re: Beckwith in perspective

Beckwith was a impactful as the most recent crop of great LSU MLBs (Shepard and Minter come to mind) However, he was arguably more important that both of those guys to their respective teams. There was a noticeable difference when Beckwith finally took over for Welter in 2014. The defense went from looking like the one of the worst in LSU history to one of the top SEC defenses by the end of the year. You also noticed immediately when he was off the field. The 2014 Alabama game comes to mind, and obviously Sat. vs. Florida.

I'll miss Beckwith. Like Minter, he was a guy that just did his job and did it well. There wasn't a ton of flash. There wasn't some ridiculous celebration after EVERY tackle. He just went out there and controlled the middle of the field night after night. You could even argue that his great play in the middle allowed both Kwon Alexander and Deion Jones to have great seasons playing next to him.

He'll be tough to replace. Fournette is great, but I don't think it's outlandish to say Beckwith was LSU's most important player this year.