Shep?

I just don't see him as the starting QB anytime soon. I think he will get the ball in many different ways over the next few years and obviously have major impact.

Another in a long line of future all american/heisman hopefuls based on video of high school football.

Give him a freshman season before you start any of this. He isn't going to start this year at qb and maybe never that that position.

Glenn Guilbeau: Shepard is the guy to lead LSU's flock






Midway through the 2008 LSU quarterback trilogy, someone very close to the team was asked which of the three on the team would be the quarterback of the future.

“The quarterback of the future may not be here yet,” was the answer.

The future gets here early next month. His name is Russell Shepard, and his grades and work ethic are so good that he enrolls in January.

Russell Shepard is Ryan Perrilloux without the baggage or the counterfeit. He is not going to say that he’s going to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 and win the Heisman in his freshman year. Though Shepard did throw for just short of 2,000 yards and did run for just short of 2,000 yards last season at Cypress Ridge High in Houston.

Shepard’s not going to say he’s better than the quarterbacks already at LSU, though he probably already is, and he’s not going to get stuffed into a locker by a senior at his first practice.

In fact, Shepard has already been humble enough to tell LSU coaches before this season that if he does not win the starting job next season that he can play another position like receiver or defensive back or kick returner until he becomes the starting quarterback.

Had Perrilloux straightened out and played at LSU in 2008, the Tigers could be 10-2 right now even with that horrid defense. With Shepard next season, LSU will be back in that nine- or 10-win plateau. He’s that good, and he’s got his head on straight.

Yes, he will be just a true freshman next fall, but he should benefit greatly from spring drills, and the position will be as open as it has ever been.

Jarrett Lee, who will be a sophomore, started eight games in the 2008 season, but he digressed tremendously. Even though some of the blame for that rests with head coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, it will be very difficult for those two coaches to go into the 2009 season with Lee as their starter considering the baggage of interceptions from 2008. And there could have been more.

Andrew Hatch, who will be a junior, started LSU’s first three games and proved to be a good field general and solid runner. He is smart and has savvy, but his overall talent level is just not there. His best role may be as a calming backup for a young starter.

True freshman Jordan Jefferson, who started the Arkansas game and will start against Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, has all the tools and could well be the starter to open the 2009 season. He is not as crafty a runner or scrambler as Shepard, but he is a dual threat, which is what Crowton craves.

Since Jefferson and Shepard are the same type quarterbacks, LSU’s offense will be geared toward them. There is also commitment Chris Garrett of Tupelo, Miss. A more traditional drop-back quarterback, Garrett will also enroll next month. You can't ever have too many quarterbacks, and Garrett will get his shot.

Due to Hatch’s injury that sidelined him for the last five games, Lee’s struggles and Jefferson’s lack of playing time until very late in the season, the competition will start in the spring virtually even.

Since Shepard and Jefferson are true dual threats, they have the advantage.

Because even if they struggle with their passing game, they can always run and they can always be effective on designed running plays. Shepard, like Perrilloux, can make something out of nothing, which is what the LSU quarterback position was in 2008.

Sooner or later, Shepard will pass everyone else, and LSU will have its first four-year starter at quarterback since Tommy Hodson from 1986-89.