LSU football updates

[supremeworldemperor]

The freshmen got their numbers. Here's the most important:

WR Rueben Randle is wearing #2.
WR Timothy Molton moved from #43 to #6.
S Craig Loston is wearing #27
RB Michael Ford is wearing #42
LB Barkevious Mingo is wearing #49
DT Chris Davenport is wearing #50
DE "Slammin'" Sam Montgomery is wearing #99.

Along with Russell Shepard (#10), those are the freshmen most people care about. If there's another one you want to know, I'll let you know.

My biggest concern is with the run game. Charles Scott is great, there's no doubt about that, but depth behind him is thin. Talented, but thin. Even more distressing is our fullback issue. We lost Quinn Johnson to the draft, and we had to start a squad player during the spring. A freshman is arriving, so hopefully he is ready to step in. Charles Scott has also played a few snaps at fullback. Hopefully, we won't need him to do so.

Our new DC John Chavis seems to be high on Jacob Cutrera as the middle linebacker. Chavis knows linebackers, so I'm going to go with him. Many have doubted Cutrera's speed, but I don't think middle-linebackers have to be super-fast.

I'm really happy to have John Chavis. His defense at Tennessee last year was #4 in the nation despite Tennessee's offense being among the worst ever. Even with Jarrett Lee, scoring points was never a problem for LSU (we scored at least 21 points in every game last year excluding the Ole Miss game). By most accounts, the intensity level on defense has never been higher. Hopefully, the results will come on the field.

There were eligibility concerns regarding Craig Loston, our top defensive signee, but they seem to be cleared up. Loston will compete right away for the Strong Safety spot.

Tonight, Tiger Tour is in Atlanta, and I'm going. I'll try to keep some notes on what Les Miles has to say about the upcoming year and share them with you.

[Hunter Ansley]

Man, LSU players wearing number 2 will always remind my of Shyrone Carey. Gonna be cool to see another explosive guy wear the number.

[McWatt]

This reminded me to check on the Name of the Year blog, and lo and behold...congrats to Mr.Mingo. He defeated some pretty impressive names to get to the top I must say

http://nameoftheyear.blogspot.com/

[/hijack]

[supremeworldemperor]

I now have an awesome Les Miles story.

My sister brought a souvenir football from the 2005 Peach Bowl against Miami for Les to sign. As he was signing it, he commented that the football had no score on it. He said it was 41-3 LSU, and I immediately butted in and said it was 40-3. Les signed it but didn't write the score. Back at my family's table, I texted my friends for the score, and just as I thought, it was 40-3 LSU. I caught him as he was leaving the building and told him I was right.

It was a fun night. The food was good, and I got my LSU flag signed by both Les and Trent Johnson, the basketball coach. My pursuit for LSU signatures has begun. Next up: Paul Mainieri.

[TRICKaz]

Who are your receivers this year?

[supremeworldemperor]

LSU is nice and loaded at the receiver position this year.



This is Brandon LaFell. He wears #1. He is fresh off an All-SEC season, and he is certainly the leader of our receiving corps.



This is Terrance Toliver, a former five-star recruit who has plenty of size and potential, but hasn't made a huge impact just yet. It is likely he will be our other starter at WR. He wears #80.



This is Rueben Randle (remember, it's R-U-E-ben, not R-E-U-ben), the number one receiver prospect in the nation from last year. He will wear #2. He is vying for a spot as LSU's #3 receivers (and LSU uses 3-wide formations a lot) and he could surpass Toliver and be a full starter.



The man with awesome hair above is Tim Molton. He recently changed his number from 43 to 6. He redshirted last year as a true freshman, but he wowed coaches as a member of the scout team. Though he wasn't a big-time recruit, some are saying he's just as good as Randle.



No discussion of our receivers is complete without mentioning Richard Dickson, our excellent receiving tight end. He wears #18.

[supremeworldemperor]

Bad news for the Tigers: Word around the web is that Tim Molton, the promising wide receiver, tore his ACL in practice today and will most likely be out for the season.

[hunterm]

Is it just me or does LSU get a top three defensive back (usually a safety) every year.

[supremeworldemperor]

Not just you.

'07 Chad Jones (number two safety behind Eric Berry)
'08 Patrick Peterson (consensus number one cornerback)
'09 Craig Loston (consensus number one safety)