Leadership is vital to success in any sport.
These days, it’s more important that ever at the college level. Transfers come in at a massive rate. Many players only stay on campus for a year. During that time, everyone has to come together to achieve goals. Coaches can only do so much. The players have to take control.
There will be plenty of leaders on this LSU roster. Only one or two will be chosen to continue the legacy of No. 18. Garrett Nussmeier donned the digits last fall. He’s with Kansas City now, so a new Tiger must be chosen. Here are three options.
Whit Weeks
Like Nussmeier a year ago, Weeks had a chance to forgo his final season and enter the NFL Draft. He chose to play another year at LSU. Last season didn’t go the way any LSU Tiger wanted, but that was especially true for Weeks. He was coming off a gruesome leg injury in the Texas Bowl and then broke his ankle in the Ole Miss game. Though he tried to play through it for a couple of weeks, it wasn’t doable.
He missed a month and only really came back to play with his brothers against Western Kentucky. He production plummeted, and he decided to come back to rectify that.
Weeks has represented LSU at SEC Media Days in back-to-back summers. He’s the captain of the defense and leader of the team. He said in July that he’d be honored to wear the number. We’ll see if he gets that chance.
Bo Bordelon
I was hoping Bordelon would get the chance to go to SEC Media Days. His story is worth telling. In the era of transfers, he’s waited patiently for four years. His only start thus far has been in the Texas Bowl when three offensive linemen opted out.
Devin Harper was the left guard starter when spring ball began. After a week, Bordelon had moved to the front. He never relinquished the role.
Bordelon is an LSU legacy, Louisiana lifer and loves the school. That much is obvious. Those qualities really stand out as a plyer who would wear No. 18 proudly.
TJ Dottery
This is an outside-the-box pick, but there’s a reason for it. Dottery proved his leadership skills at Ole Miss to a point where Kiffin felt it appropriate to send him to SEC Media Days just six months after he transferred to LSU.
Dottery’s college path has been a winding one that included serious adversity at Clemson. He responded to that by leading the SEC in tackles a year ago for the Rebels.
He may be the green dot on defense which speaks to his communication ability and importance to the unit. No transfer has worn No. 18 in year one. I don’t expect that Dottery will be the first, but I certainly wouldn’t rule it out, either.
HUNTS PREDICTION
I believe Bordelon will be the pick this year. He’ll have to wear the patch like Will Campbell did for No. 7 and Lloyd Cushenberry did in 2019 for No. 18. Weeks spoke with some confidence in Bordelon’s candidacy when asked about the number last month.
Weeks has a pretty direct line to the head coach.
We could see a pair of 18s with one coming on each side of the ball, but if it’s a single player this year, my bet is on Bordelon.
