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Tigers in High Recruiting Gear & Saints Notes
By Mike Detillier
It is technically the off-season for college football but not for college recruiting and LSU has kicked the football car in high gear over the past 10 days.
Two weeks ago the Tigers landed Calvary Baptist High School speedy cornerback Andraez "Greedy" Williams and one of the nation's top prep defensive tackles in Destrehan High School's Glen Logan.
This past week the Tigers got four more commitments. Those four included former Miller-McCoy High School and now Edna Karr High School defensive end Andre Anthony, Denham Springs High School defensive end Caleb Roddy, offensive tackle Jakori Savage from Baldwin County High School in Alabama and got a verbal commitment Saturday from Erick Fowler, one of the top defensive ends in the nation from Texas. Fowler is projected to play outside linebacker at the collegiate level.
The Tigers ability to keep the vast majority of the top prep talent in the state of Louisiana and reach out with their long recruiting tentacles to grab top talent from nearby states have kept them at the highest rung of the college football ladder and that continues today.
In landing defensive end Andre Anthony from Edna Karr the Tigers got a long, very lean pass rush specialist who at 6-3, 220 is built to play that "hybrid" defensive end/outside linebacker spot that you will see plenty of in new defensive coordinator Kevin Steele's 3-4 defensive sets.
Anthony is explosive off the edge and he has really upgraded his ability to use his arms and hands effectively to beat would-be blockers. He will need to add some bulk and muscle to his frame, but he was ranked as my second best defensive end prospect in the state for the 2016 class. He selected LSU over Alabama, Auburn and Texas A&M.
Roddy, a 6-5, 255 pound defensive end from Denham Springs High School, was my third ranked defensive end in the state this season, but I got a strong feeling that the very disruptive defensive lineman will play either tackle in a 4-3 defense or the end in 3-4 looks for the Tigers.
In many ways Roddy reminds me of Tyson Jackson when he came out of West St. John High School. It won't be long with physical maturity and work in the Tiger weight-room with LSU strength coach Tommy Moffitt that Roddy ends up being a 280-290 pound defensive lineman real quick. Roddy selected LSU over Oregon, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Arizona State and Texas A&M.
The surprise commitment came from Jakori Savage from Baldwin County in Alabama. The 6-6, 280 pound offensive tackle had offers from Louisiana Tech, Troy, Tulane, Southern Mississippi and two SEC schools in South Carolina and Kentucky, but his name had not been linked much in regards to LSU.
On tape you can clearly see Savage's size, size potential and quick feet for a big man. While Savage will need some technical upgrades, especially in using his arms and hands better and upgrade his overall strength in the weight-room, he became a favorite of LSU offensive line coach Jeff Grimes on film and in the camps he attended. I suspect that Jakori's recruiting is not over with and eventually Alabama and Auburn will come a calling with scholarship offers.
On Saturday the Tigers landed one of the top defensive end/outside linebacker prospects in the nation in Erick Fowler. Fowler, who attends Manor High School in Texas, selected LSU over Texas, Alabama, Texas A&M and TCU.
The 6-1 ¼, 230 pounder has played defensive end in high school, but he projects to an outside linebacker slot in college. While Fowler is physical at the point of attack the one thing that jumps out on tape about Fowler is his great foot speed and also his ability to cut the corner hard when getting into the backfield. He has recorded 143 tackles and 32 quarterback sacks over the past two seasons at Manor.
Reports are that one of the South's best cornerback prospects in Rummel High School's Kristian Fulton is also close to making a verbal commitment. He is being heavily pursued by LSU along with Miami (Fla.), Arkansas, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA and Florida.
There is no off-season for college football recruiting.
Saints Notes
For the third straight week in this spot I will write about how impressive cornerback Delvin Breaux is in a Saints uniform. With Brandon Browner held out of workouts, Breaux became the star of the “open to the press” OTA sessions and displayed excellent foot speed, top cover skills and the ability to find the ball quickly in flight. Browner and Keenan Lewis, barring an injury, will start for the Saints at cornerback, but it won’t be long before Breaux is pressing Browner for starting time with the Saints. He is that good.
It is night and day watching the cornerbacks of 2015 with Lewis, Browner, Breaux and the two rookies in P.J. Williams and Damian Swann in the practice sessions. Interesting is that former New York Jets 2010 first round pick Kyle Wilson has lined up with the first team unit in nickel sets as the third cornerback.
Almost dead-silence heard from coaches about the progress of Saints 2014 second round pick Stanley Jean Baptiste.
Saints coaches and veterans have praised the athletic ability and football smarts of Saints rookie middle linebacker Stephone Anthony, but second round pick Hau’oli Kikaha from Washington has also been very impressive. Kikaha’s 36 career college quarterback sacks are impressive and he looks to be able to translate that skillset to the NFL also.
It is his quickness off the snap and his ability to use his arms and hands effectively that has stood out to the Saints coaching staff and with a strong possibility that Junior Galette could miss some or all of the 2015 season due to a pectoral injury, Kikaha could well be the guy to replace him as the Saints top pass rusher coming off the edge. His technical skills as a pass rusher at outside linebacker are very good for a rookie.
The over and under for the amount of catches for new Saints halfback C.J. Spiller should be at 75. Darren Sproles in his three seasons with the Saints caught 232 passes and averaged 77 catches per season with the club. Spiller will be used in the same manner and I have a strong feeling barring an injury the former Buffalo Bills running back becomes a huge target out of the backfield for Drew Brees. C.J.’s vision and explosive burst to daylight is very impressive.
Not much talk from anyone anymore about how the New Orleans Saints using this three safety alignment would change the football world. You heard a lot of talk of this last season at this time, but in the NFL you better have people who can cover an opponent’s third best receiver and a speedy back coming out of the backfield. Having three good safeties is excellent for any team and they will be utilized in some sets, but you better match up downfield with cornerbacks, not safeties in most nickel sets.
Many have asked about how the voting went for the top centers in the NFL in my 2015 NFL draft book. For a few seasons the New Orleans Saints didn’t put a lot of emphasis on the center position, but the glaring hole was just too much to overlook again and while giving up an elite player like tight end Jimmy Graham was costly, getting Unger to anchor the middle will pay heavy dividends for the team. Here is how the voting of 12 coaches, personnel directors, scouts and one former NFL coach went at the center spot.
1. Alex Mack - Cleveland Browns
2. Maurkice Pouncey - Pittsburgh Steelers
3. Andy Frederick - Dallas Cowboys
4. Max Unger - now with the New Orleans Saints
No question about it, the biggest question mark for the 2015 New Orleans Saints will be which defensive line shows up to play. The Saints had a really talented young group in 2013 led by Cam Jordan and he was flanked by Akiem Hicks and rookie John Jenkins, who had a very strong 1st year with the club. Last year they fell way short of expectations and production. With a big upgrade in talent at cornerback and a healthy return to form of free safety Jairus Byrd I feel confident the team will be much better in the secondary, but no one can tell you what you will get out of the Doctor Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde defensive line of the Saints in 2015.
Williams, Finally a Saint
The New Orleans Saints signing of defensive tackle Kevin Williams gives them a veteran "insurance policy" and a player that still has some football gas left in the tank.
The five-time All-Pro selection and one of the defensive tackles selected to the NFL's 2000's All-Decade team is not the pass rusher we all saw earlier in his career, but the 6-4 ¾, 315 pounder is still a very effective run stuffer and someone that knows how to use that big body very well to tie up multiple blockers inside.
Williams had a superb 11-year career as both a top-flight interior pass rusher and a deluxe run-stuffer from 2003-2013 with the Minnesota Vikings before playing last season in a part-time starter role with the Seattle Seahawks.
At 34 years old, Williams can give the Saints some added quality reserve depth along an area that was extremely disappointing in 2014. A young group led by Cameron Jordan, Akiem Hicks and John Jenkins looked so promising for the future by their play in 2013, but in 2014 all three did not play nearly as effective or were they as disruptive as they had been the year earlier.
Veteran Broderick Bunkley is a solid football player in the middle for the Saints and tough against the run, but he will turn 32 years old during the 2015 season and he has had more than his fair share of football nicks and scrapes.
Williams can help the Saints, if he can stay healthy, but what most Saints fans will remember him for was the "what if".
In 2003 the Saints were looking for help at defensive tackle and come draft day they had the sixth overall selection. Two days before Day 1 of the draft I spoke to then Oklahoma State defensive line coach and former LSU standout defensive lineman Karl Dunbar about Williams just in case the Saints would pick in Round One.
Dunbar had coached Williams at Oklahoma State and he was very expressive to me on just how good he thought his star college performer would be in the NFL. I told Dunbar that I heard from two Saints assistant coaches that they preferred Georgia defensive tackle Johnathan Sullivan over Williams, if both were on the board.
"I saw (Johnathan) Sullivan in the bowl game for Georgia and he is a good athlete, but there is no way on this earth that guy is better than Kevin Williams," Dunbar said. "That sounds to me like a Jim Haslett (the Saints head coach in 2003) pick. If Mickey Loomis is smart he will pick Williams instead. Kevin will be a monster player at the NFL level. I don't know about the Sullivan kid. If Sullivan is better than Kevin Williams he is the second coming of Lee Roy Selmon. You can book it, Williams is going to be a star NFL player."
Selmon was a 6-time All-Pro selection for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he was a member of the 1980's All-Decade team and he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1995.
Dunbar was dead-on straight about Williams and the Saints ended up selecting Sullivan with the 6th overall selection in 2003 and Williams went 9th overall to the Minnesota Vikings.
After 3 disappointing seasons the Saints dealt off Sullivan to the New England Patriots who also got nothing out of him football wise.
In his short stint in the NFL Sullivan recorded 56 tackles and 1 ½ quarterback sacks. Last season entering the tail end of a great NFL career Williams at 34 years old recorded 35 tackles and 3 quarterback sacks.
Williams is finally playing for the Saints, but I would have loved to have seen the 23-year old Kevin Williams in the Black and Gold.
Boo to Thibodaux
Thibodaux Regional Medical Center made a great hire in bringing in former LSU track coach and former St. James High School and Nicholls State University graduate Irving "Boo" Schexnayder on to the hospital as director of sports performance.
Schexnayder coached 57 All-American track and field athletes at LSU and worked with the United State Olympic team in training and helping rehab athletes at the highest level of competition.
He was brought in to help consult on training methods with the Arizona Cardinals football team late in the 2014 season.
Having "Boo" available to the local high school coaches in the Bayou area is a huge plus for the community and for the new Thibodaux Regional Medical Center Wellness Facility that should be completed sometime next year.
I had a chance to speak to Schexnayder about the pectoral injury suffered by New Orleans Saints outside linebacker Junior Galette.
"Not knowing the full extent of the injury to Galette I would say that if the pectoral is avulsed from the bone the reports of a 5 to 6 month timeframe for rehab is accurate and playing through it is nearly impossible. If the injury is restricted to soft tissue of the muscle, handled properly, he could return to play in half that time. Soft tissue has good blood supply and heals fast. Tendons do not. The key to his possible return in 2015 or basically missing the season will be if the pectoral muscle is torn or detached."
Follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeDetillier