LSU Shows Promise in Final Scrimmage

With the season opener on Sept. 1 against North Texas right around the corner, the Tigers looked to fine tune some things in their last scrimmage of Summer practice Tuesday night and by all accounts; they look GUD!

 

The running game looked as good as it can be with five backs battling for time and the top two, Spencer Ware and Michael Ford, sitting out due to minor injuries. Junior running back Alfred Blue led all backs with 6 carries for 70 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sophomore Kenny Hilliard finished with 11 carries from 67 yards and rounding out the day was Freshman Jeremy Hill going for 43 yards on 8 carries.

Zach Mettenberger threw 26 completions on 36 attempts for 336 yards and as Les put it "a number of touchdowns." 

I know its premature but 336 YARDS?!...I digress.

Backup quarterbacks Rob Bolden and Stephen Rivers had brief showings with Mettenberger clearly getting the playbook thrown his way.

The wide-outs were led by Odell Beckham (no surprise here) with 4 catches for 100 yards. Russell Shepard pulled in 3 catches for 40 yards and a touchdown and Jarvis Landry grabbed 4 passes for 20 yards. James Wright continue to impress with a 4 reception for 40 yards and a touchdown showing.

Like always, this is only a scrimmage and shouldn't be taken seriously BUT you have to admit; these numbers are what we have been waiting for. A passing game to compliment the the ground and pound that we have been known for over the years. This Fall is shaping up to be a good one.

LSU Gets Commitment From Jones

 The LSU Tigers once again grabbed a pretty good LB to add to their 2013 class when 4-star LB Melvin Jones from Washington-Marion High School in Lake Charles committed.

This 6'3, 245 pound monster is right now bigger than all but one linebacker on LSU current roster which will make him a great fit for the physical grind he'll be expected to endure while competing in the SEC. As a Junior he recorded 140 tackles ( 15 TFL ). 5 sacks, 4 picks and 4 fumble recoveries.

In addition to playing linebacker; Jones took snaps last year. This is not a typo people; he played Quaterback. He has the speed and athleticism to chase down carriers, drop into coverage, as well as take on a Fullback in the A gap.

This is an exciting commitment from my standpoint. Not only do we keep one in-state but he a damn good prospect. It's going to be fun trying to keep with these guys the upcoming Fall under the Friday night lights; just hope I have enough time to keep y'all posted : /.

LSU 2013 Commitments

Since this list is beginning to get lengthy, I figured I'd make my own and include their highlight reel. The list will be updated on a regular basis so keep your eyes open!

GEAUX TIGERS!

ATH  Jeryl Brazil 5-9 176 Loranger

 WR  Chuck Baker  6-2 193 Salmen

CB  Tre'Davious White 5-11 160 Green Oaks/Shreveport

DB  Jeremy Cutrer  6-3 175 Jewell Sumner

OL  Josh Boutte  6-4 305 Westgate/New Iberia

WR  John Diarse (Sophomore season) 6-0 210 Neville/Monroe

DT  Tevin Lawson 6-4 275 Denham Springs/Denham

DE  Michael Patterson 6-3 232 Winnfield/LA

OL  K.J. Malone 6-4 285 Cedar Creek/Ruston

WR  Quantavious Leslie   6-4 190 Hinds (Miss) CC

TE  Logan Stokes 6-4 240 Northeast Miss. CC

QB  Hayden Rettig   6-3 210 Cathedral/Pasadena

OT  Ethan Pocic  6-6 285 Lemont Township (Ill.) HS

DE  Frank Herron 6-4 245 Memphis Central HS/Memphis

WR  Kyrion Parker  6-3 185 Manvel HS/Pearland TX **DECOMMITTED**

FB  Kennard Swanson 6-0 245 Lake Gibson HS/ Lakeland, Fla.

QB Anthony Jennings 6-2 200 Marrietta (Ga.) HS/Marrietta, GA

LB Melvin Jones  6-3 245 Washington Marion/ Lake Charles, LA


TE DeSean Smith  6-4 220 Barbe HS/ Lake Charles, LA

17th Commitment From Georgia Dual-Threat QB

Since JaMarcus's departure, true LSU fans wondered "When will we have another good quarterback under center?" Some thought it would be Jordan Jefferson others pushed for Jarrett Lee. The result?

2,135 passing yards between the both of them. Just to keep things in perspective the top SEC quarterback threw for 3,638 yards (Tyler Wilson) and good ole Case Keenum threw for over 5,600 yards. Of course numbers are skewed with LSU attempting only 279 times last year but if we had a quarterback that really could slang it around; wouldn't our attempts reflect that?

In my opinion, it would and looking at the moves we are making in recruitment, the coaching staff agrees.

The Tigers received another four-star quarterback commitment; this one coming from Marietta, Georgia's Anthony Jennings on June 7. Jennings chose the Tigers over 40 other schools including Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi State.

Jennings is a 6'2, 205 pound dual-threat quarterback. He played his Junior year with a torn knee ligament and still managed to throw for 2,187 yards, 19 touchdowns and only four interceptions on top of rushing for 464 yards and 8 touchdowns. Jennings was also named the MVP of the Elite 11 Atlanta Region. He will now participate and compete in the Elite 11 finals in California in July against the nations top high school quarterbacks.

Jennings will join Hayden Rettig  as two of the nations top qartuerbacks in packing their bags for LSU in  2013. If these two stay committed, we can be looking a pretty decent group for seasons to come. Both have the opportunity to redshirt and develop into premiere players; solving the quarterback conundrum for the first time in years.

This sets up pretty nicely for us but I can't get this past season out of my head. Let's fast forward to the 2015 season. It's the beginning of Spring practice and Coach Miles (assuming he is still here) says "Well ummmm we have two great quarterbacks ready to take the wheel of this offense. Either one can be the starter but we'll use the two quarterback system when needed." *insert face palm* Hopefully this is just me playing Devil's advocate and I won't have to dig up this post down the line. May the best man win.

LSU Gets FB Commitment

If you guys been following my post (which I hope you have), you'll know that this recruiting season has been a busy one especially the last couple of weeks. So on the heels of getting verbals from some of the nations top defensive ends, wide-outs, and offensive tackles; we add a tree stump to the backfield in Kennard Swanson from Lakeland, Fla.

The 6 ft 245 pound Swanson started 3 years on the defensive line in addition to getting a couple snaps at fullback, offensive guard, and some special teams duty. He received offers from Miami and Central Florida to play fullback as well as USC, Pitt, USF, WVU and Purdue for defensive line. During his Junior season, Swanson had 46 tackles and 11 sacks. 

Since we typical see athletes convert to fullback out of high school ( I am notorious for this in NCAA football), it isn't a shock that he played all over in high school. Shows that he isn't all about self and willing to help the team in any shape, for, or fashion. He'll learn a lot from our current RB staff.

Tigers Get Four-Star DE.

So, I think we have figured it out; cracked the code so to speak. Not only are we getting recruits; we are getting GOOD recruits. 

Next on the list of commitments this Summer is the 6'5 254 pound defensive end Frank Herron out of Memphis,Tn. Herron had offers from Arkansas, Ohio State, USC, Auburn and Notre Dame. He is considered one of the top D. Ends in the 2013 class and does everything to make you think so as well. The announcement came following the Memphis Nike Football Training Camp after Herron received the Defensive line MVP. One of his deciding factors was the relationship he has with defensive line coach Brick (dude name is Brick!) Haley.

Herron has displayed some skills as a young defensive end playing with both power and quickness. As long as he is willing to work hard and perfect his craft he should have no problem becoming a household name. The burden is now on the Tigers to make sure he is consistently getting better the entire year.

LSU Gets Another JUCO Player

This one folks is a tad on the "Who the hell is this?" side but the upside for Northeast Mississippi Community College Logan Stokes is tremendous.

From a build prespective, he stands 6'5, 240 which is ideal for a TE and will help fill some voids left that position. Here is some (the only) footage I was able to find on Stokes.

Good blocker; decent hands. Potential through the roof!

Four-star OL Coming Down South

It's happening so fast; it's becoming a full-time job just to keep up!

But good news is great news in recruiting; especially after you land a freak of nature like this one.

On May 29th the Tigers got yet another class of 2013 commitment from Illinois lineman Ethan Pocic who had offers from 'Bama, USC, Cal, Oklahoma, and Florida just to name a few.

The 6'6 285 pound tackle is rated the number 36 player by Rivals.com and the 6th best OT in the nation. The deciding factor for Pocic was the physical play of LSU's run game. After his visit to LSU this past weekend; Pocic knew LSU was the right fit for him.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Pocic said; "It's all about the offensive line at LSU and the running game" stated Pocic. "They love to run the football and it's a great fit on and off the field for me."

Many analyst love the upside of this kid. He possess the athletic ability to play tackle as a true freshman and have the frame to be an effective blocker at the next level. Adding another pillar to an already stacked offensive line is writings on the wall that LSU will always be a run first team.

To be honest, I couldn't pick out a weakness from watching his highlight tape. Could be the fact that he was so much bigger than the person in front of him but you don't run across too many 6'6 offensive tackles in high school. Either way, I'm sure he will have a stellar career at LSU. This verbal commitment makes 14 for the class of 2013.

...plus that highlight link is SICK!

Tigers Grab Houston Receiver

It almost seems like a kid verbally commits to the Tigers everyday now with this one coming from a familiar place.

Three-star wide receiver Kyrion Parker announced Monday that he will join the Tigers in 2013 according to multiple recruiting websites.

Parker told TigerBait.com "I verbally committed today; We were sitting down talking to Les Miles about the program and everything. I really liked it a lot."

The 6'3, 185-pound receiver missed most of his Junior season with a broken collarbone and has since transferred  from Lamar of  Houston ( former high school of Tiger favorite Brandon LaFell) to last year's state runner-up Manvel in Pearland, Texas.

This 2013 class is really starting to take on a personality of it's own claiming more and more great high school athletes. Let's ride this wave of momentum and see if we can get a couple of five-stars as well as the recruiting period continues.

Top QB Prospect commits to LSU

The quarterback position has been a hot topic for the tigers ever since the departure of JaMarcus Russell. With the lost of one of the top QB prospects in this year class (see Gunner Kiel); the focus immediately shifted to the 2013 season and they might have nabbed  a pretty good one out of Cali.

Hayden Rettig stands a prototypical 6'4 with a 215 frame; with some growing years left before him and a big arm. The 4-star QB is coming from a pro-style offense at Cathedral High School and look to fill a void that had most us Tiger faithfuls concerned to say the least.

At Cathedral, he threw for 3,041 yards and 24 touchdowns with a dismal 23 ints (Freshmen and Sophomore years respectively). His Junior campaign was cut short due to a torn ACL where he only played in 2 games.

With Mettenberger being a Junior ( presuming he won't declare for the draft next year), this gives Rettig a chance to redshirt, learn the offense, then compete for playing time the 2014 season. If the Tigers can create some type of revolving door at the QB position like all the other positions on the team; the energy in Baton Rouge will be electrifying.

It's another verbal commit but you can't help but get excited about this one. It seems like recruiting top QB prospect has been a weakness ever since...Ryan Perrilloux (instant-anger). So maybe this will start the trend that LSU has always needed; a QB that can get the job done in the air FIRST then on the ground.

LSU Gets JUCO Stand-out

The 2012 recruiting class is over and done with but us true football fans *hand high* knows that recruiting is a year long non-stop courtship that many NCAA coaches have to master in-order to be successful. Frank Wilson is one of those coaches.

Looking forward to the 2013 season LSU has got a verbal commitment from one of the most sought after JUCO wide-outs of that class; HINDS CC Quantavious Leslie.

The 6'4, 190 lb. receiver had 26 catches for 501 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2011 and shows good body control for his size; something we haven't seen since the Dwayne Bowe days. His numbers are pretty impressive as well, running a 4.4 in the forty with a 33 inch vertical leap. He definitely has the criteria to come in and leave a lasting impression on Death Valley. In other words, he's a beast in the making Quantavius Leslie Highlights.

Of course this road wasn't the chosen path by Leslie. He initially signed with West Virginia in 2009 as a high school Junior but failed to qualify academically. I'm more than sure once he gets on campus, the Cox Communications building (Academic Center for Student-Athletes) will become his second home.

Now, I can't stress enough that this is a VERBAL commitment meaning he could change his mind several times if he so choose to (See Gunner Kiel). One school that he was hoping would offer him a scholarship was Georgia. Being a native of there, the opportunity to play 2 hours away from his childhood home may still be a dream for Leslie. Let's hope he has the "I'll show you!" state of mind and put up crazy numbers when/if we see Georgia again in the near future.

But to be honest...all I keep seeing is Odell on one side and Leslie on the other; throw in a good quarterback ( the wild card) and we will be hanging another championship flag.

Tigers going to the next level

The draft was another good one for the LSU Tigers and the SEC as a whole. This shouldn't come as a surprise given that the past 6 BCS champions have come from the SEC. 42 players were selected from the SEC (one more than the Big Ten) and a number of undrafted free agents will be picked up over the next couple of days ( if not already). Here is the list of LSU's drafted and undrafted players going to the next level.

Drafted:
Rd 1. 6th pick - Moe Claiborne - Dallas Cowboys
Rd. 1 14th pick - Michael Brokers - St. Louis Rams
Rd. 2 63rd pick - Rueben Randle - New York Giants
Rd. 3 73rd pick - Brandon Taylor - San Diego Chargers
Rd. 4 124th pick - Ron Brooks - Buffalo Bills

Undrafted Free Agent Signees:
Ryan Baker - LB - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Will Blackwell - T -  Carolina Panthers
Jordan Jefferson - QB - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jarrett Lee - QB - San Diego Cahrgers
Kendrick Adams - DE -  Jacksonville Jaguars
T-Bob Hebert - G/C - St. Louis Rams
Deangelo Peterson - TE - St. Louis Rams
James Stampley IV - FB - Seattle Seahawks ( invited to free agent tryout)

As always, we wish our Tigers nothing but success in the future!

Geaux Tigers!