By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
OFFENSE
-True Freshman RT Emery Jones led the entire team in snaps with 886, while fellow freshman LT Will Campbell was 2nd on roster at 882.
Truly insane.
No, those aren't typos.
-We all know about Jayden Daniels' tremendous rushing performances during 2022, but to actually understand just how effective Jayden's constant positive yardage became for the Tigers, one only must look at his 1,079 yards on the ground (the most of any LSU QB in program history & more than any running back since 2019), 54 missed tackles forced, 45 gains of 10+ yards, 668 yards from 70 scrambles, 59 first downs, 678 yards after contact, while making 7 tacklers miss vs Alabama, Ole Miss & Florida.
-QB Jayden Daniels converted 37 3rd downs through the air.
-LSU's offense relied plenty on their running game, with four different rushers hitting 76 carries or more (John Emery Jr, Josh Williams, Noah Cain and QB Jayden Daniels).
RBs Coach Frank Wilson's 4 principle rushers, as well as QB Jayden Daniels, all recorded at or above 4.9 yards per rush, with Jayden's 7.2 leading the way (Williams = 5.5, Cain = 5.4, Goodwin = 5.9 & Emery Jr = 4.9).
All 5 main rushers also delivered 5+ touchdowns, Daniels with 11, Cain sneakily adding 10, Williams & Emery Jr at 6, & we cannot forget Armoni Goodwin's early season brilliance, hitting 5 touchdowns through just 7 games of action.
-Sophomore WR Malik Nabers was a savage all season, hitting the century mark in targets (100), breaking the 1,000 yard barrier (1,017 yards), while his 418 yards after catch was nearly 200 yards more than the 2nd place receiver (Boutte, 228).
-True freshman Mason Taylor received 55 targets, more than any other offensive player outside of Boutte & Nabers.
-WR Jack Bech was targeted just 23 times.
DEFENSE
-True freshman LB Harold Perkins played the 11th most snaps of any defender this season, and yet finished 1st on the team in sacks (7.5), tackles for loss (13.0), forced fumbles (4), 2nd in total pressures (41) & interceptions (1) and 3rd in total tackles (72).
Appearing in 514 defensive snaps, more than 300 fewer reps when comparing Perkins to every down defenders Mekhi Wingo and Greg Brooks Jr's snap totals (821 and 867 respectively).
Also, Harold had 2 further strip-sacks which were debatably called back upon instant review (vs FLA & Arkansas).
Harold was such a dynamic & unstoppable pass rushing weapon.
Out of 162 pass rushing snaps, Perkins racked up 41 pressures. Every 3.9 snaps, he was pressuring the QB at least once. In fact, he finished the year with a ridiculous 91.0 pass rusher rating, the highest on his team, with the 5th most pressure totals in the SEC.
DE BJ Ojulari had 49 pressures in 346 pass rushing snaps, just to compare.
It's beyond impressive what we witnessed from Harold Perkins in 2022....lord only knows what we're about to see next fall from LSU's footballing prodigy.
-DE BJ Ojulari placed 2nd in total pressures within the SEC (behind only Alabama defender Will Anderson).
-DT Mekhi Wingo not only received Strength & Conditioning Coach Jake Flint's Iron Tiger award during the preseason workout program, he also receives the award from us following his masterful, durable, powerful, tenacious and reliable brilliance over 821 snaps, appearing in every game.
Named to the national All-American teams for his performances, while providing unimpeachable value to LSU's defense, right as they lost Maason Smith for the year, Wingo stands out as one of LSU's three greatest transfers, only behind Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels.
-Despite thought of as the #1 linebacker in preseason, after his opening week start vs FSU, LB Mike Jones Jr played just 206 total defensive snaps and 9 games, 5 other appearances on special teams only.....recording only 2 pressures, 1 uncredited sack vs FSU, 13 less tackles than 2021, just 0.5 TFLs and 0 official sacks.
Jones Jr never played more than 50 snaps in a game (vs FSU, his lone start of the campaign).
6 of his 9 defensive appearances saw him on the field for less than 25 snaps.
-DB Sage Ryan had 4 pass breakups which went uncredited, 2 vs Purdue, 1 vs FSU, and another vs Ole Miss.
His forced fumble on Latu vs Alabama was also erroneously uncredited.
Vs Southern, Sage became only the second Tiger to register multiple fumble recoveries in a single game since Tyrann Mathieu (Jacoby Stevens, 2020).
Across 318 total defensive snaps, the former LCA superstar also had the fewest missed tackles (1) of any defender with over 45 snaps.
-According to lsusports.net, the official LSU athletics site, LB Micah Baskerville broke up the most passes of any LSU Tiger with 9! He is credited with 8 by Sports Reference, tied for 1st alongside Mekhi Garner.
In 2022/23, despite not being used for the first few games, Micah Baskerville produced his career high tackles (89), tied his career best in tackles for loss (4.5) & picked off a pass for the second straight season (scored his 2nd ever LSU touchdown from that resulting pick six).
NEW ADDITIONS & UPDATES
MORE WILL BE ADDED BY THE DAY!
by LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
Copyright 2023 Uninterrupted Writings Inc
Dude, you did some massive homework. Great stats and comparisons. Happy New Year. I hope every blessing comes your and your family’s way.