Is Jefferson "The Truth" For The 2009 Tigers? Does He Have to Be?

The 2009 season is upon us, and for the second year in a row LSU's success and failure lie to a large extent on the shoulders of a young, relatively untested quarterback.  So how will Jordan Jefferson steer this Tiger team toward anything other than last year's disappointing outcome?  And, more precisely, what outcome would be considered satisfactory to the Tiger fanatics?  9-3?  10-2?  11-1?  

To properly predict Jefferson's contribution, one must be able to first accurately identify the things that help make young quarterbacks, and by proxy, teams, great.   There are several consistently held contributing factors that throughout the history of football have been shown to help a young quarterback be effective even under the most difficult of circumstances.  Those are:  a very good offensive line, a very good running game, and a very good defense.  Without even one of those three things the whole ship can sink and the quarterback will ignominiously go down with the ship. 

This year's offensive line returns three starters, including bookend tackles Ciron Black, a senior all-SEC preseason left tackle, and Joseph Barksdale, a junior converted defensive lineman with quick feet and hands, and Lyle Hitt, senior right guard.  The two newcomers to the hit parade are redshirt sophomore left guard Josh Dworaczyk and redshirt sophomore center T-Bob Hebert.  Just having both starting tackles returning to protect a young quarterback is reason enough to be excited,.  One has, moreover,  to give Les Miles and his staff credit for recruiting athletic guys like Dworaczyk and Barksdale that played a lot of defensive line in high school to provide needed flexibility to pull or block upfield should Jefferson decide to roll out or tuck and run, something he did with some success when necessary last year.

The success of the running game is mostly tied to the ability of the offensive line to create the seams necessary to churn out those all important yards and keep the offense out of third and long situations.  LSU was a good rushing team last year (167.2 yards/game) with primarily Charles Scott and Keiland Williams carrying the load but not great.  Who were the best?  Alabama and Florida (201 and 237 respectively).  Not conicidentally those two played for the conference championship.  The ability to enforce their will on defenses by running the ball also gave the Tide and the Gators the two best 3rd down conversion percentages in the league (42.4 and 48.9 again, respectively).  If the 2009 Tiger running game can generate closer to 200 yards/game and keep Jefferson out of all those third and longs, that could mean good things for this young quarterback. 

The nasty and physical LSU defense that had become the team's trademark during this decade seemed to fall apart last year.   That once proud defense gave up 24.2 points/game (over 30 five times), 325 yards/game, and 17 rushing touchdowns.  Yep, 17 rushing touchdowns.  That means teams were having a field day inside the red zone.  Enter John Chavis.  His rushing defense last year at Tennessee gave up only 6 touchdowns last year (2nd only to Alabama's 3), 16.8 ppg (3rd to Alabama and Florida) and 263 ypg (second only to Alabama).   Does this mean guaranteed success this year and a complete turnaround of defensive fortunes?  Of course not, but Chavis has guaranteed a more aggressive, simplified defense which may ring the proverbial bell for all of us that were big Bo Pelini fans.  And an improved identity-driven defense can only, again, help Jordan Jefferson.  Instead of finding himself responsible to make miraculous comebacks, he will instead only have to manage situations and personnel. 

Does this mean, then, that plug anyone into that quarterback spot and with a good offensive line, running game, and defense, abracadabra, success for a young quarterback?  No, but when you combine all those things with a quarterback whose tangibles (6'4", 4.6 40 and rocket arm, by the way) make him the ideal quarterback for Gary Crowton's system and whose intangibles (confidence, comfort with the system, and leadership qualities) have won over his teammates, the chips are really stacked in his favor. 

Well what about the insane expectations the fan base will place upon this young man?  There is no doubt that Jordan Jefferson will feel this tangible pressure, but he's got everything he needs surrounding him to use that pressure and turn it into something really special.  You see, the pressure is there for whoever lines up behind center with no regard to age or experience. 

It is gonna be some kind of fun to watch Jordan Jefferson unleash all that Gary Crowton can think up in his Wizard's playbook on the SEC.  Hold on, folks.  There's a new kid on the block.  His name is Jordan Jefferson.  You'll know it soon enough.