By Hunt Palmer
The Tigers spent the first half of Tuesday’s workout indoors away from the media. When they emerged for the second half, the offense struck quickly for a pair of big plays and another great opportunity.
Rickie Collins hit Mason Taylor over the middle of the field for a chunk play, and then John Emery knifed through the defense for what could have been a long touchdown run. A couple of snaps later Kyle Parker broke free down the left sideline when Collins lofted a perfect touch pass that Parker dropped.
Collins has outperformed Vanderbilt transfer AJ Swann thus far in camp. They continue to split reps with the second unit, and that is expected to continue. Many believed Swann’s SEC starting experience would give him the upper hand, but Collins, the Baton Rouge native, has more than held his own.
While it was certainly a fast start for the offense, the defense did show some resistance throughout the hour of media observations.
Ashton Stamps continues to lead the way among the Tiger corners. He’s both drawing the most difficult assignments and flashing the most playmaking ability. Stamps and Sage Ryan have continued to work as the starting cornerbacks. When the defense went to nickel personnel, Jyaire Brown manned the nickel spot. Jardin Gilbert and Jordan Allen continued to own the starting reps at safety.
The offensive and defensive lines spent a couple of periods working on one-on-one pass rush reps. The units essentially split the wins 50/50 for the time I charted.
Easily the most impressive player on either side is Will Campbell. The junior left tackle appears to have a magnetic pull on the defensive linemen. Each pass rusher ends up sucked into Campbell’s mitts. Paris Shand tried his hand three times and never made any progress.
For the defense, Jacobian Guillory was the standout. He used a bull rush to drive both DJ Chester and Miles Frazier into the backfield.
On the second unit, Jay’viar Suggs won a pair of reps against Paul Mubenga and Coen Echols.
Da’Shawn Womack used his speed to beat freshman Westin Davis to the edge for a would-be sack.
Bradyn Swinson and Jalen Lee continued their absence, but we got clarity on the situation. Both are taking a Spanish class in summer school. They’re expected back on the field next week.
Zavion Thomas was not seen at practice, and Mac Markway announced he is leaving LSU. That leaves the Tigers with just three scholarship tight ends in Mason Taylor, Ka’Morreun Pimpton and Trey’dez Green. The trio is immensely talented if light in numbers.
The full pads come on Wednesday.
