Tag: John Emery Jr.

Ranking LSU’s top 10 running back recruits since 2000

LSU has had no shortage of running back talent on campus this millennium.

LSU stakes a strong claim as “Defensive Back University,” but it may have a decent case for the title of RBU, as well.

The Tigers have boasted many talented ball-carriers during their illustrious history. From [autotag]Dalton Hilliard[/autotag] to [autotag]Kevin Faulk[/autotag] to [autotag]Leonard Fournette[/autotag] to [autotag]Clyde Edwards-Helaire[/autotag], the ground game has been a major part of this program’s identity throughout its lifetime.

Many of these players joined LSU’s team before the advent of modern recruiting services — namely the 247Sports Composite, which dates back to 2000 — but since the turn of the millennium, the Tigers have had no shortage of elite running back prospects come through campus.

Earlier this offseason, LSU Wire took a look at the best quarterback recruits the program has ever signed. Now, we’re breaking down the top-10 running back signees since 2000, two of whom were five-star recruits.

WATCH: Running back Armoni Goodwin scores first touchdown in LSU’s spring game

Goodwin got things started for the Tigers on Saturday with a 10-yard touchdown run.

The [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] era in Baton Rouge began in earnest on Saturday as the Tigers took the field for their first spring game under the new coaching staff.

Aside from the quarterback competition, one of the most interesting position battles on the docket was the logjam at the running back spot. All eyes were on [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag], who was returning from academic ineligibility last season, but it was sophomore [autotag]Armoni Goodwin[/autotag] who got things started for the offense with its first touchdown of the day.

After a nice drive from redshirt freshman quarterback [autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag], Goodwin capped things off with a 10-yard run to the corner on a shotgun draw. In the offense vs. defense format, it cut the defense’s lead to 16-10.

One of the most interesting things to see on Saturday was going to be how LSU divided the reps among the talented group of running backs, and while it will still be a battle for carries come fall, Goodwin had a very solid start in the spring game.

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Former LSU running back Corey Kiner announces transfer portal destination

Kiner will return to his hometown to play for Cincinnati.

Well, that didn’t take long.

After less than one day in the transfer portal, former LSU running back Corey Kiner has found a new home — and it’s pretty close to his old one. He is heading back to his hometown to play for the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Kiner, who played at Roger Bacon High School in Cincinnati, will join Luke Fickell’s squad, which is coming off an appearance as the first-ever Group of Five team to make the College Football Playoff.

Kiner joins the Bearcats with three remaining years of eligibility. He announced his transfer decision via his Twitter account on Monday afternoon.

Kiner, a former four-star recruit, finished as LSU’s second-leading rusher with 324 yards on 79 carries in 2021. He could’ve been poised for a bigger role with [autotag]Ty Davis-Price[/autotag] moving on, but the Tigers also return [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag], who was academically ineligible for the 2021 season.

With Kiner gone, LSU will likely rely primarily on Emery in addition to sophomore [autotag]Armoni Goodwin[/autotag].

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LSU running back enters the transfer portal

Corey Kiner was the Tigers’ second-leading rusher in 2021 as a true freshman.

After the initial rush of transfers following the conclusion of the regular season, a second wave usually follows during and after spring practice as the depth chart begins to take shape and some players find themselves on the outs.

The latest example of that for LSU came from running back [autotag]Corey Kiner[/autotag], who announced on Monday morning that he will be entering the transfer portal.

“My time as a tiger has come to an end, I would like to start a new chapter in my life and explore my options to continue my career as a student-athelte elsewhere,” Kiner said in a Twitter post. “with this being said I would like to announce that I have placed my name in the NCAA transfer portal.”

Kiner, a former four-star recruit in the 2021 class, finished as LSU’s second-leading rusher as a true freshman with 324 yards and two touchdowns on 79 carries. With rushing leader [autotag]Ty Davis-Price[/autotag] heading to the NFL, Kiner would have likely seen a bigger role as a sophomore.

However, there will be a lot of competition for carries this fall. [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag] is back from academic ineligibility, and LSU has another talented sophomore back in [autotag]Armoni Goodwin[/autotag].

Kiner’s loss hurts, especially for a team with no proven commodities at running back. The Tigers will hope Emery’s long-awaited return is as impactful as fans have hoped it would be.

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LSU Football history: The top 20 all-time leading rushers

Much of LSU’s history has been defined by dominant running backs. Here are the best of the bunch.

LSU has certainly staked a claim as “WRU” in recent years, as the Tigers have produced NFL stars Justin Jefferson, Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry.

However, for much of this program’s history, the bread-and-butter has been the run game. Many former Tigers players were very successful in that regard, such as [autotag]Kevin Faulk[/autotag], [autotag]Dalton Hilliard[/autotag] and [autotag]Leonard Fournette[/autotag].

With [autotag]Ty Davis-Price[/autotag] moving on to the NFL after this season, [autotag]John Emery Jr.[/autotag] makes his long-awaited return to the field and will look to be the next great player on that list.

Here is the current list of the top 20 leading rushers in the history of the LSU program.

Here’s how LSU’s running back situation shapes up heading into 2022 and beyond

The Tigers have a lot of budding talent at the position, but much of the group remains unproven heading into 2022.

When Brian Kelly initially took the job at LSU, perhaps his most daunting task was to rebuild the roster.

That’s what this is, after all: a rebuild. Building takes time, it was clear the roster wouldn’t turn around overnight.

In a short time, Kelly and staff have done a good job of steering the ship in the right direction. LSU has been active in the transfer portal and has done what it can do on the high school trail.

With all the movement that has gone on, it was easy to miss some things. The roster looks wildly different now than it did in November.

Now that signing day is in the books, we have some time to take a look at how this team is positioned heading into 2022 and the future.

The Tigers look good at some positions such as defensive line and quarterback. There are also position groups that are trending up, such as linebacker and safety. Some question marks remain, though, like cornerback and offensive line.

The pandemic combined with the new transfer rules has presented challenges to managing a roster over the last couple of years, which often involves planning years in advance. Recent turbulence in the sport has forced coaches to adjust.

Here, we’ll focus on the outlook for the running game for the near future.

Our way too early look at the LSU offensive depth chart

Taking a stab at the way too early two-deep depth chart on offense.

We aren’t that far away from Brian Kelly beginning a new era of LSU Tigers football in Baton Rouge. With spring camp just around the corner, we are previewing the offensive side of the ball.

There is a litany of new coaches on offense for the 2022 campaign. That usually is the case with a new head coach in control. The lone holdover is Brad Davis, who served as the interim head coach for the Texas Bowl. He will remain as the offensive line coach.

Joining Kelly we have a new offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Mike Denbrock. He reunites with Kelly to run his offense. Joe Sloan takes over quarterbacks, he was most recently with Louisiana Tech and he knows the recruiting landscape. Former Tigers assistant Frank Wilson returns to the Bayou after stepping down as head coach of McNeese.

This leaves the wide receivers coach. Cortez Hankton was previous with the Georgia Bulldogs, where he won a national championship. He returns home to Louisiana to lead a talented group of pass catchers.

The staff will be tasked with putting together an offense that returns very few starters from the 2022 group. Based on who is available, LSU Tigers Wire put together our best predictions for the two-deep depth chart for the offense.

Five veterans who need to huge contributions in 2022

These five key veterans could be the reason for a successful 2022 season

We recently dove into the young guns who are looking for bigger seasons in their sophomore campaigns. The LSU Tigers have a group of veterans that will be counted on for the leadership and accountability within the team.

One veteran that we didn’t circle is wide receiver Kayshon Boutte. He returns for his junior campaign after setting the world on fire as a sophomore. It was short-lived as he suffered an injury in game six of the year. At the time he was the most productive receiving weapon on the team and in the SEC. Boutte should return to form in 2022.

Among the others, we look at two returning defenders in need of big seasons to boost their draft stock. The Tigers also have a senior quarterback that hasn’t been able to stay healthy, a returning running back, and a newcomer on defense.

We breakdown the five veteran LSU Tigers that need to lead this team in the first year of the Brian Kelly era.

LSU’s biggest strength heading into 2022

Despite their questions, LSU does have a couple of strengths to lean on ahead of 2022.

There is no question that the LSU Tigers have a lot to address this offseason as they head into spring football. The new staff found themselves with more questions than answers when they agreed to come to Baton Rouge.

Prior to the signing period and the litany of incoming transfers, they had just one quarterback on scholarship with Myles Brennan still in the transfer portal, Max Johnson on his way to College Station, and Walker Howard had yet to sign with LSU.

The team also had to deal with a mass exodus at the cornerback position, but there were a couple of groups where the team had a strength. Despite the loss of leading rusher Ty Davis-Price to the NFL draft, running back had plenty of capable guys in that room to carry the load in 2022.

They return former five-star signee John Emery Jr to the team. He had to sit out the 2021 campaign due to an eligibility issue. In the two seasons on the field, Emery tallied a total of 566 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns. Not exactly monster numbers in two seasons but he was splitting time with Ty Davis-Price in 2020 and the backup to Clyde Edwards-Helaire in 2019.

Emery is viewed as the starter with some help from former Penn State running back Noah Cain, who transferred into the program. The team also has former Ohio ‘Mr. Football’ in sophomore Corey Kiner. You can add Armoni Goodwin, Tre Bradford, and Josh Williams to the mix. The team could also have a four-star freshman in the fold. TreVonte’ Citizen has yet to make up his mind as to where he will play in 2022. The Auburn Tigers and Florida Gators are among those in the mix for his commitment.

Regardless of whether Citizen signs with his home-state team or not, the running back room has plenty of talent. Emery, Cain, and Kiner are likely the three backs who could see the most playing time next season. This isn’t to take anything about from a wide receiver group that returns one of the best in the nation, Kayshon Boutte.

What about on the defensive side of the ball?

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LSU’s breakout candidates for the 2022 season

These 10 Tigers could have a breakout season in 2022.

Going 11-12 over the last two seasons didn’t sit well with decision-makers in Baton Rouge. For that reason, Ed Orgeron was shown the door in favor of Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly. He has shown the ability to win wherever he goes but the title still eludes him.

Turning the LSU Tigers around isn’t going to be an easy task but Kelly understood he couldn’t rebuild this team through the recruiting class alone. He would need to dip into the transfer portal to get instant impact players for this team.

However, they still have plenty of impact players on the roster. Guys like Kayshon Boutte are known commodities. He will be the top target on the offensive side of the ball. What about the breakout guys?

LSU Tigers Wire breaks down their list of 10 breakout candidates: