By Hunt Palmer
The weekend arrived, but it was a work day for Brian Kelly’s Tigers. The team took to the field Saturday morning in full pads.
The offense started fast in the passing periods. Kyren Lacy kept his monster camp rolling with a fade route reception over PJ Woodland. CJ Daniels got inside of freshman Joel Rogers on a slant route, Shelton Sampson did the same to Ashton Stamps.
Zavion Thomas was back to working out nearly full speed. A leg injury had slowed him down earlier in the week. He beat Stamps for a touchdown.
Truth be told, the offense has really outperformed the defense the majority of camp. The 11 on 11 periods have been more competitive, but the passing drills have been dominated by the offense. We’ve seen 1-on-1s, 2-on-2s and 7-on-7s. The offense has shined.
Garett Nussmeier absolutely carved the defense up in the red zone. The team was on the field farthest from us, so some details were tough to grab, but he was completing everything, most of which weren’t contested.
It should be noted that the majority of the drills we see are catered to the offense. The more space available on the field allows the offense for cleaner operation. The more commotion, the better for the defense. And the majority of the reps we see are 7-on-7 or 1-no-1.
That said, as we sit here in mid-August, it appears to this observer that defensive back play is a potential problem once again. It would be one thing if it were just Lacy and Mason Taylor winning reps. Those guys are great players. It’s all the pass catchers, from Shelton Sampson to Kyle Parker to Ke’Morreun Pimpton, making plays without much resistance.
The defensive line has had its moments. Jacobian Guillory has shown off his strength in pass rush drills. Gabriel Reliford got the better of Tyree Adams on a speed rush. He’s shown that multiple days. Freshman Kolaj Cobbins has had a wonderful start to his first camp. Da’Shawn Womack has had some really good reps.
Geo Paez was absent on Saturday, but Jalen Lee and Bradyn Swinson were available. Lee worked with the first team alongside Guillory. Swinson worked with the second unit.
Later in the workout the offense worked on the screen game and shovel passes. There are some really explosive players LSU is working to get the ball to quickly, namely Thomas, Chris Hilton and Daniels who have all looked great through two weeks.
We saw some kickoff action. Damion Ramos was handling the kickoff duties. Sage Ryan and Javien Toviano were the widest cover men. Toviano has been used in many special teams periods but doesn’t appear to be getting any first team defensive looks. That’s a little puzzling but ultimately understandable given the off-field situation.
The returners were Thomas, Jelani Watkins, Kaleb Jackson and Aaron Anderson.
