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Started By
Message
A Serious Discussion About Our Serious Problems (Warning: Multiple Paragraphs)
Posted on 9/22/14 at 5:14 pm
Posted on 9/22/14 at 5:14 pm
This season has real potential to be disastrous. By disastrous, I mean a losing season...the first one in 15 years. If Les and the staff are able to elevate our team's play and strengthen our obvious weaknesses it will be an impressive feat. I have not seen an LSU team physically get its collective arse beat down in years (notwithstanding Alabama); the last time was several years ago when Arkansas drove the length of the field to win the game in the 4th quarter. They handed the ball to Knile Davis and he and his OL repeatedly pummeled our defense into the ground. Prior to that game you need to go to 2008.
If we do not correct our defensive problems then we will get destroyed by Alabama, Auburn, and Texas A&M. Moreover, I do not see us beating Arkansas and Ole Miss with our current level of play. Arkansas has a very strong OL and two very good RBs. With that being said, our problems:
The DL:
We have a gaping hole all the way through the center of our defense. Our DEs are average at best and our interior line is soft as pudding. The hard truth is that our DL is physically weak. LaCouture needs to add around 25 pounds of hard muscle to his frame to be a legit factor. He is being pushed around and at times even tossed like a rag doll. Thomas is not 100% but, honestly, I don't know how much of a factor he would be even if he was at full strength. He has been here four years now and has yet to make an impact. Godchaux shows potential and I hope he continues to develop as the season progresses because we need him.
The fact that a true freshman recovering from a serious knee injury is playing and Gilmore, Herron, and Bain are getting scraps speaks volumes regarding the staff's faith in those latter guys. If you believe the coaches are playing the best guys (LaCouture, Thomas, Godchaux) then if follows that the guys that are not playing (or playing very little) must be seriously deficient and are not developing.
The DEs are not applying consistent pressure to opposing offenses. Hunter and Rasco will make a play every great once in a while but are largely unremarkable. Both seem slow off the line. Neal looks like a munchkin out there and does not have the physical size to play on the DL. There is no way he is as tall as his listed height; he looks 5'10" in cleats at best. I have yet to see anything in Bower this year or last year to signify that he will be a factor. He has received a lot of PT and shown absolutely nothing. I see no progression.
LB:
MLB has been a huge issue for two years now as is evident to 99% of all people that have watched us play. Someone mentioned yesterday that we miss the Honey Badger...true, but we really miss Kevin Minter in the middle of the field. Welter is out of position at times and slow. When an opposing player makes contact with him he is immediately out of the play. He is physically weak; he was owned throughout the game. What is troubling is that he continues to play. If you take the coaches at their word and believe that they play the best players (and I do) then it must follow that Beckwith is not on Welter's level of capability. This is extremely worrisome. The only alternative is believing that the coaches are incompetent and not playing our best players. We need someone to step up and assist Alexander in the LB corps...whether it is Garrett, Riley, Jones, or Louis.
Most of the discussion on this board is focused on the offense. We do have problems with our underperforming OL but on the whole I'm not worried about the offense because of Harris, Fournette, Williams, Dural, Dupre, Quinn, Diarse. They are only going to get better; you can see the talent. The drop off in defensive capability has been remarkable. Think about opposing offensive staffs when they played us just a couple years ago. You know they spent a lot of time thinking about Mathieu and stressed that they need to be aware of where he was on the field at all times. They would have to think about throwing in the direction of Claiborne. They would have to deal with Minter patrolling the middle of the field. They would have to come up with plans to keep Mingo and Montgomery at bay.
Right now, who do we have that causes them worry? Who on our defense makes them say in their meetings "We have to be ready for this guy."
?
If we do not correct our defensive problems then we will get destroyed by Alabama, Auburn, and Texas A&M. Moreover, I do not see us beating Arkansas and Ole Miss with our current level of play. Arkansas has a very strong OL and two very good RBs. With that being said, our problems:
The DL:
We have a gaping hole all the way through the center of our defense. Our DEs are average at best and our interior line is soft as pudding. The hard truth is that our DL is physically weak. LaCouture needs to add around 25 pounds of hard muscle to his frame to be a legit factor. He is being pushed around and at times even tossed like a rag doll. Thomas is not 100% but, honestly, I don't know how much of a factor he would be even if he was at full strength. He has been here four years now and has yet to make an impact. Godchaux shows potential and I hope he continues to develop as the season progresses because we need him.
The fact that a true freshman recovering from a serious knee injury is playing and Gilmore, Herron, and Bain are getting scraps speaks volumes regarding the staff's faith in those latter guys. If you believe the coaches are playing the best guys (LaCouture, Thomas, Godchaux) then if follows that the guys that are not playing (or playing very little) must be seriously deficient and are not developing.
The DEs are not applying consistent pressure to opposing offenses. Hunter and Rasco will make a play every great once in a while but are largely unremarkable. Both seem slow off the line. Neal looks like a munchkin out there and does not have the physical size to play on the DL. There is no way he is as tall as his listed height; he looks 5'10" in cleats at best. I have yet to see anything in Bower this year or last year to signify that he will be a factor. He has received a lot of PT and shown absolutely nothing. I see no progression.
LB:
MLB has been a huge issue for two years now as is evident to 99% of all people that have watched us play. Someone mentioned yesterday that we miss the Honey Badger...true, but we really miss Kevin Minter in the middle of the field. Welter is out of position at times and slow. When an opposing player makes contact with him he is immediately out of the play. He is physically weak; he was owned throughout the game. What is troubling is that he continues to play. If you take the coaches at their word and believe that they play the best players (and I do) then it must follow that Beckwith is not on Welter's level of capability. This is extremely worrisome. The only alternative is believing that the coaches are incompetent and not playing our best players. We need someone to step up and assist Alexander in the LB corps...whether it is Garrett, Riley, Jones, or Louis.
Most of the discussion on this board is focused on the offense. We do have problems with our underperforming OL but on the whole I'm not worried about the offense because of Harris, Fournette, Williams, Dural, Dupre, Quinn, Diarse. They are only going to get better; you can see the talent. The drop off in defensive capability has been remarkable. Think about opposing offensive staffs when they played us just a couple years ago. You know they spent a lot of time thinking about Mathieu and stressed that they need to be aware of where he was on the field at all times. They would have to think about throwing in the direction of Claiborne. They would have to deal with Minter patrolling the middle of the field. They would have to come up with plans to keep Mingo and Montgomery at bay.
Right now, who do we have that causes them worry? Who on our defense makes them say in their meetings "We have to be ready for this guy."
?
Posted on 9/22/14 at 5:18 pm to LuckyTiger
I actually read the whole thing. You could have shortened that to 5 sentences
Posted on 9/22/14 at 5:22 pm to LuckyTiger
No pass rush on defense is the bigges problem. No QB on offense. Combine that with the toughest division in college football and LSU is staring at 7-5.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 5:23 pm to LuckyTiger
I agree with everything you said.
We have a talent problem.
We have a talent problem.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 5:26 pm to TeLeFaWx
quote:
No pass rush on defense is the bigges problem
This has been the case for the past few years.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 5:28 pm to Stingray
quote:
We have a talent problem.
And the fault for that lies solely with the coaching staff. Either they can't properly evaluate talent or they can't develop players once they get to LSU.
Either way, it's a disturbing trend we've had with our QBs and linemen.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 5:34 pm to Stingray
quote:You are delusional.
We have a talent problem.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 5:41 pm to LuckyTiger
Well.... Miles can bost about the number of LSU players currently in the NFL, Chavis can continue to tweet that LSU is NFLU, and the LSU posters here can continue to argue with Alabama fans about who has more players on NFL rosters, but it's time all of the above admit that losing so many juniors two years in a row has significantly impacted this program. It's not sustainable.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 5:46 pm to TeLeFaWx
We have a problem developing our lines and keeping them once they have any success.
We also have a problem with not playing the best athlete. I don't think we always play the best 11 on either side of the ball. It appears to me that playing time is allotted based more on risk aversion than upside potential.
We also have a problem with not playing the best athlete. I don't think we always play the best 11 on either side of the ball. It appears to me that playing time is allotted based more on risk aversion than upside potential.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 6:06 pm to LuckyTiger
I think we have had a problem developing our D line, I know we've been killed due to early departures but they look bad. Also I knew welter was bad but never deserved the full criticism that he gets on the rant.. That was until saturday, he looks slow and got blown up every play. Him and Ronald Martin got exposed a lot, all it takes is the weakest link. And they my friends are bad and really hurt or defense
Posted on 9/22/14 at 6:22 pm to LuckyTiger
quote:
Welter is out of position at times and slow.
You have mastered the art of understating
Posted on 9/22/14 at 6:25 pm to MoreOrLes
agree that losing so much talent in the last 2 years, is the main problem, Need senior talent, espically in the oL ,ab, etc
Posted on 9/22/14 at 6:37 pm to LuckyTiger
We have to keep the draft eligible players this year. Les basically made a public plea two weeks ago.
In the meantime we need to address deficiencies with Scheme adjustments. It's the old Danny McCray thing-the player may be great-but not if he's not put in a position to utilize his core competencies. Our defense is stacked in some spots and weak in others. Chavis needs to earn his check now.
In the meantime we need to address deficiencies with Scheme adjustments. It's the old Danny McCray thing-the player may be great-but not if he's not put in a position to utilize his core competencies. Our defense is stacked in some spots and weak in others. Chavis needs to earn his check now.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 6:40 pm to LuckyTiger
Dude its simple...the defense is young...front 7 overall are not getting it done...and right now we don't have a experienced "game changer" at quarterback...period...break it down all you want...those above are the reasons lsu will struggle to win 7 games this yr
Expect close to 500 season this year...
Next year will be improved, in 2016...lsu will be the goat
Expect close to 500 season this year...
Next year will be improved, in 2016...lsu will be the goat
This post was edited on 9/22/14 at 6:58 pm
Posted on 9/22/14 at 6:51 pm to sharkfhin
quote:
Next year will be improved, in 2016...lsu will be the goat
Bower, Hunter, Herron, Bain, LaCouture, Thomas, Gilmore, and Beckwith all need to make serious as yet to be seen progress in the next several weeks. This is key. The problem is not one of them has shown any signs of progression. As time goes by it becomes cause for concern. More troublesome is the fact that the opportunities are there for the taking...all they need to do is show some capability.
They just aren't showing it, which begs the question: what if they are as good as they are going to get? They also need to get stronger and more physical and I do not think they can do that this year.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 7:33 pm to TeLeFaWx
quote:
Combine that with the toughest division in college football and LSU is staring at 7-5.
If we're very fortunate we could be 7-5...or 5-7.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 7:36 pm to sharkfhin
quote:
Expect close to 500 season this year...
Next year will be improved, in 2016...lsu will be the goat
i said this saturday night.
it is not an endorsement of the coaching.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 7:57 pm to LuckyTiger
Do you care or what???!!! Way to go. But O Line is bigger problem. We should have taken big step forward and we've gone backwards... I was never impressed with the Grimes Love Fest... I see his impact now... And it ain't purdy... What's the effect next year after he loses 5 of his top 10 O linemen???? And D Line is weak... They got manhandled... Except for Rasco and Hunter... The interior guys were pushed around like kindygartners by a bully on the playground.
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