A funny thing happened on the way to working on my Vanderbilt-LSU game preview this afternoon: I asked the CBS college football crew some questions about the Tigers, and I inadvertently started a spirited debate.

During a teleconference with reporters to discuss another season of SEC football on CBS, play-by-play announcer Verne Lundquist and analyst Gary Danielson joined studio personnel Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman and former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer in taking questions and offering their opinions.

It turned into more fun than these things usually are.

The most entertaining part of the sequence began with Brando saying the axis for LSU this year rotates around two key elements this season: new defensive coordinator John Chavis and true freshman athlete Russell Shepard, whom he called an "enormous" talent.

"His talent both on the field and his leadership abilities off the field are off the charts," Brando said. "I mean, according to people I've talked to, they're Tebow-esque. That says a lot in talking about leadership skills off the field."

Brando noted Shepard didn't play in the season opener at Washington, but he said when we see him, it will be in "a unique location, and it will offer a problem for most SEC defenses that they play."

The group seemed in agreement that Les Miles is probably saving Shepard for the right moment. Brando went so far as to say Shepard will be a significant impact player, and that prompted Danielson to cut him off.

"If Russell Shepard is the leader of this team," Danielson said, "they are not going to be a good football team."

Danielson's lengthy explanation clarified his concern is not so much about Shepard's potential but his inexperience at this level. Brando tried to interrupt by saying he wasn't suggesting Shepard will be the leader at quarterback, but Danielson was off and running.

"If Florida would have hung it on Tebow, if (Chris) Leak would not have come through, Florida wouldn't have been good the first year either," Danielson said of the 2006 national championship team.

Brando clarified he didn't mean Shepard's leadership would put him in a position to beat out Jordan Jefferson.

"I'm not saying he's going to be the next quarterback," Brando said. "I'm saying what he can do on the field is similar to Percy Harvin. What he can do off the field is similar to Tim Tebow. That's scary. That is scary."

Tillman jumped in again at that point.

"Tim, I think I understood what you were saying there," Tillman said, "but having followed Russell Shepard for four years here at Cypress Creek (actually, Cypress Ridge) in Houston, let me tell you his leadership gift and his talent is literally off the chart. I watched him interact with Les Miles here at the Touchdown Club event I did at the Bear Bryant Awards, and I'm just here to tell you: This kid is more gifted than Vince Young was at this point in time."

"I'll stand by my statement," Danielson said.

"I agree," Tillman responded, "and I don't think anybody, Gary, has suggested that he's the leader now."

Danielson referred to a 2006 game between Florida and Alabama on CBS and a Leak pass that was nearly intercepted.

"Urban Meyer was going to bench Chris Leak and give the job -- if that ball was caught -- he was going to give the job to Tebow," Danielson said. "They would not have won the national championship, and I don't think Tebow would have had the career (he's had).

"The biggest mistake Les Miles could make would be to use Shepard too much his freshman year," Danielson said.

Reminded that the others' comments were not necessarily about Shepard playing quarterback, Danielson said he wasn't referring to quarterback play but too playing time, period.

A brief reference to a Wildcat -- or Wild Tiger -- formation led Tillman to continue talking about Shepard.

"Just for peace sake," Tillman said, perhaps coining a phrase, "I want Gary to understand what I think I was hearing Tim say and then what I was agreeing with, is that no one's suggesting he's going to be the quarterback right now."

When LSU figures out where to use Shepard, Tillman said, "whatever they do, he is going to be a nightmare for anybody that is forced with the challenge of trying to defend him because the kid is -- as you said, Tim -- he has the leadership giftings of a Tim Tebow, maybe even stronger, and that's a hell of a statement to make, but I've been around this kid long enough to make that assessment, and I'm telling you his physical giftings are along the lines of a Percy Harvin.

"This kid is a phenomenal athlete, and what Les is probably trying to do is keep this in his back pocket as long as he can, until he needs to unveil it. Mark my words. You mark this thing down: This kid is going to be a prolific player for LSU."

Brando compared Chavis' first game as LSU defensive coordinator, the 31-23 victory at Washington, to Bo Pelini's first in 2005, a game in which the Tigers gave up a lot of yardage and points before rallying for a dramatic 35-31 victory at Arizona State.

"This team was better than that, they still won relatively comfortably, although giving up a lot of yards to a Washington team that clearly is not going to go 0-12 this year with (Steve) Sarkisian there and the great quarterback in (Jake) Locker," Brando said.

He said the secondary and linebackers seem to understand what Chavis wants and how to get the job done. A big key, Brando said, is how the defensive players handle the transition to a new coordinator and new defensive staff, especially with a big reduction in the rotating of personnel for third downs and other situations.

"He wants to get as many of the best players on the field as he can possibly get," Brando said of Chavis. "You're going to play more reps. You might be a bit more fatigued. You'd better be in better game shape if you're going to play defense for him, but I think that if he has as good a year as I think he can have, and Shepard is the impact player that I think he will be, LSU is very much a part of the picture championship-wise."

Danielson, who last month predicted LSU will play Florida for the national championship in January, wasn't shy about praising the Tigers this afternoon.

"I think their receivers are amazing," Danielson said. "Their tight end is ... I mean, I think they've got the best group of skilled players in the SEC, No. 1. I think their secondary is the No. 1 secondary in the SEC. I think their offensive line is equal to any in the SEC.

"Funny, I have not been and I am not impressed with their defensive line. I think it may be their weakness, and that has been their strength."

Danielson said it's hard to say this about coaches, but he thought Miles "lost his team" last year by sticking too long with Jarrett Lee at quarterback.

"He held all his players to a high level of performance on the field," Danielson said. "He was benching everybody else, but he failed to bench his quarterback. I think his lost his team the second half of the season."

Lundquist, who said he didn't see LSU's game against Washington, said his lingering memory of the Tigers from 2008 is of the struggles at quarterback. He agreed with Danielson about LSU's talent at the skill positions and said he thinks the quarterback play will be much better than last year.

"I don't think LSU is ever going to be under the radar with Les," Lundquist said, "but I don't hear as much conversation about them, and I haven't heard as much conversation about them in the offseason as one might expect."

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Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU sports since 1999. Like Miles saving Russell Shepard for the right time, Carl is saving his Phillip Fulmer quotes about John Chavis, the defense and the rest of the Tigers for Friday's look ahead to the Vanderbilt-LSU game. You can contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.