Tag: Garrett Dellinger

Veteran LSU guard breaks down offensive line, quarterback competitions

Anthony Bradford provided some insight on the Tigers’ biggest question marks.

The Tigers have a lot of potential this fall, but they have more unanswered questions in June than fans may be used to.

With a new coaching staff under [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] and a number of crucial position battles that are still yet to be resolved, there will be a lot to watch for when fall camp begins later this summer.

One of the biggest question marks surrounds the offensive line, where the Tigers are tasked with replacing four of five starters from a year ago. Luckily, they return a number of veterans with at least some experience. One of those players is junior guard [autotag]Anthony Bradford[/autotag].

Bradford played in six games last season, starting five at left tackle before an injury ended his season. He will likely slide back to his natural position on the inside this season, where he will face stiff competition if he wants to retain a starting spot.

Speaking to On3’s Bengal Tiger Podcast, Bradford elaborated on where he stands right now. He said he remains in the mix at right guard and that he doesn’t worry about competition from players like redshirt freshman [autotag]Garrett Dellinger[/autotag] and East Tennessee State graduate transfer [autotag]Tre’Mond Shorts[/autotag], who may be the favorites to start at guard this fall, stating that “iron sharpens iron.”

Bradford also offered his take on the quarterback situation, which doesn’t seem much closer to an answer after the spring game. [autotag]Myles Brennan[/autotag] is the technical incumbent, but he hasn’t played in a game in nearly two years. [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag], meanwhile, has three generally positive years of starting experience, and [autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag] lacks the experience but has impressed with his arm talent when he’s had the chance.

“I feel like the quarterback situation, everybody’s getting better together,” Bradford said. “They take a piece of the game for each other. I feel like this quarterback room is really special to me. I’m excited to see what they do when they compete in fall camp.”

That may not provide much insight into who will win the job, but it seems to reinforce the idea that LSU has three options with their own strengths who have the talent to start in the SEC.

While we aren’t all that far away from the 2022 team taking the field, we will have to wait a while longer to have answers to some of these questions, including what Bradford’s role will be on this team. Regardless, it sounds like Kelly has done a good job of getting buy-in from veterans like Bradford.

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Five remaining questions for LSU’s football team heading into fall camp

We have some more clarity as we emerge from the spring, but there’s a lot more to be learned as LSU heads into the summer.

LSU had its spring game on Saturday, marking the end of the first spring practice with coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] at the helm.

The quarterbacks have been the biggest discussion point all spring and that won’t change as we move toward the fall. There are also some areas where we have more clarity now, such as the offensive line and linebacker rooms.

In the secondary, it looks like [autotag]Greg Brooks Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Joe Foucha[/autotag], both Louisiana natives who transferred from Arkansas, are emerging as leaders.

However, there are plenty of questions that remain as Kelly has only been on the job for a few months. Much of spring practice was about solidifying the transition and installing the new playbooks.

On top of that, there could still be some players yet to come and go. After spring, players could have a better idea of their situation at a given school and elect to transfer. That could kick off a second round of transfers, and LSU still has a couple of roster spots left to use.

It’ll be a long time until we see LSU out on the field again, which means a lot can change before LSU takes the field against Florida State in New Orleans. Here are some remaining questions as it gears up for the break during the summer.

LSU breakout candidates: What can linebacker Mike Jones Jr. be this year?

Jones found his groove down the stretch in 2021. Can he build on that in 2022?

Recently, we took a look at [autotag]Garrett Dellinger[/autotag] and [autotag]John Emery[/autotag], two guys who LSU could be counting on to breakout.

Today, we’ll take a look at linebacker [autotag]Mike Jones Jr.[/autotag], who could also be critical to the Tigers’ efforts in 2022.

Jones transferred to LSU in the summer of 2021, and it seemed like a perfect match. LSU needed help after a dreadful 2020 on defense that saw some of its worst play at safety and linebacker in years. Jones was seen as a guy that could aid the team in both places.

In 2020 at Clemson, he was named to the All-ACC list by Pro Football Focus. As a redshirt freshman in 2020, he saw action in all 15 games, including special teams snaps against LSU in the national championship game.

When Jones only played one snap in the opener against UCLA, many were surprised. The next three games presented more snaps for Jones, but against Auburn, he was back down to just two snaps. A couple of weeks later against Florida, just one again.

It wasn’t until after the bye week, against Alabama, that Jones saw more time. That bye week is also the period in which LSU almost entirely reinvented its defense, resulting in it looking like one of the best units in the country down the stretch.

In that Alabama game, Jones lined up all over the place, much like people thought he would when he first joined LSU. Playing a role in its new blitz packages, Jones recorded three pressures and a sack.

Jones saw a healthy amount of playing time the next week against Arkansas, where LSU held the Razorbacks to just one touchdown all night. Against ULM the next week, Jones added three more pressures.

While he never became a dominant or All-SEC player with LSU in 2021, he found a role, starting the final five games, something that wasn’t close to guaranteed when he was riding the bench against UCLA.

Jones is a former four-star recruit and was ranked as the 210th best player in 2018 on the 247Sports Composite. He’s talented and versatile, a combination defensive coordinators love to see.

With the loss of [autotag]Damone Clark[/autotag], a linebacker whose speed allowed him to have an effect in the passing game, LSU needs Jones to step up. The opportunity is there with a new staff and some open spots on that defense.

In a conference where speed is the name of the game, and a sport where defense is more about making plays than trying to play consistently from drive to drive, someone with Jones’ ability is invaluable.

Will he be one of the best defenders in the SEC? Probably not, but it is on the high end of probabilities. Can he be a real difference-maker for LSU? Yes, and the Tigers probably need him to be.

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How good can Garrett Dellinger be in 2022?

Dellinger has a chance to headline LSU’s offensive line in 2022.

Predicting how young offensive linemen will progress is almost as difficult as quarterbacks. So many things need to go right for an offensive lineman to become a plus player, especially in the SEC.

Offensive tackle Garrett Dellinger was thrown into the fire as a freshman last year. All things considered, he stood his ground.

He didn’t blow anyone away, but Dellinger looked like a competent player as a freshman tackle in the SEC. That’s a statement that’s not made a lot about young offensive tackles.

Having joined the team in the spring of 2021 as an early-enrollee, Dellinger has been with the Tigers for over a year now. He’s now entering his second offseason program with LSU and now gets a full spring under offensive line coach Brad Davis.

Bringing in tackles of Dellinger’s caliber is something LSU has struggled to do in recent years. Since 247Sports started tracking recruiting, LSU has signed just five tackles rated higher than Dellinger. One of those recruits was Ethan Pocic, who ended up moving to center.

It’s possible that Dellinger could follow a similar path as Pocic. With Liam Shanahan moving on, LSU lacks a true center. Davis recently said they’d be working out several players already within the program to fill the role, including Dellinger.

For Dellinger to make that move, he’d need to really excel at center or some of LSU’s other tackles would really need to impress. It would be hard to defend moving Dellinger inside only to watch LSU struggle on the outside.

In 2021, Dellinger saw time at guard as well. He played 82 snaps at left guard against Arkansas and did show some stuff. At other times, he looked like a freshman.

His first career start came earlier in the season at Ole Miss, where he played tackle. Again, he was inconsistent and didn’t see much time against Alabama the next week.

In Week 12, against Louisiana-Monroe, Dellinger got the start at left tackle and was PFF’s highest-graded lineman in the Power 5. Yes, it was against ULM, but putting that type of performance together was impressive and could be seen as a proof of concept for what Dellinger could be going forward.

LSU needs guys to step up on the offensive line. It’s a group that has presented a lot of problems for the Tigers over the last couple of years between not being able to protect the quarterback in 2020 and needing a lot of help to run block in 2021.

At the same time, Dellinger, along with the additions of Will Campbell and Miles Frazier, have brought some legitimate talent and potential to this group. Now that the talent is in the building, it just needs to be developed. That could start with Garrett Dellinger this fall.

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Five LSU freshman poised for big second seasons

These five could be in line for bigger roles in 2022

As we continue to review the 2021 season and look ahead to 2022, we have the freshman class of last season. The team dealt with injury after injury forcing the young guns into action.

Some earned bigger roles due to their talent level such as Maason Smith. Others were forced onto the field earlier than expected due to the growing number of injuries at the position, such as Malik Nabers. He likely would have seen the field regardless but the injury to Boutte forced them to up his number of snaps. Not to mention Trey Palmer had issues prior to joining the transfer portal.

One player that isn’t on our list of freshmen poised to have big seasons next year is quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. The redshirt freshman in 2022 would certainly qualify but it is likely that Myles Brennan could win the starting role for the LSU offense in 2022.

Should Brennan struggle or suffer yet another injury then Nuss will need to be ready to go. With a new system and a new quarterback coach in Joe Sloan, his development will be key. He seemed erratic at times when on the field in 2021, the new staff will need to reign him in a bit. Brian Kelly typically likes to roll with a veteran quarterback, so be on the lookout for Brennan to take hold of the starting job in 2022.

Five things we might learn from LSU in the Texas Bowl

Can we learn anything from the Texas Bowl?

Bowl season provides us with many things. One of them is narratives that stick with teams through the whole offseason. Many of these are overreactions, while some turn out to be true.

Bowl games are always the most recent data point we have and people often tend to believe what happened most recently is most likely to happen again.

In LSU’s case, it might be especially dubious to read into what happens on Tuesday night. The Tiger roster that takes the field against Kansas State will be much different than the one we see next year. Furthermore, the coaching staff won’t look remotely the same either.

From a team standpoint, I think it’ll be impossible to take anything away from this bowl game. Which, I know, is frustrating. If you’re team isn’t in a meaningful bowl, sometimes the fun lies in what they give you to look forward to in the next season. The good news is that’s still doable from a individual player standpoint.

Remember 2014? It was a lost season for LSU. They came in with expectations, but for the first time in a few years, did not win 10 games. They were sent to Nashville to face Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl.

LSU lost that game but I still remember it today. Leonard Fournette had his breakout game leading fans to be excited for what they might see from Fournette and LSU in 2015. Fournette went on to have one of the greatest individual seasons LSU fans had ever seen.

At that time, Fournette was an obvious breakout candidate. LSU was waiting for him to have that game after coming in as the top-ranked recruit in college football. There’s not a clear player to watch for that on LSU now, but they do have some young guys capable of announcing themselves.

Jontre Kirklin, Jack Bech lead list of key players in the Texas Bowl

Who are key players for LSU in the bowl game? We have a few nominees

The Texas Bowl between the LSU Tigers and Kansas State Wildcats is less than a week away. At this point, it is unclear who exactly will be available for either team given opt-outs, injuries, and the dreaded COVID-19. Despite all of that interim head coach Brad Davis is looking forward to the opportunity of leading his team out onto the field at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

We are still awaiting any confirmation on whether or not Garrett Nussmeier will be able to start this game and maintain his redshirt status. If the waiver is denied there are a couple of contingencies on the table for Davis and the Tigers.

Will it be one of the walk-on quarterbacks in Matt O’Dowd or Savion Faulk? Will it be a wildcat quarterback in Jontre Kirklin? The veteran wide receiver hasn’t played quarterback since high school but he might be the best option for the team given who is available.

As we look towards the bowl game, we are highlighting five players who are keys to the game.

Four-star OSU OT target Garrett Dellinger commits to LSU

Four-star 2021 offensive tackle Garrett Dellinger chose LSU over Ohio State, Michigan, and Oregon Wednesday.

It wasn’t much of a surprise, but four-star 2021 offensive tackle Garrett Dellinger out of Clarkston, MI announced his commitment to LSU Wednesday.

Dellinger had originally included the Buckeyes in his final four schools that also included Michigan and Penn State, but in the end, it was the relationships he built at LSU that swayed the 6-foot, 5-inch, 280-pound lineman. According to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Dellinger was ranked as the No. 12 offensive tackle, and 79th overall prospect in the entire class.

It wasn’t a target that Ohio State was pursuing as hard as some of the others, and the loss isn’t as nearly stinging as the J.C. Latham one last week, but it’s still another recruit choosing another school here as of late. At this point, OSU could use a little good news in the recruiting department as it’s now been since May 24th since we’ve gotten a Boom!

Still, OSU has the nation’s best class so far according to almost every single website and metric out there and these things seem to happen in bunches at times.

You can get a look at Dellinger’s commitment video by clicking on the below shared to his Twitter profile.

As always, we wish this kid well, just not if he ends up playing Ohio State.

 

 

 

Michigan 2021 in-state target heading to SEC

The longtime Wolverines target is SEC-bound.

[jwplayer 5w0KvvN9-XNcErKyb]
2020, Garrett Dellinger’s senior year of high school, will be the last year that he’ll wear a winged helmet.

As an offensive lineman for the Clarkston Wolves in Oakland County, Mich., Dellinger is used to wearing the wings and hearing his band’s fight song patterned after “The Victors.” But the in-state familiarity didn’t win the four-star tackle over.

Though he spoke glowingly of Michigan’s academics as well as coaches Jim Harbaugh and Ed Warinner, it seemed that the lure to a recent national championship winner was too strong, as he committed to LSU over Michigan via YouTube on Wednesday afternoon.

His other finalists were Ohio State and Penn State.

Michigan is still in the thick of it for Dellinger’s four-Star lineman teammate Rocco Spindler, who appears to be choosing between the Wolverines and Notre Dame among his other finalists.

Ohio Sate target and Four-star OT from Michigan sets decision date

Ohio State football target, 4-star offensive tackle Garrett Dellinger set a decision date of June 24. He has the Buckeyes in his final four.

After a flurry of commits and close-calls, the Ohio State recruiting momentum has slowed just a wee-bit. However, the Buckeyes still sit as the  leader in the clubhouse when it comes to the best class in all of college football for the 2021 class.

OSU just missed out on five-star offensive lineman J.C. Latham when he announced his decision to attend Alabama earlier this week, but there’s still some pretty big fish out there.

One of those is four-star offensive tackle Garrett Dellinger from Clarkston, Michigan. At 6-foot, five-inches, and 280-pounds, Dellinger is rated as the No. 12 overall OT and 76th overall recruit in the class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

And … he has Ohio State in his final four according to a video announcement he dropped on his Twitter profile.

Also included among the finalists for his services are LSU, Michigan, and Penn State, and right now, it looks like LSU might be the leader, but we all know how that can change in the high-stakes, ever-evolving recruiting landscape.

We won’t have to wait long to see what Dellinger decides either. In the same video, he dropped a decision date of June 24. So, set your alarms and reminders. We’ll have it for you when it goes down.