The first USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll has been released with the LSU Tigers coming in at No. 13. It didn’t take long for the hot takes to start flying off the preseason rankings. Is Ed Orgeron’s squad too high? Are they too low?
CBS Sports national college football analyst Barrett Sallee wasted no time in provided his take on the matter. He has the Tigers as an underrated bunch at No. 13 even after a 5-5 season in 2020.
Can we stop with the narrative that LSU is a hot mess destined for a disaster in 2021? That simply won’t be the case. Coach Ed Orgeron told me at SEC Media Days that he didn’t handle the pressure of defending a national championship well at all. He’s right. To fix things, he canned defensive coordinator Bo Pelini in favor of Daronte Jones, and replaced Steve Ensminger with Jake Peetz, who Orgeron says will incorporate five-man protection schemes almost exclusively. That’s exactly what Joe Brady did during the 2019 national title run.
Let’s not forget he replaced Scott Linehan as the passing game coordinator with DJ Mangas, who also joins Peetz coming over from the Carolina Panthers. Max Johnson seems like the perfect fit in the quarterback room for the Peetz offense that will incorporate a heavy dose of run-pass options (RPO’s). As Sallee states the running back room is loaded with Tyrion Davis-Price and John Emery Jr as the two-headed attack. Kayshon Boutte is ready to build off the impressive regular-season finale against Ole Miss.
LSU is Alabama’s primary threat, and it isn’t even close.
The defense should be much improved with the addition by subtraction when Orgeron relieved Bo Pelini of his duties. Daronte Jones should have this defense playing at a higher level. Sallee wasn’t very fond of the Aggies No. 6 ranking in the debut poll.
Look, I get it. Texas A&M was in the College Football Playoff mix all the way up to the final release of the rankings last winter. That has given Aggie fans around the country a false sense of hope that this is the year they break through the glass ceiling and make the CFP. That isn’t going to happen. The No. 6 ranking ignores that coach Jimbo Fisher is breaking in a new quarterback — Haynes King or Zach Calzada — who hasn’t taken a single meaningful snap in FBS football
Everyone is seemingly looking at Alabama then A&M then LSU in the SEC West division standings, but if you listen to the CBS Sports analyst he doesn’t buy into the Aggies.
It will be a fun battle this upcoming season between the three teams expecting to contend for the SEC West crown in 2021.
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