Matt Moscona
By Matt Moscona and Hunt Palmer
The closing stretch of spring football is here.
LSU took the field Tuesday morning in comfortable temperatures with Lane Kiffin’s trademark music cranked up. Some who were held out on Saturday returned to action.
PERSONNEL CHECK
It was great to see Whit Weeks in pads and working out. He did not participate in the early team drills but was leading the linebackers through individual drills at full speed without a no-contact jersey on. This feels like a load management spring for Whit. He doesn’t show any signs of being hampered by the injury. He’s just not pushing it three times a week.
Tamarcus Cooley was also back in action. He did not have a no-contact jersey on and appeared to be moving very well in the individual drills. Cooley did not participate in team periods and was replaced by Jhase Thomas and Faheem Delane. Kiffin said post-practice they held Ty Benefield out of certain periods to get younger guys more reps.
Tre Wilson and Winnie Watkins remained in gold no-contact jerseys with the wide receivers, but they were actively practicing. Both made really impressive catches. Wilson leapt and contorted his body to catch a crossing route that was high and behind him. Watkins snared a goal line catch with one hand a la Odell Beckham.
Missing from Tuesday’s workout were wide out Tre’ Brown and reserve center William Satterwhite.
LEAVITT AND LANE
Sam Leavitt was again in shoulder pads and a helmet but not participating. When the quarterbacks and wide receivers work together, Charlie Weis Jr. runs the drills while Lane Kiffin looks on from a distance. At times he takes a note or two, but he does very little in the way of actively coaching.
Twice on Tuesday during those drills, Kiffin walked up to Leavitt and talked him through something.
It’s never a good thing when your starting quarterback misses the spring especially in a new system. Leavitt is trying to stay as involved as he can, and Kiffin appears to be offering some mental coaching here and there.
JONESIN’ FOR THE BALL
LSU ran its “Quick 6” plays to basically begin practice. Five of the six got the ball to Dilin Jones. He took two handoffs, a shotgun toss, a dump off pass and a screen where he lined up at wide receiver. One of the handoffs went up the middle, and Jones made a vicious cut at the second level that drew a reaction. Jones was also the tailback for the first team during the inside run period.
Day-by-day, it becomes more evident that the Wisconsin transfer is surging toward the top of the running backs depth chart.
The spring depth chart is a flimsy one, but it’s noteworthy, nonetheless.
WR/DB 1-on-1s
The pass catchers ran a circuit of routes against defensive backs. Tre’ Wilson toasted DJ Pickett on a double move but Pickett would get his revenge on a breakup in Wilson’s hip pocket. Havon Finney continues to show he belongs with an impressive PBU against Philip Wright. The best rep might have been Roman Mothershed crossing over PJ Woodland for an easy score.
Inside Run
The defense had the upper hand in a drill shaded their way. Everyone knows the ball is going between the tackle and the offense has to move bodies. Weston Davis threw a punch at Stephylian Green, moving him to the second team for the remainder of practice. The ones, twos and threes each ran four plays.
Return Game
Caden Durham, Harlem Berry and Stacy Gage took reps on kickoff return. Wilson, Watkins, Jayce Brown, Jabari Mack and Wright returned punts. The gunners ran in pursuit challenging the catch. Wright and Mack each muffed a punt while Hayden Craig dropped a snap.
7-on-7
The offense ran 20 plays, with the ones and twos each getting two five-play series. The ball hit the ground one time and it was ont he final play where Michael Turner was flagged for pass interference against Wilson. Malik Elzy also beat Turner for a deep score. Corey Barber had a 50+ yard catch-and-run on a slant. Thomas took a good angle and forced him out of bounds. It was another great day for the offense.
Overtime
The team wrapped practice with an overtime period. A Princewill Umanielen sack forced a 48 yard Scott Starzyk field goal, which he drilled. The twos scored on a screen to Gage who lined up at receiver.
Next
The Tigers have two more practices with the final media availability Thursday.
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