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With T-minus 2 months and counting till LSU opens the 2008 season, let’s get this blog party started with some positional breakdowns.
Postion: Quarterbacks
It’s the question on every Tiger fan’s mind, so it might as well be the starting point for previewing the 2008 LSU football team.
Ryan Perrilloux is gone, of course, for a number of reasons that won’t get rehashed here, leaving the starting job now up for grabs among former Harvard transfer and walk-on Andrew Hatch, redshirt freshman Jarrett Lee and true freshman Jordan Jefferson.
The presumption is that Perrilloux leaving for his search for Osama Bin Laden loss torpedoes the Tigers’ chances of any kind of championship repeat. It’s understandable, given that the three passers left behind have all of two career passing attempts and neither Lee nor Hatch received what one would call glowing reviews during spring ball. In fact, it’s safe to say that LSU hasn’t faced a quarterback situation that is so completely unknown this decade.
If there are any positives to look at, the timing of the Perrilloux situation would have to be one of them. LSU was able to spend the entire spring working exclusively with Lee and Hatch. Even if they didn’t do well, better for the two to get as many practice reps as possible then for another quarterback who won’t be around taking them.
Perhaps an unforeseen consequence of the situation is that the more the media questioned players on Perrilloux’s status, the more they seemed to resent it. Not the fact that Perrilloux was gone, per se, but the notion that he alone would be the determining factor in their success. And while the whole “nobody respects us,” motivation is beyond played-out, teams seem to keep trotting it out over and over again. If not having Ryan Perrilloux around helps the Tiger offense rally together, so be it. Whenever a team wins a championship, complacency always seems to be the biggest concern coaches have the following year. Maybe this quarterback question mark will help the Tigers avoid it.
That being said, let’s look at 2008’s quarterback candidates.
Depth Chart
Andrew Hatch saw only a handful of mop-up snaps against Middle Tennessee State and Louisiana Tech last season, tossing a grand total of two passes. He did rush for 27 yards on 4 attempts versus MTSU in Perrilloux’s change-up quarterback role while Perrilloux was starting in place of an injured Matt Flynn.
Limited though that experience may be, it still trumps Lee. Plus Hatch has the added advantages of maturity (he’ll turn 22 later this month) and a history with LSU offensive coordinator Gary Crowton. He’d originally committed to play for Crowton at BYU but, following Crowton’s resignation, ended up at Harvard. After a redshirt season, Hatch traveled abroad for a Mormon mission in Chile – where he suffered a knee injury playing soccer. Two years later, Crowton invited Hatch to walk on in Baton Rouge.
He did a solid job in LSU’s spring football game, completing 13 of 17 for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Despite throwing the game’s only interception, he looked slightly more comfortable operating in the spread elements of the Crowton attack. Hatch doesn’t have much of an arm, but enough of one to operate the short, screen-oriented aspects of the passing game. He does, however, flash quick enough feet to keep plays alive and be a credible threat on the option.
Jarrett Lee, on the other hand, fits the role of the classic, pro-style, drop-back passer. At 6-2 and 200 pounds, he has the stronger arm, but loses a little bit to Hatch in the mobility department. He completed 7 or 13 passes for 181 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the spring game, and in general appeared more comfortable operating under center than in the shotgun. Lee would likely fit best in a pro-style offense with the standard 5-step drops and passing off of play-action. This doesn’t necessarily disqualify him from running LSU’s offense, which began using more I-formation passing plays as the 2007 season went on. But it could an end result of a two-quarterback system.
Jefferson (Scout’s 18th-ranked QB prospect of 2008) is the only other quarterback prospect on the roster. He’s regarded as a rough prospect in need of polishing, and will likely redshirt. The physical skills are there, playing time isn’t totally out of the question if he lights up August practice. With YouTube legend Russell Sheppard committed for 2009, some believe that if Jefferson is going to contribute he’d best try and get in the game as quickly as possible.
Conclusion
Through spring practice the scuttlebutt behind the scenes indicated that neither Hatch nor Lee were satisfying the coaching staff (and that this was why Perrilloux avoided departure for as long as he did). While nothing is known publicly beyond spring game statistics, what is known is that neither passer was able to separate from the other, and it’s anybody’s guess just who is going to start the season opener versus Appalachian State.
Of course, now that it’s the summer, the only thing hotter (and heavier) than the air in Baton Rouge is the sports gossip. Whether it’s on talk radio or message boards, it runs new-rumor-a-week as to who has taken charge of the QB slot. There’s been some talk that Lee has dropped weight to improve his quickness and may have made the most improvement in regard to his timing with the receivers. Still, it seems like Hatch has the best chance to be the starter in game one. He gives LSU the best dual threat, and the Tigers have too much speed at the running back spot to not have a decent option threat to pitch the ball on the edge.
But you can bet that both quarterbacks will see time in the first three games so that this team is in the best shape for the annual SEC West Championship Game against Auburn. Luckily, whomever takes the lead will have three games worth of quality game time before the trip to Jordan-Hare Stadium.
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