed as a story line for this LSU rushing offense in the early parts of the season was the lack of a dominant performance. Mainly, the rub was Joseph Addai just not living up to his billing. Everyone saw this guy was talented last year, and this was finally his big shot to explode onto the LSU landscape in a big way. But, he came out of the blocks like he had only 1.5 legs...Slow hitting the holes, no burst whatsoever, and no speed in getting to the outside at all. So much so that Shyrone Carey became the "1A" tailback, and started to excel. We began to hear rumblings from the fanbase, the media, and even the team, that Carey should be the feature back... Then, we not only lose Addai, but Carey with him... What happens? Our 3rd, 4th, & 5th string running backs step up and take turns rushing for 100+ yards in the past three games. Two of those games coming against VERY GOOD SEC DEFENSES. Then, last night, Addai returns, and runs hard, and actually surprises me. He hit the holes harder than he has all year, and got to outside and actually outran people to the sideline. It really surprised me. It made me think that there are two conclusions to his amazing recovery, and his better than ever rushing results last night. I'm guessing that there were some nagging undisclosed injuries to Addai, because he truly looked night and day different last night in Death Valley. I think secondly, that he heard the whispers about Carey, and then got an EYEFUL of what would happen when he saw what the "Bayou Baby Backs" were capable of if they were given some playing time. He comes back healthy, and with a chip on his shoulder. Now, we have the most explosive backfield situation in the conference, and obviously, America. I say this quite easily because Auburn allegedly had the best running back stable in America, and we throttled their @sses. They were obviously over-rated, and LSU's obviously under-rated. When Joseph Addai and Shyrone Carey are at the head of the depth chart above the three guys that we've seen tote the ball in their injury absence, you've got some real talent, and some real depth. We have two sophomores with chips on their shoulders, impressed and running hard to impress this coaching staff. We also have three freshmen (Vincent a RS, Edwards and Broussard true) looking to muscle their way into significant, and some might have an argument by saying starting, roles on this team. Every time a running back at LSU gets the ball, they're looking not only to excel, but to outdo the guys on the sidelines, because they know that there's talent up and down the depth chart, and that Saban has now seen that any of them can handle the load. Like earlier when I mentioned Mauck at the end of talking about our passing offense, I would again be remiss in talking about our rushing offense without saying a word or 1,000 about our offensiv line. It's simply dominant. It's deep. It's talented. It's nasty. It's amazing. From one side to the other, even with the injuries to starting guard Nate Livings, LSU has not missed a beat. They've protected Matt Mauck in the pocket, and they've absolutely blasted holes in the opposing defensive line of scrimmage. They've gotten a great push, and they're almost always downfield blocking. It's a tribute to our new coach on the offensive line, Stacy Searles. All around, our offense could not be playing much better. My only hope is that we don't lose our focus and rhythm heading into this off-week. We all know what happened the last time we had an off-week.
Witness LSU's backfield in 1998. Kevin Faulk, Cecil Collins, and Rondel Mealey...Three backs that all saw time in the NFL (Faulk and Collins as starters and feature backs...Mealey as an important but injury prone cog in the Green Bay offense till he hurt himself)... What happened there? The year before, you had the same backfield... Faulk got a sore hamstring, then Collins bursted onto the college football landscape, and just as quickly exited with a broken leg, and Mealey ended up seeing the ball in the bowl game and was the MVP with 222 yards... The next year, Collins never saw the field, and Mealey battled migraines early in the season... Those talented ball carriers were never fully healthy at the same time at any point during their tenures at LSU. We were never able to utilize them... You can NEVER have too much depth...
Addai is is not as useful as any of the other 4 running backs. Even last night, against a very weak defense, Addai failed to show the vision that Vincent has. Addai doesn't provide the power that Broussard has, either. For himself and for the team, Joseph should switch positions. He is an excellent athlete with great size and hitting ability to be a dynamite safety.
Based on Jwho77's post and others lately, do we agree that our defensive backfield should include Marcus Randall and Addai?
I think it makes sense to move good athletes to positions where they best help themselves and the team. Addai and Randall both would best benefit themselves and the team in the secondary where we need more depth. Look at how Jack Hunt prospered. We had so much depth at WR that he became a solid starting safety.
TigerTreat, he's a Prop 48'er, and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to him having his academics in order in relation to him being on his way towards minimum academic requirements (IE, being on track to graduate in 4 years) so that he can get that year back. Think Robert Royal. He was listed as a senior in 2000, and then came back in 2001 as a senior again. Proposition 48 qualifiers lose that year on the front end, but it ends up being a redshirt year on the backend as long as they take care of the books.
