Scrimmage, Back Seven, and QBs

Scrimmage

Let's play a "what if" game. The headline after Saturday's scrimmage was LSU head coach Les Miles says offense "won" football's first scrimmage. The first sentence in the article notes that Miles "didn't put much stock in the victory", and neither do I. Scrimmages like that aren't about winning and losing, but about improving individual and team performance.

Let's put that aside for a moment and ask "What if the offense really did win the scrimmage?" Would that make you more or less concerned about the team's chances for success this season? If you asked the fans "Which unit would you rather see come out on top?", I bet a solid majority would go with the defense. The common phrase is "defense wins championships," but I prefer "you take your defense with you wherever you go." Offenses can get rattled by the crowd noise and atmosphere of a road game, but the crowd is usually quieter when the road team is on defense. Defensive performance shouldn't vary to the same degree that offensive performance can home vs. away.

So an offense that is:

a) breaking in a new quarterback with only two starts under his belt
b) looking for a dependable number two wide receiver
c) replacing two solid-to-very good offensive linemen

has the advantage over a defense that:

a) is replacing three defensive linemen
b) using a converted safety at linebacker
c) returns several players from a secondary that got toasted against quality teams last season

Who do you want to win? I'd like to think that John Chavis could organize a talented lineup into a defense that could handle what is essentially a first-year quarterback, so I'll say defense. So to answer the original question, it's bad if the offense really "won" the scrimmage.

Back Seven

On a related note, there's been all sorts of talk about how Chavis wants to play a "base" defense--three linebackers--against three receiver sets instead of going to a nickel package. I have a hunch that in obvious passing situations, that third LB is going to be Harry Coleman, while Riley/Sheppard/Cutrera will see more action on obvious running downs. This could change against spread teams, where the coaches may want a faster unit on the field.

I've been tempted to say something like "If the coaches thought that Harry Coleman was the best safety on the team, then he'd still be playing safety." After thinking about it some more, I think this is actually a way to let Coleman play strong safety under the guise of being called a linebacker.

Let's go back to the BCS title game against Ohio State, the game where most people first started to say good things about him. Craig Steltz goes out with an injury, so Harry Coleman subs in at strong safety. What did Pelini do with him? He kept him near the line of scrimmage and blitzed him. Ohio State was never able to find somebody to challenge him downfield. The corners handled Robiskie and Hartline, and Ali Highsmith took the tight end. Coleman was allowed to play without deep coverage responsibilities.

I know he played LB in high school, but I can't help thinking that his real position this season will be closer to a LB/SS hybrid than a true linebacker, and he'll be responsible for taking tight ends and backs within fifteen yards of scrimmage. When he's on the field, it'll be like a 4-2.5-4.5 defense instead of a 4-3-4 or 4-2-5.

QBs

Jordan Jefferson is the starting quarterback. Jordan Jefferson is the starting quarterback. Jordan Jefferson is the starting quarterback.

I just wanted to get that out of the way so nobody would freak out when I note that all reports from fall practice say that Jarrett Lee is still the best passer on the LSU roster. The order here seems to be Lee, Chris Garrett, Jefferson, Russell Shepard as far as passing ability goes. At the moment, Jefferson is still the best QB to run the full Wantango due to his mobility and magical "hasn't thrown seven interceptions returned for touchdowns" ability.

The hope is that Garrett will redshirt and that Shepard will evolve into a good enough passer that he can line up at QB all the time. But if LSU gets behind by 20 points in the second half, don't throw the remote at the TV or punch holes in the toxic Chinese drywall when you see Jarrett Lee take the field.