re: Seniors and underclassmen departures

This 2011 team is probably the best team we've ever had, even with the quarterback problems.

2012 will be great, and they have an opportunity to win the national championship, but the talent we had this year is unbelievable. Only 2006 rivals this team.

Reuben Randle, Morris Claiborne, Michael Brockers, Brandon Taylor, James Stampley are all pretty irreplaceable next season.

Randle gave us a true deep threat, and I don't think we'll have anyone on the team who can give that to us next season.

Claiborne is the best cover corner we've ever had at LSU. I'm a little worried about the cornerback position next year. Claiborne shut down his receiver, allowing Chavis to have the rest of the defense fly around and make plays. Mathieu's playmaking ability was aided big time by Claiborne.

Brockers is a freak. We've always had great DTs, from Lavalais, to Dorsey, to Nevis, to now; but having him for one more season would have been huge. Hopefully the other Freak (Johnson) will step up big.

Brandon Taylor was not only the most underrated player on our defense, but in the conference and the entire country, as well. About halfway through the season, it sort of became the cool thing to do to say how underrated Taylor was, so he sort of started to get the recognition he deserved. He was an outstanding leader in the secondary. He was the best communicator we had and fabulous against the run. Just an incredibly smart player, with great instincts. He was always in the middle of plays. I'm really sad to see him go, and it hurt the most to see him walking off the field on Monday with tears in his eyes. I hope he knows how much he meant to this program.

Stampley was a man at fullback. We got away from him towards the end of the season with the emergence of Hilliard, but he's still a huge loss for this team.


I think we'll still be a national championship contender next year. However, you won't see any more 30-point beat downs of the Auburn, Florida, and Georgias of the world. Although Mettenberger will be an upgrade at quarterback, it could take him a little bit of time to get his feet wet.

At the end of the day, I think we'll win our first 8 games. @Auburn and @Florida will be tough, but we're still 14+ points better than both of those teams on talent alone. It'll all come down to the Alabama game, once again. However, Arkansas will be a huge road test to end the regular season as well.

I think the 2012 team has the potential to win every game that it plays. An SEC Championship is not out of the question, but 10-2 isn't out of the question either. No matter what, it'll be a great season. I just hope it ends on a sweeter note than this one.