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Message
Need to think about getting ride of the LSU TRADITIONS of designation of #7
Posted on 9/27/26 at 5:09 pm
Posted on 9/27/26 at 5:09 pm
In the last 15 years, 14 players wore #7 and 20 wore 18.
The striking part isn’t just injuries.
No. 7
* Injury: 42.9%
* Worse statistically: 66.7%
No. 18
* Injury: 20.0%
* Worse statistically: 43.8%
So over this 15-year sample, a No. 7 season has had roughly 2.1× the injury rate of a No. 18 season.
And two-thirds of the statistically comparable No. 7 seasons ended with worse numbers than the player’s preceding season.
That No. 7 result is sufficiently weird that I think the next question is if we compare these 7/18 rates with LSU’s other established stars/returning starters over the same 15 years. That would tell us whether 7 really is unusually cursed, instead of simply showing regression-to-the-mean among players who were given the number because they were already stars.
on the numbers we’re using, No. 7 has more than twice the injury rate of No. 18: 42.9% vs. 20.0%.
No. 7 injuries: 6 of 14 = 42.9%
The six I count are:
* Leonard Fournette, 2016 — No. 7: ankle injury lingered most of the season; played only seven games. LSU specifically said the ankle injury persisted throughout the year.
* Grant Delpit, 2019 — No. 7: significant ankle injury that affected him late in the season.
* Derek Stingley Jr., 2021 — No. 7: Lisfranc/foot injury, surgery, only three games.
* Harold Perkins Jr., 2024 — No. 7: knee injury against UCLA ended his season after four games.
* Trey’Dez Green, 2026 — No. 7: knee injury against Ole Miss; MRI showed significant sprains/bruising without a ligament tear.
* Whit Weeks, 2026 — No. 7: fractured leg against Texas A&M; surgery required.
No. 18 injuries: 4 of 20 = 20.0%
I get:
* Tre’Davious White, 2015 — No. 18: missed the Western Kentucky game because of injury. LSU confirms it was the only game he missed during his LSU career.
* BJ Ojulari, 2022 — No. 18: injured his knee in the opener against Florida State and missed the Southern game.
* Mekhi Wingo, 2023 — No. 18: played much of the season injured and missed five games.
* Garrett Nussmeier, 2025 — No. 18: played through an oblique/torso injury that substantially affected his season and was eventually shut down.
Using the 15 LSU seasons from 2012–2026, and counting a player-season each time someone carried the No. 7 or No. 18 honor, here’s the cleanest comparison.
Statistically worse after receiving the number
For No. 7, I find 6 of 9 Worse-season rated seasons = 66%
Some of these declines are dramatic. Fournette fell from 1,953 rushing yards/22 rushing TDs in 2015 to 843/8 in 2016. Delpit went from 74 tackles, 9.5 TFL, 5 sacks and 5 INTs to 65, 4.5, 2 and 2. Boutte went from 84.7 receiving yards/game and 9 TDs in six games to 48.9/game and 2 TDs in 11 games.
Stingley’s 2021 collapse was obviously injury-driven: 27 tackles and five passes defended in seven games in 2020 ? eight tackles and zero passes defended in three games in 2021.
For No. 18, I have 7 of 16 comparable completed seasons = 43.8% showing an overall statistical decline: Bennie Logan 2012, Lamin Barrow 2013, Foster Moreau 2018, Chris Curry 2020, Mekhi Wingo 2023, Greg Penn 2024 and Garrett Nussmeier 2025. Logan dropped from 57 tackles/6.5 TFL/3 sacks to 45/5.5/2; Barrow from 104 tackles/7.5 TFL to 91/5.5; Penn from 89 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 4 sacks and 2 INTs to 86, 5, 1.5 and zero.
Nussmeier is particularly stark: 4,052 yards, 29 TDs in 2024 ? 1,927 yards, 12 TDs in 2025, though injury and fewer games are obviously major reasons.
Fournette 2016, Grant Delpit 2019, JaCoby Stevens 2020, Derek Stingley 2021, Kayshon Boutte 2022 and Harold Perkins 2024.
For No. 18, I have 7 of 16 comparable completed seasons = 43.8% showing an overall statistical decline: Bennie Logan 2012, Lamin Barrow 2013, Foster Moreau 2018, Chris Curry 2020, Mekhi Wingo 2023, Greg Penn 2024 and Garrett Nussmeier 2025
I’m counting only injuries that happened during the season the player had 7/18. Prior-year injuries are completely removed. For the statistical comparison, 2026 is excluded because the season isn’t finished, as are offensive linemen whose performance can’t reasonably be compared with conventional individual stats. LSU’s official histories establish the recipient lists.
The striking part isn’t just injuries.
No. 7
* Injury: 42.9%
* Worse statistically: 66.7%
No. 18
* Injury: 20.0%
* Worse statistically: 43.8%
So over this 15-year sample, a No. 7 season has had roughly 2.1× the injury rate of a No. 18 season.
And two-thirds of the statistically comparable No. 7 seasons ended with worse numbers than the player’s preceding season.
That No. 7 result is sufficiently weird that I think the next question is if we compare these 7/18 rates with LSU’s other established stars/returning starters over the same 15 years. That would tell us whether 7 really is unusually cursed, instead of simply showing regression-to-the-mean among players who were given the number because they were already stars.
on the numbers we’re using, No. 7 has more than twice the injury rate of No. 18: 42.9% vs. 20.0%.
No. 7 injuries: 6 of 14 = 42.9%
The six I count are:
* Leonard Fournette, 2016 — No. 7: ankle injury lingered most of the season; played only seven games. LSU specifically said the ankle injury persisted throughout the year.
* Grant Delpit, 2019 — No. 7: significant ankle injury that affected him late in the season.
* Derek Stingley Jr., 2021 — No. 7: Lisfranc/foot injury, surgery, only three games.
* Harold Perkins Jr., 2024 — No. 7: knee injury against UCLA ended his season after four games.
* Trey’Dez Green, 2026 — No. 7: knee injury against Ole Miss; MRI showed significant sprains/bruising without a ligament tear.
* Whit Weeks, 2026 — No. 7: fractured leg against Texas A&M; surgery required.
No. 18 injuries: 4 of 20 = 20.0%
I get:
* Tre’Davious White, 2015 — No. 18: missed the Western Kentucky game because of injury. LSU confirms it was the only game he missed during his LSU career.
* BJ Ojulari, 2022 — No. 18: injured his knee in the opener against Florida State and missed the Southern game.
* Mekhi Wingo, 2023 — No. 18: played much of the season injured and missed five games.
* Garrett Nussmeier, 2025 — No. 18: played through an oblique/torso injury that substantially affected his season and was eventually shut down.
Using the 15 LSU seasons from 2012–2026, and counting a player-season each time someone carried the No. 7 or No. 18 honor, here’s the cleanest comparison.
Statistically worse after receiving the number
For No. 7, I find 6 of 9 Worse-season rated seasons = 66%
Some of these declines are dramatic. Fournette fell from 1,953 rushing yards/22 rushing TDs in 2015 to 843/8 in 2016. Delpit went from 74 tackles, 9.5 TFL, 5 sacks and 5 INTs to 65, 4.5, 2 and 2. Boutte went from 84.7 receiving yards/game and 9 TDs in six games to 48.9/game and 2 TDs in 11 games.
Stingley’s 2021 collapse was obviously injury-driven: 27 tackles and five passes defended in seven games in 2020 ? eight tackles and zero passes defended in three games in 2021.
For No. 18, I have 7 of 16 comparable completed seasons = 43.8% showing an overall statistical decline: Bennie Logan 2012, Lamin Barrow 2013, Foster Moreau 2018, Chris Curry 2020, Mekhi Wingo 2023, Greg Penn 2024 and Garrett Nussmeier 2025. Logan dropped from 57 tackles/6.5 TFL/3 sacks to 45/5.5/2; Barrow from 104 tackles/7.5 TFL to 91/5.5; Penn from 89 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 4 sacks and 2 INTs to 86, 5, 1.5 and zero.
Nussmeier is particularly stark: 4,052 yards, 29 TDs in 2024 ? 1,927 yards, 12 TDs in 2025, though injury and fewer games are obviously major reasons.
Fournette 2016, Grant Delpit 2019, JaCoby Stevens 2020, Derek Stingley 2021, Kayshon Boutte 2022 and Harold Perkins 2024.
For No. 18, I have 7 of 16 comparable completed seasons = 43.8% showing an overall statistical decline: Bennie Logan 2012, Lamin Barrow 2013, Foster Moreau 2018, Chris Curry 2020, Mekhi Wingo 2023, Greg Penn 2024 and Garrett Nussmeier 2025
I’m counting only injuries that happened during the season the player had 7/18. Prior-year injuries are completely removed. For the statistical comparison, 2026 is excluded because the season isn’t finished, as are offensive linemen whose performance can’t reasonably be compared with conventional individual stats. LSU’s official histories establish the recipient lists.
Posted on 9/27/26 at 5:13 pm to 12TigerS
In the end, it’s just a number
Posted on 9/27/26 at 5:14 pm to 12TigerS
Just needs to go back into defensive rotation.
Posted on 9/27/26 at 5:14 pm to 12TigerS
Looks like you put some time and work into this research. Have an upvote.
Posted on 9/27/26 at 5:15 pm to lsusteve1
And there’s no logical reason wearing this number would affect injury rates.
Posted on 9/27/26 at 5:16 pm to 12TigerS
7 definitely has some curse behavior to it.
Posted on 9/27/26 at 5:16 pm to 12TigerS
It’s not the number. It’s the caliber of player wearing it involved in a greater number of plays that results in higher injury risk.
Posted on 9/27/26 at 5:22 pm to 12TigerS
I despise this numbers thing, yeah something something players, but wish they would just give it next year to a freshman/special teams player and let it have a reset.
However, on the injuries, both Weeks and Green had similar injuries last year wearing their old numbers.
However, on the injuries, both Weeks and Green had similar injuries last year wearing their old numbers.
Posted on 9/27/26 at 5:51 pm to 12TigerS
That's a whole lot of work, numbers, and text to prove frick all.
This post was edited on 9/27/26 at 6:02 pm
Posted on 9/27/26 at 5:55 pm to 12TigerS
Posted on 9/27/26 at 6:02 pm to 12TigerS
Nonsense! The guys who wear #7 are the guys who put it all on the line with no regard for personal harm. They would play the same no mater what # was on their jersey. So they would have gotten hurt just the same.
Posted on 9/27/26 at 7:34 pm to WilliamTaylor21
Seven may be the biblical number of completion, but lately at LSU it’s looked more like seven plague
Seven is overwhelmingly associated with completeness, perfection, blessing, or good fortune, especially in the Bible. It shows up constantly: creation completed on the seventh day, seven days in a week, seven churches in Revelation, seven seals, seven trumpets, and so on.
But there are a few places where 7 is tied to judgment, punishment, or something ominous, rather than “lucky.” For example, in Genesis 4:15, Cain is protected with a warning that anyone who kills him will suffer vengeance “sevenfold.” Later, Lamech speaks of vengeance “seventy-sevenfold.” In Leviticus 26, God warns Israel that continued disobedience will bring punishment “seven times over.” Revelation also uses groups of seven for catastrophic judgments: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls of wrath.
So I wouldn’t call 7 an unlucky biblical number. It’s more accurate to say it represents fullness or completeness!
Seven is overwhelmingly associated with completeness, perfection, blessing, or good fortune, especially in the Bible. It shows up constantly: creation completed on the seventh day, seven days in a week, seven churches in Revelation, seven seals, seven trumpets, and so on.
But there are a few places where 7 is tied to judgment, punishment, or something ominous, rather than “lucky.” For example, in Genesis 4:15, Cain is protected with a warning that anyone who kills him will suffer vengeance “sevenfold.” Later, Lamech speaks of vengeance “seventy-sevenfold.” In Leviticus 26, God warns Israel that continued disobedience will bring punishment “seven times over.” Revelation also uses groups of seven for catastrophic judgments: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls of wrath.
So I wouldn’t call 7 an unlucky biblical number. It’s more accurate to say it represents fullness or completeness!
Posted on 9/27/26 at 7:42 pm to 12TigerS
The number 7 is not the reason they are getting hurt just unfortunate
Posted on 9/27/26 at 7:43 pm to 12TigerS
That was a hell of a thought , impressive and thank you
Posted on 9/27/26 at 7:43 pm to 12TigerS
I don’t think it is at all helpful to decree a certain player is the best on the roster at the beginning of the season, so no more special significance to #7.
If a person “deserves” #18, just name him captain, and be done with it.
If a person “deserves” #18, just name him captain, and be done with it.
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