The Busiest Position Coach

It occurs to me that our busiest position coach this offseason will probably be wide receivers coach DJ McCarthy. A lot of coaches have veteran units with a lot of returning producers. DJ McCarthy needs to develop some players in order for LSU to do what it needs to do on offense.

OK, it's not like we don't return any productive receivers. We return our two most productive receivers from last season, in fact. Demetrius Byrd caught 35 passes for 621 yards and 7 touchdowns, good for 3rd, 2nd, and 1st on the team among wide receivers last year in those respective categories. Brandon Lafell caught 50 passes for 656 yards and 4 touchdowns, good for 2nd, 1st, and 3rd on the team among wide receivers in those respective categories.

We also return Terrance Tolliver (10 catches, 249 yards, 3 touchdowns), Jared Mitchell (13 catches, 143 yards), Chris Mitchell (5 catches, 56 yards), and Ricky Dixon (1 catch, 9 yards).

However, LSU is a team that wants to occasionally put 5 wide receivers on the field. It seems to me, if you want to do that, it helps to have five wide receivers who are a threat to make a play. We only have two returning who were reliable producers last year.

DJ McCarthy needs to get to coaching up Toliver, J. Mitchell, C. Mitchell, and Dixon to be more productive. We need at least two of those four guys to step up their production and be a threat to get open and get the ball to make our offense even more dangerous.

In 2006, Jared Mitchell looked like a receiver who was poised to make a little noise. He wasn't terribly productive, but he got into some games and got involved. I recall he made a monster block in garbage time at one game, putting his man on the ground. In 2007, however, he didn't do much to build on that. He got on the field more often, and made 13 catches, but almost half of those came in the game against Middle Tennessee State. It's certainly not too late for him, but it's now or never. He has to increase his production, particularly in the key games, in order to be useful on the field. I'm not asking for much. If he can double his overall production and make 10-12 catches in SEC play, he will be a very useful player.

This year, true freshman Terrance Toliver showed flashes of brilliance, but struggled down the stretch of the season. He caught the longest touchdown pass for LSU on the season, at 71 yards versus Louisiana Tech, which was also the 2nd longest play from scrimmage for us. He made a huge play against MSU in the season opener that set up a touchdown late in the first half, when the game was still in doubt. But he also didn't make a catch in the last 4 games, picked up some costly penalties in the loss to Kentucky, and the last two passes thrown his way this season resulted in interceptions because he did not go where the quarterback expected him to go. The kid looks poised to be a star, but he still has a lot of work to do to get there. If he develops as he could, I don't think it's expecting too much to ask him to make 40 catches for 500 yards next year.

Chris Mitchell is entering his junior season having made only 6 catches on his career, half of which came against Tulane this year. He just has not emerged yet as a dangerous player, and there has been some chatter that he may be moved to cornerback, which may be a good move for him. I sure don't know. I know that before the season, there was 'inside' talk that he would start the season as our #3 receiver behind Doucet and Lafell. That never really occurred, however, or if it did it did not show in the stat sheet.

Ricky Dixon (not to be confused with Richard Dickson) will be a redshirt sophomore last year. He did not get much of a chance to play last year, but if he develops in this offseason, he could rise up the depth chart quickly, because there really aren't very many receivers who have proven they need to be on the field. Word is, he's a little slow for an SEC wide receiver, but he also supposedly has really good hands, and he's a wide body for a receiver. He's sort of like a Wes Welker or Dallas Clark type then, in that he's sort of a hybrid between tight end and receiver. Being slow is a handicap, but I don't think it's such a big problem if your #4 or #5 receiver is not a burner.

In addition to DJ McCarthy's work in trying to coach up these 4 players to get two or 3 of them to be real threats, we are also recruiting a HUGE class of wide receivers who will come in as true freshmen next year. Counting expected commitments, we have DeAngelo Benton, DeAndre Brown, DeAngelo Peterson, Jhyryn Taylor, Tim Molton, and Chris Tolliver joining the squad as receivers next year. We're doubling the size of the receiver corps in a very short time, and we will probably put at least two of those guys on the field immediately. McCarthy will have to quickly teach this group how to play college football when they arrive in the summer.

He'll be a busy, busy man.

Week 7 SEC Preview

They're all big weeks in the SEC, now that we're heavily into conference play. While there are no real marquee matchups unless you count LSU vs. Kentucky, there are games that will factor heavily into division races, games that may factor into coach-firings, and maybe provide us with an upset or two.

Bama at Ole Miss, 11:30am Lincoln-Financial. Those of you who are keeping up certainly know that Bama is reeling. Last week's game against the Houston Cougars came down to a last-second jump ball in the end zone after Houston's comeback from down 23. Prior to that, Bama lost two consecutive games to decent, but not great, teams. Now they get a team that is arguably the least talented in the conference. Can you name the significant wins Ed Orgeron has had at Ole Miss head coach? While they've steadily marched to 4-win seasons in recent years, they don't have a single win against the more prestigious programs. Sly Croom at Mississippi State has had one per year since 2005 (Florida, Bama, and Auburn). Ole Miss's biggest wins in that time have come against Mississippi State. Ole Miss has been close. They lost to LSU in overtime last year, and lost to Florida by 2 points earlier this year. Ole Miss may be the least talented team in the league, but there isn't a very wide disparity here like in other conferences. Hell, everyone thought they'd struggle in their quarterbacking this year in starting a former walk-on, but he's been one of the more productive QBs in the conference. Their running game is just as good as last year (but that wasn't really all that great, despite BenJarvis Green-Ellis's gaudy cumulative stats). Their defense has been their problem this year.

For Bama, this year has gone the opposite of expectations. People believed Bama's offense would be explosive, but that the defense would be suspect, forcing Bama to win a lot of games with 70 or more accumulated points. Instead, the defense has been pretty good while the offense has struggled, particularly in the passing game.

Bama's the better team, but this isn't a bad place to look for an upset. Orgeron's due for one, and Bama has really been struggling lately. Some say Orgeron's already playing for his job, but I don't know if that's true. He'll be playing for his job next year.

Tennessee at Mississippi State, 2:30pm no television. With the volume of decent conference games this week, this rather intriguing matchup gets shuffled off the regular TV rotation. It's on GamePlan, but I don't get GamePlan. Mississippi State is not the bumbling team I expected them to be, but they're still a team that will have problem winning games. This one will be no exception. Tennessee played a game last week that I never expected them to be able to play. Can they sustain it? If they can sustain that level of play, MSU has no chance against them. The Tennessee that played last week is just too explosive and just too good on defense to be beaten by a plodding mule like MSU. However, if Tennessee reverts back to the slow, tentative, spiritless play they demonstrated against Florida and Cal, the plodding mule might just get them. A loss here for Tennessee probably knocks them out of contention for the SEC East. A win for MSU makes a bowl game a distinct possibility.

LSU at Kentucky, 2:30pm CBS. We've already talked about this game, but there's more to say. Yesterday, we learned that Early Doucet has returned to practice for the Tigers. This is astoundingly good news. He makes this offense so much more versatile. Our passing game has struggled for 3 straight weeks, and you have to think it's in part because our best wide receiver has been unavailable. The guy who can break away from single coverage and make the catch consistently has been out. The guy who draws the double teams has been out. The return of Early Doucet will open up the field for us, making Lafell, Byrd, Tolliver, and the Mitchells all better. Now, with Flynn healthier and Doucet at least healthy ENOUGH to play some, we're much better than we were against South Carolina, Tulane, and Florida.

South Carolina at North Carolina, 2:30pm ABC regional coverage. I don't know much about North Carolina, but I know this. They aren't in the SEC. As such, this game, as competitive as it may or may not be, is not particularly important. SC can reach all of its goals even if they lose this game. All it will count for us bowl position. The good news for South Carolina is that North Carolina is apparently not very good. They're 2-4 on the season, having lost to unranked East Carolina and Virginia, plus South Florida and Virginia Tech.

Georgia at Vandy, 5:00pm ESPN2. Vandy is probably the most disappointing team in the conference for me. They're at 3-2, but have lost to Auburn and Bama in games in which they were not competitive at all. Their offense ranks near the bottom of the conference in scoring, passing, and rushing. That's all the major categories there, people. And I expected them to be explosive. The problem has been in their QB, sophomore Chris Nickson, who some were saying was an All-Conference calibre player. He's completing just over 50% of his passes, and in their two losses has combined for 105 passing yards with 0 touchdowns, 1 interception, and -12 rushing yards. When the games get big, he's gotten terrible. Georgia's not that great either, but they're decent, and they're an opportunity for Vandy to get off the mat and show that they're a half-decent team like I expected.

Auburn at Arkansas, 7:00pm ESPN. Houston Nutt is fighting for his job. They're 3-2, but their wins have been against non-conference patsies. Their losses have been to an unspectacular Bama team and to Kentucky. Not terrible losses, mind you, but also games the good teams are expected to win one or two of. Now they get a resurgent Auburn team. Now there's a word we're using a lot this year. "Resurgent". Auburn's being resurgent. Tennessee is being resurgent. I guess Kentucky and South Carolina are just getting surgent. If Arkansas can win this one, then they'll be resurgent as well. Like last year, Arkansas can't throw. The problem is compounded because their best receivers are all on the sidelines with injuries. Marcus Monk was supposed to be back weeks ago, but still hasn't played. Auburn's suddenly started looking very good. Their offensive line has stabilized. Their best running back returned to the field. Their receivers have started catching the ball. We knew they'd get better as the season progressed, but right now they definitely look like the stiffest competition we have in the West.

Injuries Abound

Tomorrow we'll start previewing South Carolina. Today we're going to talk about injuries, which I hesitate to do because I'm not sure I can say anything about them that hasn't been said ad nauseum already.

Early Doucet (pictured) and Matt Flynn are acknowledged by the coaching staff to be injured. Who knows who else isn't acknowledged to be injured? Doucet's injury is some kind of groin/abdominal injury. There is MUCH discussion of it on the message boards. If you go to TigerDroppings, you'll probably see half a dozen threads on the first page with titles like, "Does anyone know about Doucet's injury?"

Lots of people claim to know a lot about Early's injury, all claiming inside knowledge. They don't seem to agree with one another about his prognosis, however, so we don't know who has reliable information.

Opinions vary from "He'll be back for the Florida game" to "He's out for most of the year." However much he is out, it is a serious blow to this team and to this young man.

First, the team. Obviously, Early Doucet is our most experienced receiver. He started the season with about 10x more career receptions than the rest of our receiver corps combined. He's a veteran of some of the great SEC battles of the last few years. He's caught last-minute touchdown passes to win games against Arizona State and Tennessee. He's the best red zone receiver in recent memory at LSU. He's a guy we could count on in the clutch to make the big catch. We have a lot of other receivers with ability, but none with the proven record of performance. He's also a team leader.

Second, the man. This is Early's senior year. He's been here four years now, and it's finally his team. It's a few other people's team, but it's his team as well. In the past, he's shared the spotlight with Dwayne Bowe and Craig Davis, and before that it was Joseph Addai's and Andrew Whitworth's team, among others. It's hard to explain the mentality of an athlete in his senior year, particularly one like Early who has relished the leadership role and thrived in it. The seniors are the ones everyone looks to, and they're the ones who "own" the team, so to speak. If he didn't relish the leadership role, he could have gone to the NFL last year and probably been picked around the 2nd round. Instead he came back. I hope this injury doesn't cost him his senior year.

Matt Flynn's injury is a high ankle sprain, a term I don't think I had ever heard ten years ago. Now, I seem to hear it all the time. Flynn (pictured) could have played against MTSU but was held out for precautionary reasons. One thing they all say about high ankle sprains is that they just seem to linger and linger and linger without ever getting better. I hope that's not the case with Flynn.

At least, in Flynn's case, he's healthy enough to play right now. If it doesn't get better, he can still go as long as it doesn't get worse. Of course, an injury that limits Matt Flynn as a runner limits one of the strengths of his game. If Matt Flynn can't run, he's probably not as good of a QB right now as is Ryan Perrilloux.

Like with Doucet, Matt Flynn is in his senior year. Unlike Doucet, who previously shared the spotlight, Flynn has yielded it. This season is even more important then for Matt Flynn, who doesn't have as much past glory as Early Doucet has.

I would sure like to get Flynn back for the Tulane game to warm up for the Florida game, which now looks like the toughest game on our schedule. Perrilloux has filled in admirably, but I'd rather have a veteran like Flynn for that tough game.

OK, that's actually a picture of Matt Damon, but darnit the resemblance is uncanny and I couldn't find a head shot of Matt Flynn.

Switching gears, there's been a lot of talk about Les Miles not discussing injuries with the media. I am an attorney, but I am not a health care attorney so take this information for what it's worth. It is my opinion that it is illegal for football coaches to discuss players' injuries with the public without the express consent of the player. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (which makes health insurance neither portable nor accountable, but that's a discussion for a different blog) generally forbids health care provider from giving out your health care information without consent. It is my conclusion that the athletic trainers on the team and the team doctors are health care providers within the purview of the statute. The head coach, then, is a co-worker with the players' health care providers, and therefore are just are subject to its laws. The head coach would be treated just like the secretary at the doctors' office in that model.

Violation of HIPAA's privacy provisions can subject a person to civil liability. It wouldn't be a big deal, and I think it's very unlikely that Early Doucet and/or Matt Flynn would ever actually sue the university for discussing their injuries, but it is generally a good idea to obey federal laws whenever possible. Smart coaches who understand the privacy laws are starting to be more closed-mouthed about injuries, Les Miles among them.

Plus, I'm pretty sure Miles would rather keep that information out of the hands of his opponents anyway.

Virginia Tech: The Historic Beat Down

Wow. That was utter domination. Where last week our offense looked very pedestrian in simply taking the easy scores the defense gave us, this time both sides of the ball looked dominant and capable of winning a game for us if the other side of the ball has an off day. Every one of our offensive and defensive units looked better than their Virginia Tech counterparts. Our QBs looked better than their QBs. Our offensive line looked better than their offensive line. Our linebackers looked better than their linebackers, which is the biggest surprise because VT's linebackers are supposed to be the strength of the team and maybe the best in the country.

Early in the game, Jacob Hester showed me why he is the starter. He wasn't just a pretty good, reliable, heady runner (all the white-guy cliches). He was a dynamic runner who got big gains when they were available, and made the most out of runs that didn't have big-play potential. He finished with a 6.8 yard average and a touchdown on 12 runs.

But then Keiland Williams came in and took some of those "runs that didn't have big-play potential" and made them into big plays, making two dazzling runs into the end zone. When I said earlier this week that we don't have a playmaking running back, Keiland Williams had not made runs like that. I think we have one now. He had 126 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 7 carries.

I also complained about a lack of offensive playmakers other than Early Doucet. Brandon Lafell served notice last night that he will be a force in the passing game. Where last week our QBs completed very few passes to receivers other than Doucet, this week Doucet wasn't even our leading receiver. Lafell had one more catch than Doucet and 50 more yards receiving.

If I had to make a complaint, the return game sure didn't look very good. The kickoff returns didn't look impressive at all, and Doucet didn't make a single punt return, fair catching every punt that came his way. I know Early is sure-handed and there are advantages to having that kind of guy back there, but he's also arguably the most important offensive player on the team, and we want to protect him from injury. If he's not going to try to get us some field position, we should probably get someone else back there.

For the second straight week, Ryan Perrilloux looked very good when he got in the game. He was 5 for 5 throwing the ball for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns. We're running a package for him that is similar to the one Florida ran for Tim Tebow last year. Right now, Perrilloux is not nearly as effective of a runner as Tebow was last year, but he's sure throwing the ball very well.

Congratulations to newcomer Demetrius Byrd, who made his first receptions of his LSU career, catching 2 passes late for 22 yards. Congratulations also to true freshman Terrance Toliver, who caught his first touchdown pass of the season, and who looks like he's going to be a great one.

Kudos to Carnell Stewart, who had a very tough week at right tackle last week and took a lot of abuse in the media and on the message boards. He played very well, by which I mean he mostly kept his name from being mentioned. When I watch a replay, I'll keep an eye on him specifically. But regardless of what a close viewing shows, he clearly took great strides from week 1 to week 2.

The last thing that bears mentioning today is the observation that we have not committed a turnover yet this season. No fumbles. No interceptions. We'll win a lot of games if we never turn it over.

Common Themes of the Week

With gratuitous image of Mr. Peabody and Sherman. What sort of a dog is Mr. Peabody anyway? He looks kind of like a terrier.

As I watched football this past week, one thing could not avoid my notice. A lot of teams that struggled did so because they couldn't block. Despite our big win, our offense struggled somewhat because we had a hard time blocking. Auburn couldn't block, and should have lost to an unranked team. Notre Dame couldn't block, and lost by 30 to Georgia Tech. Virginia Tech couldn't block, and beat a n unaccomplished mid-major team by only 10 points, and that only because they got a defensive touchdown, getting only 10 yards rushing along the way. Florida State couldn't block in the first half and went behind by 21.

It was the one thing common to almost every game I watched. Tennessee-Cal was the only exception, as both teams had successful offenses and good blocking.One team or the other had trouble on the offensive line. We were the only team to struggle on the offensive line and not either lose or survive a scare, and our game was in doubt until the last play of the first half.

I don't think I'm presenting anything novel here, and I don't think we need Mr. Peabody to explain it to us (ha! I did manage to make the Mr. Peabody picture non-gratuitous). It's simple, really. If you can't block, you can't run or pass. If you can't run or pass, you can't succeed on offense. If you can't succeed on offense....

The other thing I noticed, and this became glaringly obvious when watching Clemson play Florida State (I only saw the first half, then went to bed), was that right now we don't have a playmaking running back. Or if we do, that playmaking running back hasn't emerged yet. I watched CJ Spiller and James Davis run over and around Seminole after Seminole and I realized we don't have anyone who can do that. It's a weakness of the team that certainly makes us less explosive.

Honestly, so far this team lacks any apparent offensive playmakers other than Early Doucet, and he's not really a score-from-anywhere sort of guy. Early is a great possession receiver and is great in the red zone, but he's not really a threat to take it to the house from midfield. Another playmaker on offense will have to emerge quickly, or it will seriously hurt the team. Whether it's a receiver or running back, we need a big threat.

More on Will and Other Topics

Brief points:

1. It turns out that ESPN article on Will Arnold was actually ESPN The Magazine's preview of LSU in its pre-season rankings. That was the ENTIRETY of its LSU preview. Two paragraphs on our injury-prone left guard. ESPN The Magazine sucks.
2. It looks like Chad Jones, the strong safety-linebacker hybrid who almost went to minor league baseball, will start the season returning punts. This kid must be a phenomenal athlete.
3. It appears the starting O-line will be LT Ciron Black, LG Herman Johnson, C Brett Helms, RG Lyle Hitt, and RT Carnell Stewart, which was exactly how it ended in the Spring. Will Arnold, the oft-injured and now-recovering guard will begin the season as Herman Johnson's backup. If he gets to the point where he can be a starter, I suppose he'll move into the left guard position and Herman Johnson will move over to right guard.
4. It looks like no one has so far challenged Brandon Lafell for the #2 receiver spot, and the #3 spot remains wide open. Newcomer Terrance Toliver has impressed everyone, but hasn't separated himself from Jared and Chris Mitchell.
5. All-American defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey has missed a lot of practice with various injuries, but claims it's all precautionary, and that he could play in a game at any time.
6. Safety Danny McCray appears to have beaten out the competition for the nickel back spot in the defensive backfield. Jai Eugene appears to be the dime back. Danny McCray came out of nowhere last season as a true freshman to win meaningful playing time last year in a defensive backfield that included several pro prospects.
   

Early Practice Observations

If I had made a post about What to Watch For in Fall Practice, I would have undoubtedly said:

• Watch the wide receivers to see who emerges behind Early Doucet;
• Watch the offensive line to see how Will Arnold is doing and whether anyone is pushing the starters;
• Watch the running back rotation to see who's getting the reps;
  
• Watch to see how the true freshmen integrate onto the team; and
  
• Watch the special teams.

Now that there has been about 1 1/2 weeks of practice and a scrimmage, there is perhaps enough information (known to the media) to make a few observations on these and other topics.

Les Miles commented yesterday that newcomers Terrance Toliver and Demetrius Byrd were in the lead for the 3rd wide receiver spot behind Doucet and, presumably, Lafell. If those two have passed Chris Mitchell, Jared Mitchell, and Ricky Dixon already, that spells bad news for those three guys getting real playing time in the foreseeable future.

Will Arnold briefly played at Right Guard, a position he has never played, but moved back to Left Guard after a couple practices. He's also already missed quite a bit of practice time in the training room. Will Arnold at Left Guard troubles me. That's the spot where Herman Johnson really emerged as a player. Herman is a versatile guy, and has played Left Guard, Right Guard, and Right Tackle in his career. He showed out when he was moved to Left Guard following Arnold's injury, and now I guess he's either going to hold Arnold out of the lineup there or he will have to be moved to make room for a guy who probably is only going to play a part-time schedule. I don't like it.

As near as we can tell, Ciron Black and Brett Helms written in ink as starters at Left Tackle and Center respectively, but every other position is open to competition and/or uncertainty. Herman Johnson will certainly be playing somewhere on that line, but it remains to be seen where. Miles has praised the play of true freshmen Jarvis Jones, Josh Dworaczyk, Ernest McCoy, and Joseph Barksdale. Jones, Dworaczyk, and Barksdale are Tackles and McCoy is a Guard. It is also possible that one of those guys or a redshirt freshman like Matt Allen will push Lyle Hitt or Carnell Stewart for the starting jobs.

At running back, Richard Murphy is expected to be a star, but he's been limited by nagging injuries so far. His absence has given Charles Scott an opportunity to get more reps, and it will be interesting to see if Scott, who started 2006 so strongly, can earn playing time in this rotation.

Three true freshmen have dominated the headlines from practice. Stevan Ridley has surprised everyone with his skill and athleticism at practice. He did very well in the first scrimmage, albeit he was playing against the 3rd string defense. It appears that Ridley has earned an extended look at tailback and may not be moved to linebacker or fullback as was expected during his recruitment. I sincerely doubt Ridley moves up the depth charts at tailback this year, but perhaps he will redshirt and become a part of the NEXT generation of tailbacks.

The second true freshman getting headlines is Chad Jones. Either Miles is very impressed or is blowing smoke you-know-where to keep him from signing with the Astros. Jones is reported to be a shoe-in to get a lot of playing time at special teams and may even return kicks, which I find amazing for a guy who weighs 220 pounds. He is a great athlete, and it's just inevitable that he's going to get on the field one way or another.

The third true freshman is Terrance Toliver, who has already been mentioned. It really is impressive that in this talented wide receiver corps, Toliver is getting so much attention. Michael Clayton was the last true freshman wide receiver to earn a lot of playing time, but the talent level at the position was not nearly as good then as it is now. Dwayne Bowe and Craig Davis didn't play all that much as true freshmen, and Early Doucet (though he played) was pretty far down the charts. What does this say about Toliver's ability?

Special teams are still something of a mystery. It looks like Patrick Fisher will be the punter, but we don't really know how good he will be. The kickoff kicker has not been decided yet, and the return-men are still up in the air, except that we know Trindon will be one of the kickoff return men. Early Doucet was the other kickoff returner last year, but they may want to take him out to protect him. Plus, he just wasn't all that big of a threat returning the ball. I think we can probably do better there AND protect one of our best players. Our punt returner from last season graduated. Personally, I hope Trindon earns that spot too.

That's all for now. We're only 18 days away from kickoff, and I've been excited about it for a long time already. Anticipation is killing me.