Rating the 2015 LSU class

Sure. It's a team effort and all the pieces have to come together from top to bottom, sideline to sideline and booth to field. But are you saying that with these corrections in place Jennings comes out a winner or Harris is suddenly able to understand the play call or what he is looking at when he approaches the line? Or how about the season when Jarrett Lee led an undefeated LSU team through most of the season only to be replaced by Jefferson?

Yes. This was / is a young team that is developing and their "green" bled through the purple and gold all year. They will grow and they will get better. However, I have watched this game for many years both pro and college. From what I have seen so far, we continue to have a void at the most important position on that team. Maybe Harris develops the grey matter to accompany his physical talents. If he does, he could be an electrifying play maker. If he can't or if he goes down then the keys get handed to a QB who is definitely not a starting QB at this level of play. Jennings ceiling is average. That's it. So then you turn to .....?

We've seen this story before and it's time this staff wrote a different ending.

 

Tiger Bait!

 

So what are the final rankings on the class? I see ESPN has LSU at 10th and I heard on the radio that LSU is third in the SEC behind Alabama and Tennessee.

 

Those guys aren't big enough to play end in most 3-4 alignments. The obvious alignment comparison is Bama because of Steele. Hunter didn't have enough meat on his bones for it. He probably would've been more of a pass rushing OLB in a 3-4. Key would be more of an OLB. Same with Bower. A couple of those big boys who played in the middle last year would need to move out to end for a 3-4 to work. LaCouture would be a great candidate for end in a 3-4 because the only place he really excelled was eating up more than one blocker and getting that big mitt up in passing lanes. I think Godchaux can do anything he's asked to do and extremely well. Valentine is the obvious nose option but simplify responsibilities for big boys like Bain and Gilmore (you see those three gaps...collapse at least two of them...do not penetrate...collapse) and they can contribute at nose as well. All sorts of alignments but I don't know of any with ends as light as our current 4-3 ends.

I'm probably in the minority but I think we are in better shape to play the 3-4 than most think. Beckwith and Garrett would man the inside positions, albeit with very little depth...at least of their size. Guys like Debo, Lamar, Feist, and Riley who are knocking on the 230 range could probably handle some inside reps. And there are LOTS of options to play that Demarcus Ware style rush end/OLB.

I don't agree with a full-on switch right away but it certainly CAN work right now...especially with our secondary.

 

Former DC/LBer coach Chavis and his reluctance to play at least 3 LBers most of the time....if I was a LBer and didn't grow up an LSU fan, no way would I play for 3rd and Chavis at LSU....safety/CB maybe, but not a LBer! His "hybrid LBer" means who plays is NOT a LBer by trade. The changeover in coaches was done way too late to get on people like A McGinnis who Chavis ignored.

As far as unit ratings, James Smith just released his, so I will summarize mine, James Smith, and Helm's (BTW, I had to doctor Helm's a bit because I think he accidentally forgot to rate the OL in his ratings...I assumed an obvious A+)

Unit Me James Helm
QB D C C-
RB A+ A+ A+
WR A+ A+ A/A+ (he mentioned Martin would be icing on the cake)
TE NA C+ B
OL A+ A+ A+
DL B- B C+
LB F- F F
S/CB A+ A+ A+
ST A A+ A

 

Lots of points here...the easiest to address first. To the Jarrett Lee cultists, let it go! LSU was undefeated under him because they had played for the most part poor teams....Oregon and WVA were not poor teams...the rest were. NW St, Miss St (6 losses), KY (7 losses), FL (6 losses), TN (6 losses), Aub (5 losses). And I remember the Oregon and WVA games. They were won by the defense (turnovers for TDs) and special teams (returns for TDs). Remember this was 2011 when Mathieu was going nuts on defense/special teams forcing an LSU record number of turnovers and points off turnovers by him. BTW, you think if Jarrett Lee had remained in the 1st Alabama game, LSU would have won that game that he was self-destructing in just 1+ quarters.

Jennings and Harris both have issues obviously. Jennings problems are indecisiveness and not being able to pick up another receiver other than primary. Harris has the mental aspect of the game but also an on the field issues. He is not the most accurate passer out there and he forces balls he shouldn't even throw. On some of those sideline routes, he hurts spectators in row 3. That could be another sign of lack of poise or it could be horrible mechanics. I don't know without seeing the guy in practice. But if you don't follow through properly, guess what happens? The ball sails on you. So it is either nerves and/or motion.

It is hard to rate the LSU QBs because for the trillionth time, the passing game is NOT just the QB as many suggest here. Two examples out of many I could give. On 2 occasions in LSU games, I saw Dural BLOCKING on a pass play....on another play, Dupre was BLOCKING on a pass play. Here's the problem with that. The one thing about a QB who only looks at the primary receiver...you know the play call. When each of them came back to the huddle, Jennings was yelling at them as I would. I would guess he said something like "Listen guy, YOU were the primary receiver, so why the F-CK were you blocking?" Oh wait, that is Jennings fault right?

 

Actually, Alabama isn't. USC won the top spot in both Rivals and Scout.com As far as Ole Miss, they peaked 2 years ago...got Robert N, L Sprewell, and L Tunsin. Last year they dropped noticeably and as you correctly stated, they really tanked at the end this year in recruiting. In the last week, they lost Lewis and Richmond, 2 of their 3 highest rated guys. They did pick up IMO and overrated D Lodge, but still, they finished poorly...very poorly

 

Come on, Welter tried hard.