re: Who will be our starting safeties?

Mills and Jefferson, with Mills taking a back seat to Adams by midseason.

Comparing someone to Eric Reid isnt the same thing as comparing him to Earl Thomas... And I said I expect Adams to see a lot of PT this year. Hes a big recruit and seems to have everything you want in a Safety. But still... we have no idea what he can do at this level.

And I just dont think Mills is that good in run support... He has nice numbers and all that on his 2 seasons in terms of tackles, but I just find him missing a lot of tackles out there... enough to where it stands out to me. And he got beat early on at CB, but I find that his skill set is suited for the FS spot, especially in coverage. He isnt the best when hes man to man, but when we ran some zone with him at CB he was a lot better. And thats why I think he will be a solid center field type of FS.

And if he was playing at the SS spot for us, I think he would get destroyed playing up in the box and close to the line like we use our SS. He is not big enough nor physical enough to take on OL / FBs / RBs. He would not be able to shed those guys and make the tackle. He is OK in run support at the CB spot and sometiems in the open field(wouldnt say hes good at it though), but at the SS spot he would be taking on blocks and all that and I just do not see him being able to do that.

And in regards to him blitzing and getting sacks, everyone that we played at that nickel / dime back these last few years all got a handful of sacks. Its usually when the other team is in spread empty package, we blitz the inside DB guarding the slot and the S picks up his man. There isnt a player in the backfield to pick him up when blitzing so if he can catch the OL sleeping and use their speed to get past him, they typically get sacks. Ron Brooks, TM, Micah Eugene, Mills, and Thomas all were effective in that position while blitzing.

But the point is that I dont think Mills can play at the SS spot for us. And I dont think we need him at that spot either. Im a believer in Ronald Martin and think he just had a bad year overall, not just with football. We tried him out at FS which isnt his natural spot, his Father passed away in the beginning of the season, and then he broke a bone in his foot in the middle of the season. Thats a tough year for anybody without football. Add that to the equation and its just that much more draining.

Hes moved back to his SS spot which is his natural position. And hes a freak athlete. 6'1 218lbs, with a 41inch vert, played on the LSU bball team his freshman year, can run in the 4.5s. He went both ways in football (DB and QB), led the state in interceptions as a sophomore, made all-state in football that 10th grade season and then earned all-state honors in football and basketball as a junior and as a senior, where he led his team to state titles in both football and basketball. And was 1st team all district in baseball and track, where he ran a 46second 400m, jumped over 44ft in the triple jump, and over 23ft in the long jump.

Plus, we have seen Martin make big time plays at LSU. He was excellent his sophomore year when he filled in for Loston at SS. And I expect to see that again and more in the upcoming season.

Do lesss

I'd bet the house a freshman winds up starting by the fourth game.

LSU DB jobs are not handed down, they are taken.

Last year was the first in quite some time that two corners had done their time and were "starters" at the onset. Every ounce of me knew at least one would loose their job, they both did.

Same goes for safety, somebody will take the senior's place

Ed Paris

quote:

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Mills is our third best cb and I think our 3 rd best safety is better than our fourth best CB

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Our 4 best DBS are all corners
Rr, tw, jm, ep, then rj but besides jm they're all young