re: Reminder: Whit Weeks is an EE

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He is too small right now to start at LB.

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Isn’t he the same size as Harold Perkins coming out of HS? 6’2” 210lbs right?

Yea and he’s better than the linebacker from many who according to locals, is among the best high school linebackers ever to play the game

Saying that, I think Weeks can make a nice impact next year since the experts who cover it nationally now see him as better than even the great player from many

You have to be able to add good weight & keep your speed & agility and it is not always easy to do both.

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All our great freshman this year had some rough patches

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Yes this kid is going to have some rough patches….we don’t need any player on this team to be perfect every game …we don’t this kid to be all SEC …we just need him to be serviceable

You have way less questions this year than last and they're not done in the portal yet. You're also under the assumption nobody develops with 1+ year with this staff which is silly.

They about to land another highly touted young CB, they have Alexander who has questions if he can translate to this level but LSU seems to think he can, and they got Harris who's arguably top CB or top 2-3 CB in the portal. They still have Welch on the roster who's basically another 5* and Banks who could end up as a start who knows. He's more of a complimentary player right now since we don't know if he's healthy but he's a nice problem to have if it is. Toviano will likely contribute day 1 somewhere either CB or S my guess is rotational S if they slip Brooks in nickel in packages.

DL you still have multiple young talented guys. Jones, Wiggins, etc. with 1+ year development. Jones got significant PT and looked pretty good this year. Womack is coming in that's a 5*. Shand was no slouch at Arizona who should be a solid player. Jefferson was their best defensive player LSU poached. He could start on most teams but he'll be a rotational guy behind 2 all-americans DTs. This is all under the assumption someone doesn't come out of nowhere in development somewhere on defense like Carter.

You still have Perkins who can only jump in progression since he didn't know the nuances to the position. I'll give you the rest of LBs are weak but Penn had some solid spots last year, he's still young, and he can still develop more. You really don't know if he takes a big step like Clark did for us. They'll probably target LBs if any good ones come in the portal.

S you have Brooks who was a very solid player all through the year and Burns who at times looked good as a starter last year. You have lots of talented depth here behind them.

The issue this year is inexperienced but highly talented depth. You're looking at high end blue chip talent as depth in every DB spot. It's 1000x better situation than what we had last year and far less question marks. Outside LB, their starters are good - great in positions. They have way more depth than last year that's more talented. I fail to see how they're "bad" when last year had more question marks but still performed above expectations. They collapsed at the end due to lack of depth which they're not done filling in the portal.

I think you going to be surprised at how good Shand and Jefferson are. They're exactly the cog depth you need in a rotational DL and they're not done yet. The biggest question mark is LB but even there you have decent in Weeks/Penn who contributed. If they feel it's weak past spring I'm sure we'll get someone in the portal.

Talking about starters. It's fine to give them PT rotating but if you're relying on them to start 100% in several positions you going to have some serious growing pains.

That's experience. Harris last year looked pretty damn good before he got suspended in SEC play. I don't know about Alexander. It seems some think he's an NFL player but we'll see on that. Obviously LSU scouting identified him as potentially one otherwise they wouldn't offer him. LSU scouting is elite and DB is one of the easiest positions to evaluate talent.

Everyone still on the team is 1+ year in development under this coaching staff. That can't be overlooked. You're going to get a few guys pop up out of nowhere where you'll say where was he last year?

The point is, there's no way he can say this defense will be "bad" because there's no argument it's in worse shape than it was last year. They're not even done recruiting in the portal nevermind what he said was hyperbole. Does it have questions? Sure. Every year you're going to have questions somewhere on a college team. I feel more comfortable this year than last year.

I don't know what Tolan's issue was. "personal issues' sounds like bullshite to me. It sounded more like he got a money bag and a promise to start at Auburn and here he'd have to compete for it. Penn wasn't terrible in all spots last year. He actually looked good in some games. He's still what, a sophomore? He can develop. Don't forget how bad Clark looked before he made the jump to NFL. His last year he saw a huge jump in maturity. Same can happen to Weeks or Penn. Tolan either didn't want to compete or wanted guarantees LSU isn't going to give him.

Penn makes me nervous if he's day 1 starter but I also acknowledge he still has plenty of opportunity to mature.

You're doing it again. You act like LSU doesn't have others on the roster. You don't think Welch has the talent to push for a starting position? Banks? They'll probably get JK Johnson in the portal which he started most of the year at Ohio State and was one of the highest recruited CBs. BK wants guys with lots of eligibility left in portal but he's not going to ignore talents like Shand/Jefferson either.

Depth wise already LSU is unquestionably in better shape than last year on defense. You're running serious mental gymnastics if you think otherwise.