re: Ben Wilkerson---What does he mean to the OL this year?

I´m an old offensive lineman ( a center at that) so I tend to watch very closely what the offensive line does. Most times I dont even watch the running back. I knew last year that we were in big trouble when the ULL defensive line was consistently knocking our starting line into the backfield. Take a look yourself if you can find the game to replay. Throughout the year, I saw the same thing, poor technique, many times poor effort, not enough poundage on the interior line. It certainly did not help that the opposing D´s did not have to respect JJ and the pass so could and did stack the box, making a bad situation worse.

That being said, I very closely watched the OL´s performance in the spring game. I know they were not playing against the full 1st team DL, but a DL that we mostly agree is pretty talented. What I saw I was very pleased with. Good blocking across the board and excellent effort, all in a line that is 15-20# heavier on average than last year. All very encouraging. Not defenitive, but certainly something positive to look at. The NC game will really tell the tale on how this line actually performs.

I distinctly remember watching Big Ben playing in 2002 and 2003. Excellent player, very smart, great technique, maybe not the meanest player LSU has ever had but certainly no pushover. So I think that what I saw in the spring game is his influence on the line. Again, we will see come the season but I am at least optomistic based on what I saw in the spring game.