By Hunt Palmer
Under sunny skies and in classic August heat, LSU began Fall Camp Thursday morning. Brian Kelly’s squad donned helmets and shoulder pads for its first workout, and the media was allowed to take in the entirety of practice.
From a news perspective, a pair of cornerbacks grabbed the headlines. Javien Toviano, who was arrested less than two weeks ago, was present. He was dressed out but did not participate. Kelly said after practice that Toviano had been reinstated by the university and was going to be with the football program as his legal issues played out. Zy Alexander, who tore his ACL October 21 against Army, was also present and dressed out. He wore a significant brace on his left knee and did not participate. Kelly suggested Alexander had been fully cleared for football activities but was easing into things.
Bradyn Swinson was not present at practice. The senior defensive end enters the season as perhaps LSU most accomplished pass rusher outside of Harold Perkins.
The offense and defense started practice with a little up tempo 11-on-11 with no contact.
LSU’s first team defense looked like this:
DEFENSIVE LINE: Sai’vion Jones, Gio Paez, Jacobian Guillory, DaShawn Womack
LINEBACKERS: Greg Penn and Harold Perkins
DEFENSIVE BACKS: Sage Ryan and Ashton Stamps at cornerback. Jardin Gilbert and Jordan Allen at safety. Major Burns at star.
The second unit looked like this:
DEFENSIVE LINE: Paris Shand, Kimo Makane’ole, Shone Washington, Gabriel Reliford
LINEBACKERS: West Weeks, Whit Weeks, Kolaj Cobbins
DEFENSIVE BACKS: JK Johnson and PJ Woodland at cornerback. Kylin Jackson and Dashawn Spears at safety. JuJuan Johnson at star.
Sage Ryan at cornerback raised a few eyebrows from the assembled media. Ryan was recruited as a safety and was thrust into cornerback duties a year ago due to injuries and lack of performance. In the spring, Ryan spent 100 percent of the time at safety, but Kelly said Thursday that Ryan would cross train at both corner and safety this fall. With Alexander on the mend and Toviano in some question, it makes sense that the staff would want some insurance there.
PJ Woodland is a promising freshman cornerback, but he followed a great play with a deep ball allowed on Thursday which Kelly said is common in a young player.
Corey Raymond has a lot of options at corner in camp. It will be a matter of identifying the best of those options moving forward.
Last fall, Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabors, Brian Thomas and the rest of the offensive skill players routinely torched the defense rep after rep. And it wasn’t a one-day thing. It happened for two weeks. In hindsight, maybe we should have seen the in-season results coming.
Thursday was just one day, but the defense held its own.
Harold Perkins made an interception covering a wheel route down the left sideline. Kylin Jackson made a nice play to pick a pass off. Gio Paez knocked a screen pass down. Ryan jumped a screen and made what would have been a tackle for loss.
Certainly the offense had its moments.
Shelton Sampson has been quiet since his arrival on campus, rightly so with the level of talent on the depth chart in front of him. He made two high point catches in passing drills before leaving practice a bit woozy from a fall. Kyle Parker made a couple of nice plays in the passing game.
But perhaps the biggest standout among the offensive talent was freshman tight end Trey’dez Green. At first glance, Green immediately stands out. He’s all of 6-foot-7. He’ll likely add 15 to 20 lbs over his college years, and he’s got the frame to do it. He made three different catches, all in different routes. One over the middle would have gone for a big play, perhaps a touchdown. One was a high point ball down the sideline. One was a screen. With the understanding of how prolific Kelly’s tight ends have been at LSU and especially Notre Dame, it’s easy to envision Green as a star. With Mason Taylor, Mac Markway and Ka’Morreun Pimpton already on the roster, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where Green stands, but the potential is not hard to grasp.
During the 7-on-7 portion of the workout, the offensive and defensive lines worked a 1-on-1 pass rush drill.
To me, the standout was Reliford, the freshman. He easily ripped through Ethan Calloway and Weston Davis, a pair of his contemporaries. He had another great rep with second team left tackle Tyree Adams. At 270lbs, Reliford is not underprepared physically. He was running with the twos, and I expect that to continue because of the experienced depth LSU has at the position with Sai’vion Jones, Bradyn Swinson and Dashawn Womack. However, as an early enrollee, it makes sense that Reliford could push for some time.
Probably the most impressive rep of the period came from new center DJ Chester. He absolutely stonewalled Shone Washington. Chester is taking the reins of the center spot from Charles Turner who was an excellent centerpiece of the offensive line due to his mental acuity. That remains to be seen from Chester, but his 6-foot-6, 322lb frame doesn’t. He’s massive and physical and could be an upgrade at the position if the mental portion is there.
The Tigers return to the practice field Friday for workout No. 2.
