IS PATRICK PETERSON LSU'S GREATEST EVER CORNERBACK???

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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

PATRICK PETERSON:

A DEEP ANALYSIS OF THE DBU LEGEND

2009-2010 FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC

2010 JIM THORPE AWARD

2010 CHUCK BEDNARIK AWARD

2x ALL-AMERICAN (09-10)

-Highest selected (non-QB) Tiger in the history of the NFL Draft at that time

(5th overall)

8 INT* (4 in the red zone)

1 INT TD

-an additional 86 yard return vs ULM

1 FF (vs GATech)

1 FR

20 PASSES DEFENDED / DEFLECTED

(2nd in tackling during 2009/2010 season)

1 BLOCKED FIELD GOAL TD RET.

2 RETURN TDs (VS West Virginia & UNC)

* phantom INT vs Bama 2009

         How can you rank a DB who was hardly tested?

         How can we rate someone who had a career-high of only 10 targets and 7 allowed completions?

         How can we grade a guy who's most effective games showed him with 0 PD and 1 tackle? 

         We rank him highly, that's what we do...

        Different positions require different things, and just like offensive linemen, the consistency in a primal shut down cornerback's performances coincides with how little we notice them.

         All cornerbacks can be fairly judged by one thing above all else, more than INTs, passes deflected/defended: pure targets and yards per catch allowed.

         So...when the acne-faced question "Could Patrick Peterson be overrated?" comes up, all we have to do is look at the quarterbacks who wouldn't dare throw anywhere near his direction...quarterbacks replete with fear....all we need to do is focus on how many times he allowed #1 receivers to get the best of him....and I can only count twice in his entire LSU career when a receiver bested him in a duel, and the Tigers still won both contests (Julio Jones for Alabama 2010 after Peterson held him to 3 measly catches the year before, and Jeff Fuller from A&M a few games later in the Cotton Bowl, Patrick's final game).

           CFB talk show host / analyst Mark Rogers asked me back in 2020, "was Patrick Peterson really that good?"

          YES...HE WAS THAT GOOD.

           Without Pat P's ambitious reach for the Heisman in 2010/11, Tyrann Mathieu may never realize his full potential as a playmaker in the same mould....not to mention the litany of recent and current DBs who look up to Pat P's legacy at DBU.

          If you subtract Peterson's modern example & establishment of Ultimate DBU principles, maybe later DBU representatives like Tyrann Mathieu, Mo Claiborne, Tharold Simon, Greedy Williams, Donte Jackson, Tre'Davious White, Kristian Fulton, and Derek Stingley Jr, are just "some guys" playing defensive back, rather than the added magical aura of what's truly possible at DBU, as proven by Pat P......perhaps the magical aura surrounding #7 wouldn't exist, either.

          Forever indebted to Peterson's legacy and forthright character, an entire list of current, former and future Tigers have all been taken under the NFL All-Pro's wing:

        Whether that be through his mentoring of Derek Stingley Jr (during a time of incredible recruiting hype and pressure), as well as helping to spiritually rehabilitate Tyrann Mathieu...long after the two first shared the field, Peterson was still the older brother Tyrann needed in that crucial moment of his life...we all know what happened after (in no small part to Peterson's influence in Arizona).

         While many have said Patrick Peterson is the greatest defensive player to ever step on the field for LSU (Bleacher Report echoed the sentiment), we have to agree and disagree to varying degrees (see what I did there?).

          We'll never criticize someone for pursuing the next level and providing for their family, that's the LSU doctrine...but I wanted, I needed, I'd hoped for a senior season in 2011:

         Can you just imagine?

           Pat on one side, Claiborne on the other as a fixed duo, Eric Reid at safety and Tyrann as a nickel / free role, with Brandon Taylor, Tharold Simon, Craig Loston and Ron Brooks rotating in from the bench???

         I still wait up nights thinking about the prospects of a Mathieu, Peterson, Reid, Claiborne secondary.....no team would've scored a point...at least through the air.

          Out of pure selfishness, we feel Peterson's work wasn't complete at DBU, even in the wake of his reptilian cover skills, beyond thunderdome return capabilities and pure greatness with the ball in the air all leading to his deserved 5th overall selection...yet he deserved to finish as an SEC & National Champion.

        We get it....we just wanted more, Pat....can you blame us after what you did to Alabama as a sophomore?

Blocking a field goal & returning a punt for a TD vs West Virginia? The UNC punt return? The 2 picks vs Mississippi State? The blocked field goal he scooped and took to the house vs Ole Miss? 

        Following his barnstorming performances vs UNC and West Virginia especially, many wondered if the first defensive player since Charles Woodson would finally win the Heisman....but then....Cam Newton happened....

         Had #7 returned to school for his final senior campaign in 2011/12, LSU would not only have a 5th National Championship, we'd have a 4th Heisman winner in Pat P, such was his absolutist prism of power:

Pat tackled with the ferocity of a linebacker, went "full Devin Hester" on the SEC and even Les Miles had the multi-faceted "purple & gold Deion" practice at receiver & running back.

         Peterson is a man of much depth and integrity that it's hard to find a weakness within the man...there may be none, but he still struggles like all of us:

         Heroically dealing with Type 2 Diabetes, Peterson has spread his wealth to fight the disease....now, #7 begins to signify the inherent contrast within DBU's DNA:

          On one side the overwhelming humanity / brotherhood and on the other, a machine-like work ethic harnessing world class abilities....the trials and tribulations saddled next to the triumph....the dirt and grime along with the trophies and back pats...there were times Julio Jones and A.J Green had success against Peterson, but his never-ending genius always remained intact due to the way he'd respond:

         Patrick always had another chapter to write, which is why his deserved appearance alongside Tyrann Mathieu in the NFL's All-Decade Team back in 2020 felt like a full circle moment.

        Among DBU grads, Peterson's become the primary example of how important a good person's strength can be amidst a dark world.

He deserved enshrinement at LSU for years now, but with the recent announcement of the legendary Bert Jones' #7 being retired, will Peterson ever have that moment, now that his number will already find its place in the South stands of Tiger Stadium under another name???

Surely the honoring of this DBU forefather has to happen, in some way, shape or form that must be as epic as his career.

You can call him the best cornerback in LSU history....in fact, some maintain he is the greatest Tiger in LSU football history....

Let the debate continue...

by

LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

GEAUX TIGERS

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