CFN 2018 LSU Tigers preview. Very Good... But is that enough?

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By most standards, flirting with a ten-win season and going to a Citrus-level bowl is outstanding. But when you’re a program that was perennially on the short list of national title contenders not all that long ago, and when the talent is consistently there to quickly get there again, going 9-4 with a decent bowl bid just isn’t going to be enough

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Quickly, someone tell him we have a hard schedule!! Also let him know about the WR talent!!

The whole preview could be simplified by saying that from play calling to personnel, the offense is a complete unknown. ON PAPER there seems to be talent with the biggest question marks being (one) tackle, RB and QB. Without knowing what this team will look like offensively, there's no way to accurately project what will happen.

Defensively you feel they will be good, or at least good enough to keep them in every game. We know what White can do. We know what Williams, Lawrence, Delpit, Battle can do. We think that a combo of E. Alexander and Fehoko will be better than Lacatoure/Gilmore, two guys who are probably, at best, fringe NFL players. Most importantly, we know what Aranda can do.

As ridiculous as it sounds, O's role is largely overrated when it comes to the actual games (as long as he's not trying to interject his opinions in anything except the DL play).

So the bottom line is can Ensminger and whoever is at QB make the offense a legitimate threat? Not, can this offense make just enough plays end the end to beat most teams. But can this offense actually go out and take it to opponents to allow the defense to suffocate them into a loss. That's what Bama does. They put opponents in a hole with their offense, then make that opponent one-dimensional and suffocate them on defense. Once they put you behind the game is virtually over. LSU should be good enough to do the same thing on defense. Will the offense have enough guts and moxie to take some risks in search of the big reward?

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They put opponents in a hole with their offense, then make that opponent one-dimensional and suffocate them on defense

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the games I watch against good teams alabama's defense suffocates a team until the offense or defense starts scoring. many a game alabam's offense doesn't really do anything for almost 2 quarters. but they keep getting the ball back in a hurry and with all that talent they break through.

you are right, though, we need to do what you think alabama does. our offense needs to score early and score often.

Interesting quotes from the article:

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The linebacking corps has two superstars – one established, one rising. Devin White led the team with 133 tackles as the tone-setter for the D from his Rover spot, but the superstar might be K’Lavon Chaisson, a 6-4, 240-pounder who came up with 27 tackles and two sacks as a true freshman

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Best LSU Offensive Player

WR Jonathan Giles, Jr.
2. OT Saahdiq Charles, Soph.
3. QB Joe Burrow, Jr.
4. OG Garrett Brumfield, Sr.
5. RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Soph.

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Best LSU Defensive Player

LB Devin White, Jr.
2. CB Greedy Williams, Soph.
3. LB K’Lavon Chaisson, Soph.
4. S John Battle, Sr.
5. DT Ed Alexander, Jr.

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No Rashard Lawrence?

Lawrence didn’t play much in 16 and played injured in 17. 18 will be his breakout year.

That list is kinda trash

Battle is not a top 5 defensive player.

He’s a borderline liability.

I would go

Greedy
White
Lawrence
Alexander
Fehoko

Top 5 defenders.

The guys that write these lists don’t watch film. It’s all about recognizable names

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But when was the last time this program lost fewer than eight games?

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I'm not going to lie; when I read this it confused the hell out of me for a second until I realized it was a typo.