LSU Early Season Progress Report Grades

Other than doing the obvious of making the catch (which wasn’t a given for the guy nicknamed “JoJo” last year) LaFell is doing a great job of getting open, as well as blocking downfield when he doesn’t have the ball. LaFell turns this corps’ grade from a C- to a C+.

Richard Dickson has been great as a tight end both catching and blocking.

Offensive Line: A-

Once again, I’m probably too hard on this group, which probably deserves a solid A or A+. Ciron Black and Joseph Barksdale have been anchor bookends at the tackle position. Lyle Hitt and Hermann Johnson have been solid at the guards, and center Brett Helms is the captain of that line.

My one knock on Helms is he is sometimes overpowered by bigger linemen, and he’s probably a better run blocker than a pass blocker. But with a crew this good, I’m just being nit-picky. LSU has been an excellent run blocking team and pretty decent at pass blocking as well.

I’ll add fullback Quinn Johnson to this crew. Johnson is an offensive lineman with a running start on every down. He’s a wrecking ball disguised as a football player.

Defensive Line: B+

This is kind of an unfair grade when you take into account that LSU basically rushes these four guys during pass plays and drops their linebackers into coverage. The line has done a superb job against the run and holds its own in the pass rush. Tyson Jackson is doing plenty to disrupt opposing offenses, and LSU has the best depth in the country on the line.

Ricky Jean-Francois hasn’t been making as much noise as the experts wanted him to with just two solo tackles and a sack in four games, but guys like Rahim Alem, Kirston Pittman, and Marlon Favorite have stepped up in his place.

Linebackers: B

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