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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
After 11 practices where the media viewed large uninterrupted segments of Fall Camp, I'm sensing Brian Kelly's Year III LSU squad possess an identity that is based around pure team ethos....in heavy contrast to 2023's individual magic by JD5, Malik Nabers & Brian Thomas Jr, the sum is appearing to be truly greater than their still evolving parts.
Uniquely structured, 2024 LSU's best players & actual locker room leaders aren't a bunch of seniors, like most programs or years at LSU.
This year, they're led by sophomores just turning the page on a debut season, even red shirt freshmen playing center or starting at cornerback, joined by a few red shirt juniors without significant on field experience sprinkled throughout.....
.....developmentally embryonic at this still early stage of their careers, anchored by a group of veterans with mixed on field experience from Coach Ed Orgeron's 2021 class (Nuss, Hilton, Jones, Penn, Ryan, Dellinger, West Weeks, Ramos and Todd), 2024 LSU contains a strong combination of youthful experience....and....once again, even more youth....
Outside of Will Campbell, Harold Perkins, or maybe "2022 Alabama Killer" Mason Taylor, there aren't too many household superstar names on this team, and while that will undoubtedly change to some degree by season's end, it may just be exactly what Head Coach Brian Kelly wants for this year's squad.
2023 was one of the most unbalanced LSU squads I've ever seen, scoring points with drives so ferociously quick their own hampered, problematic defense never even had a moment to collect themselves or catch a breath.
They ran the football mainly through their quarterback, passed to three main targets, racked up video game numbers, won 9 games throughout the regular season, crowned Jayden Daniels a Heisman winner & 2nd overall NFL Draft pick, Malik Nabers became LSU's all time leading receiver & remained a single vote away from a Biletnikoff award, Brian Thomas Jr would also be a 1st Round pick & lead the country with 17 TDs, still, these heroics failed to win a championship...let alone aid the Tigers in even competing for one.
Ahead of 2024, Kelly needed a team that could be a real unit, as well as a staff he could hold accountable....a group of new or promoted assistants who could collaborate, doing whatever is required to win a championship.
Kelly even began hiring coaches he trusted would leave their egos at the door, linking America's premier D-Line Coach Bo Davis and the country's #1 Edge Rushing professor Kevin Peoples together, a move that may just help LSU overcome significant interior D-line depth & athleticism issues; Then, to replace outgoing offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, Kelly partnered his QBs Coach Joe Sloan alongside WRs Coach Cortez Hankton as Co-Offensive Coordinators....something we don't always see work at the collegiate level....but judging by their test run vs Wisconsin, I'd be stunned if they didn't succeed.
Kelly wanted a team that could win in multiple ways, on offense or defense, and when he lost Daniels, Nabers & Thomas Jr to the NFL Draft, he took their cavernous departure as an opportunity to reinvent his Tigers as a true team....a roster replete with hungry players ready to take the next man's job.
One thing that's clearly sticking out, now well into the final week of Fall Camp, 2024 LSU will rotate a number of differing personnel & athletic profiles to generate different formations & take advantage of matchups....and with names like Hankton, Baker & Davis calling shots, LSU should rotate effectively.
We've already seen a shuffling rotation along the D-Line, at wide receiver & running back, but now among the secondary & linebacker....even tight end is seeing its share of experimentation.
While this is all part of Fall Camp, utilizing all of your players to find out who's the best at each role, look at the history & philosophy of each assistant coach....from Baker to Hankton, Davis to Nagle, these coaches often favor strong doses of rotation, throwing a wide range of athletic profiles, different gauges of speed, strength or experience at the same long-suffering defenders to deal with play after play....
We're seeing pieces of these operations during Fall Camp, such as how Blake Baker is already fortifying his cavalcade of Star candidates.
Focusing purely on starter Major Burns, before prepping & developing red shirt freshman Kylin Jackson & true freshman Ju'uan Johnson for the role, Baker even switched CB/S Javien Toviano over as yet another option at the all-important hybrid position.
Of course, so many coaching errors occurred to destroy last season's Tiger defense, with a lack of fresh legs & tacklers also exhausting 2023's Matt House unit, with the same defenders often playing the entire game.....so, using frequent but calculated rotation will at least offer 2024's defense far more juice & bounce.
It's not just defense where rotation could help LSU:
When you look at LSU's options at wide receiver & running back specifically, the choices are almost bottomless, endless....a possible "too many cooks" scenario that would become an actual issue in the hands of an indecisive, favoritism-based coaching operation.
Instead, if Fall Camp is any indication, LSU's best players will start and therefore play the most snaps, but Kelly and Co will still deploy as much of their wide ranging, underrated squad as possible.....all in the name of winning games.
It may be Kaleb Jackson carrying the Tigers' rushing workload, although don't be surprised if John Emery Jr or Josh Williams grabs the reigns as "the hot hand" and helps LSU win games....if not as much, possibly even more:
Yeah, we'll mostly be watching Kyren Lacy, Mason Taylor & Chris Hilton Jr receiving the most targets, yet you cannot sleep on 1,000 yard receiver CJ Daniels, speed demon Zavion Thomas, former 5 star Aaron Anderson, Baton Rouge wunderkind Shelton Sampson Jr, high octane walk-on Javen Nicholas, red shirt freshman Kyle Parker, and tight end "hybrid twin towers", Ka'morreun Pimpton & Trey'Dez Green......in fact, LSU's aerial riches are so bountiful, I truly wonder if any secondary can hang with this group....
As long as Sloan / Hankton's play calling / design and their personnel choices remain inspired, allowing guys to get into (and maintain) a rhythm before being summarily yanked out, QB Garrett Nussmeier could nip at the heels of many single season program passing records if LSU play deep into December.
There's no getting around it, your favorites may change, you may wonder in frustration "why did Coach ____ take out ________ ________?", and yet I believe a heavier rotation (than we've seen over the last few seasons) will greatly assist LSU's entire roster........preventing veterans from getting worn down over a long, brutal campaign, affording young contributors defined roles to attack off the bench (rather than just standing there wondering when they can transfer next), flooding opposition quarterbacks with too much personnel to keep track of, especially within a blitz-heavy Blake Baker defense........changing location, timing, and identity of the blitzes as much as the personnel rotation itself.
See.....we just found out the identity of Brian Kelly's Year III Tigers: A rubic's cube of footballing feverdream....one Tiger after another baptized by fire....but above all else, the team is the superstar.
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
©️ 2024 Uninterrupted Writings Inc
This team has options. Let’s not forget when Coach took over the roster was depleted. I think he now has a deeper group, there are still some holes, but they are holes that can be backfilled by smart rotation.