Tiger Practice Report: Sights and Sounds From LSU’s Spring Afternoon in Tiger Stadium
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LSU had a productive dress rehearsal inside Tiger Stadium ahead of its spring game on April 23.
The Tigers were down more bodies but it allowed for others to shine and there were some positive takeaways from the practice.
Rotations along the offensive line and in the secondary remain a point of emphasis this spring. The Tigers have been moving players all over the place at both position groups but are settling in on some consistency.
Will Campbell at left tackle, Tremond Shorts at left guard, Charles Turner at center, Miles Frazier at tight guard and Cam Wire at right tackle continues to be the most popular o-line grouping. At safety, Joe Foucha and Jay Ward worked with the first team while Mekhi Garner and Damarius McGhee were on the outside and Greg Brooks worked in the slot.
On offense, with no Emery or Corey Kiner, Armoni Goodwin and Kevontre Bradford earned many of the reps in the backfield and stood out. Bradford is an interesting name of this running back bunch as he was smart hitting his holes and is viewed as a dual threat option for the Tigers out of the backfield.
With multiple guys down, he and Goodwin certainly left an impression on the day.
Malik Nabers, Jaray Jenkins, Brian Thomas and Jack Bech were the receivers taking first team reps. Nabers and Thomas both made some great contested catches while Jenkins showed off his down field speed for one long completion as well.
There were many other on field takeaways throughout the two hour practice, with some offensive players really showing out, highlighted by quarterback Myles Brennan.
Brennan has been extremely accurate and poised through his first several practices but really looked the part on Saturday. He’d hit Brian Thomas on a well covered slant route in 11v11 drills and then connected on a deep shot to Jaray Jenkins for a touchdown.
The play caught an exuberant reaction from the entire offense running down field in jubilation, with quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan leading the way. Just prior to that play, freshman Walker Howard stepped into a nice throw to Nabers and earned some props from Brian Kelly and Joe Sloan.
As for the players not participating, linebacker Demario Tolan was stretching with John Emery, Todd Harris and Kayshon Boutte at the start of practice. All were in practice jerseys but no pads and didn’t participate in any on field work.
Safety Major Burns was also working through a different off field workout and wasn’t on the field.
The offensive line did a nice job in run blocking drills against the defensive line, with coach Brad Davis showing a lot of energy.
“That’s what I’m looking for,” Davis said on particular rep.
While the offense did look in control most of the practice, the defense did make a few nice stands in situational 11-on-11 drills at the tail end of practice. Jayden Daniels would cap off the practice with a crossing route to Kyren Lacy, who took to the endzone for a score.
LSU is still figuring plenty out on the field as the coaches also were on the players on a number of different occasions. But like Kelly said at his last presser, they’re starting to find some consistent rotations ahead of next week’s spring game.
