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Is it fair to criticize Austin Thomas for how this roster looks?
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:09 pm
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:09 pm
I'll start off by giving credit where credit is due. We did good on the defensive side of the ball in the portal. But the roster management on offense just feels poorly handled.
We spent a good chunk of money on guys like Nic Anderson, Barion Brown, Bauer Sharp, and Donovan Green who haven’t produced anywhere near the level we all expected. Destyn Hill got hurt the first drive against Clemson and we haven’t seen him since. It’s frustrating seeing these guys come in with a lot of hype and barely contribute. I think they’re talented players, but you’re only as strong as your weakest link, which is clearly offensive tackle. They had to know in the offseason this was going to be a problem and yet it wasn’t addressed.
Austin Thomas makes 850k a year, and we hyped him up as this genius GM who’s supposed to build and manage rosters. But it feels out of sync and poorly managed, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
We spent 18 million on this team and can’t score more than 24 a game. I know coaching plays a part, but how do you have that much money and resources poured in and still can’t manage the offensive side of the roster to be somewhat functional?
It’s also frustrating seeing us lose top recruits in our class year after year and not being able to retain talented guys on our roster like CJ Daniels and Xavier Atkins from last year as an example.
We spent a good chunk of money on guys like Nic Anderson, Barion Brown, Bauer Sharp, and Donovan Green who haven’t produced anywhere near the level we all expected. Destyn Hill got hurt the first drive against Clemson and we haven’t seen him since. It’s frustrating seeing these guys come in with a lot of hype and barely contribute. I think they’re talented players, but you’re only as strong as your weakest link, which is clearly offensive tackle. They had to know in the offseason this was going to be a problem and yet it wasn’t addressed.
Austin Thomas makes 850k a year, and we hyped him up as this genius GM who’s supposed to build and manage rosters. But it feels out of sync and poorly managed, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
We spent 18 million on this team and can’t score more than 24 a game. I know coaching plays a part, but how do you have that much money and resources poured in and still can’t manage the offensive side of the roster to be somewhat functional?
It’s also frustrating seeing us lose top recruits in our class year after year and not being able to retain talented guys on our roster like CJ Daniels and Xavier Atkins from last year as an example.
16
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:10 pm to bwats28
No, it isn’t. Thomas and the front office is one of the few parts of the organization that is functioning well.
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:14 pm to bwats28
quote:
We spent 18 million on this team and can’t score more than 24 a game. I know coaching plays a part, but how do you have that much money and resources poured in and still can’t manage the offensive side of the roster to be somewhat functional?
Joe Sloan's disjointed scheme is more of the problem than the actual personnel. When you have that much talent and only score 24, it's the coaching.
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:14 pm to bwats28
quote:
Is it fair to criticize Austin Thomas for how this roster looks?
He's really good at fetching coffee.
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:15 pm to ProjectP2294
talent is there, i hate seeing him on the sideline.
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:19 pm to bwats28
Austin Thomas has many rosters to prove he's not the problem. There's a reason he got poached off Ole Miss staff and has his own examples at LSU why this is not true. It's coaching. Plain and simple. BK is terrible between the headsets. Stop trying to scapegoat anyone you can when the problem is clear as day.
Be honest with yourself and go watch 4 years of BK football at LSU. He has got out coached an ungodly amount of times when you think about it. There's so many lucky wins while he was here and got completely dominated on the coaching side. If you remember just last year Ole Miss beat LSU in every facet of the game on the road except the final score. Just an example.
Be honest with yourself and go watch 4 years of BK football at LSU. He has got out coached an ungodly amount of times when you think about it. There's so many lucky wins while he was here and got completely dominated on the coaching side. If you remember just last year Ole Miss beat LSU in every facet of the game on the road except the final score. Just an example.
This post was edited on 10/20/25 at 12:21 pm
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:19 pm to bwats28
quote:
Austin Thomas makes 850k a year, and we hyped him up as this genius GM who’s supposed to build and manage rosters
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:19 pm to bwats28
The talent isn't the problem. LSU's roster is loaded. They have players that everyone else wants.
The coaching, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, is atrocious. BK, Sloan, and Brad Davis have absolutely committed a disservice to those young men.
The lack of development of the OL from Brad Davis is criminal, especially when you consider the talent he has to work with. He's coaching young men who were elite, national prospects that every blue-blood program in the country wanted to sign.
The coaching, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, is atrocious. BK, Sloan, and Brad Davis have absolutely committed a disservice to those young men.
The lack of development of the OL from Brad Davis is criminal, especially when you consider the talent he has to work with. He's coaching young men who were elite, national prospects that every blue-blood program in the country wanted to sign.
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:21 pm to bwats28
I think you’d be shocked at how much better all the players you’re criticizing would look if properly coached.
This post was edited on 10/20/25 at 12:22 pm
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:25 pm to burreauxsballz
quote:
No, it isn’t. Thomas and the front office is one of the few parts of the organization that is functioning well.
And they are just getting started. One of the few things that would actually hurt if BK were canned, is not being able to see Thomas implement his vision.
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:51 pm to friendlyobservation
I don’t disagree with that, and you’re right about the coaching needing to be better. I probably should’ve worded my original post a little better. I’m not saying Austin Thomas is the main problem or trying to make him the scapegoat. I just think it’s fair to question why we didn’t address offensive tackle. He’s the guy in charge of building the roster, and they had to know that was going to be an issue going into the season. I just don’t get how, if you’re willing to spend almost 20 million on the roster, that’s not one of the first things you fix.
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:53 pm to bwats28
Kelly made an account just to throw something against the wall to see if he could potentially blame Thomas.
Posted on 10/20/25 at 12:54 pm to bwats28
No, don't criticize the few functioning areas that actually work.
This staff has proven it is completely overrated and overpaid. This is a playoff roster good enough to make a run with a coaching staff that isn't mid at best.
This staff has proven it is completely overrated and overpaid. This is a playoff roster good enough to make a run with a coaching staff that isn't mid at best.
Posted on 10/20/25 at 1:15 pm to bwats28
Would you rather Nic Anderson and Bauer Sharp or spent that NIL/Roster $ on a starting tackle?
Posted on 10/20/25 at 2:45 pm to bwats28
Goes back on BK, again. Personnel decisions are ultimately his. Thomas doesn't make the decisions. He's showing them who's the best at the portal and BK decides who he wants. He was comfortable with his OL and so he didn't think he needed more help. Again, that's on him. Scouting can only do that - put guys in front of you that they think will be big players for LSU. Sharp and Anderson are a disaster but I think guys like Brown are pressing hard and have shown flashes. I don't think any WR would be good in LSU's offense right now.
You're going to whiff on guys. Anderson seemed like a homerun at the time he was a 1000 yard all-sec freshman WR coming off an injury. I still think he actually might turn out good if they let him develop he's just clearly behind because it's a new system. How many defensive whiffs did they have? Gooden, Haulcey, Cooley, and Mansoor are all good/elite. Offense is BK's side of the ball. You put 2 and 2 together.
You're going to whiff on guys. Anderson seemed like a homerun at the time he was a 1000 yard all-sec freshman WR coming off an injury. I still think he actually might turn out good if they let him develop he's just clearly behind because it's a new system. How many defensive whiffs did they have? Gooden, Haulcey, Cooley, and Mansoor are all good/elite. Offense is BK's side of the ball. You put 2 and 2 together.
This post was edited on 10/20/25 at 2:49 pm
Posted on 10/20/25 at 2:49 pm to bwats28
quote:
Austin Thomas makes 850k a year
Yeah lets instead blame the carpet bagging yankee making $10mm a year
Posted on 10/20/25 at 2:50 pm to Dicken Nuggets
quote:would you say the o-line is loaded with talent?
The talent isn't the problem. LSU's roster is loaded.
Posted on 10/20/25 at 2:51 pm to jcole4lsu
quote:
Yeah lets instead blame the carpet bagging yankee making $10mm a year
Blame isn't finite
Posted on 10/20/25 at 2:52 pm to Chicken
You think Thomas is the reason the OL is a problem? BK has already said it multiple times he liked the OL. You don't think this is what he wanted? He's still marching Weston Davis out there despite the guy behind him single-handedly being graded double - almost triple his highest PFF graded game with just as high of a ceiling.
Again, this is on BK. He said it even in the preseason how comfortable he was with the OL's development. He expected it but obviously, he didn't expect it this slow. Like everything else at LSU he has almost no foresight to fix a critical issue before it happens. This is the same guy who can't see Chester or Mubenga weren't SEC lineman last year, decided to revoke PCing duties from Sloan, and still somehow marches the same guy out there on a 20 million+ roster in a make or break season.
Thomas hasn't been here long enough for personnel problems to be on his shoulders.
Again, this is on BK. He said it even in the preseason how comfortable he was with the OL's development. He expected it but obviously, he didn't expect it this slow. Like everything else at LSU he has almost no foresight to fix a critical issue before it happens. This is the same guy who can't see Chester or Mubenga weren't SEC lineman last year, decided to revoke PCing duties from Sloan, and still somehow marches the same guy out there on a 20 million+ roster in a make or break season.
Thomas hasn't been here long enough for personnel problems to be on his shoulders.
This post was edited on 10/20/25 at 2:55 pm
Posted on 10/20/25 at 2:57 pm to gringeaux
quote:
Would you rather Nic Anderson and Bauer Sharp or spent that NIL/Roster $ on a starting tackle?
I don't believe that is the problem.
We had two starting tackles, first round draft choices, now playing in the NFL.
We couldn't push forward 6" if the game depended on it.
That indicates the strength Coach is not getting them ready for heavy lifting.
That is Kelly's man.
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