LSU Tigers

You have questions, we have answers. Gary Laney will handle your questions today, as David Helman recharges his batteries before the LSU football camps (July 14-21) and, of course, the start of August camp. Send questions for future mailbags to glaneyespn@gmail.com or helmanespn@gmail.com.

Question (actually a comment from Dan in New Orleans): Frank Wilson talked the other day about LSU getting the best players from around the country. I hope he doesn't forget how good the players are in Louisiana.

Gary Laney: I think it's safe to say that's not the case. LSU has already picked up 11 Louisiana commitments out of 19 total and ESPN 150 players like Tim Williams, the defensive end from Baton Rouge, La./University and Kendell Beckwith of Jackson, La./East Feliciana are still out there.

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GeauxTigerNation writers David Helman and Gary Laney break down the competitions, issues and talking points of LSU's August camp. Players report to campus Aug. 1 and we'll have a preview segment every weekday in July leading up to the day the players report:

The Tiger Stadium crowd at LSU's spring game seemed to hang with Zach Mettenberger's every move.

When he launched perfect bombs of 49 and 53 yards to Odell Beckham, Jr. the 33,000 fans howled not just with delight, but relief that the Tigers have a guy who can make those throws.

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BEAVERTON, Ore. -- Competition at The Opening began Friday on an ominous note as five-star prospects inside linebacker Reuben Foster (Auburn, Ala./Auburn) and cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III (Tampa, Fla./Wharton), the top two players at the four-day event, limped off the field with injuries.

Foster, committed to Alabama and ranked No. 2 in the ESPN 150 as the top inside linebacker, suffered a hamstring injury during the 40-yard dash, his first drill in the morning round of preliminary SPARQ test on the artificial surface at Nike World Headquarters.

“I’ll be OK,” Foster said after a trainer tended to him on the sideline bleachers. “They said to keep it warm.

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GeauxTigerNation writers David Helman and Gary Laney break down the competitions, issues and talking points of LSU's August camp. Players report to campus Aug. 1 and we'll have a preview segment every weekday in July leading up to the day the players report:

How valuable is a dominant defensive tackle to a defense's prospects? Ask the St. Louis Rams, who made former LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers the 14th overall pick in the NFL draft last April. Two weeks ago, Brockers signed a rookie contract worth $9.52 million -- talk about value.

So the million-dollar question -- or perhaps the 10-million-dollar question -- for LSU is: Can the Tigers replicate Brockers' success on the defensive front? Bennie Logan returns to form one half of the duo that terrorized offensive fronts and collapsed pockets all last season. Combine Logan with defensive ends Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo, and you've got 75 percent of a dominant line.

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For Lewis Neal, the latest of LSU's 19 commitments for the 2013 recruiting class, choosing LSU was about "the little things," and not the reasons one might think.

The third defensive end in the class didn't come just to be part of an NFL factory for defensive linemen. Nor did he come for the chance to play defensive end, his natural position.

"It was everything," he said. "It was the most complete school I saw."

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If you look at LSU’s class, it is heavy with offensive talent at the top, but there are some good defensive pickups in that class as well, and Wednesday the Tigers added another four-star defender to the mix with a verbal from Lewis Neal (Wilson, N.C./Hunt).

The defensive end out of North Carolina is a prospect who plays with a lot of effort and comes across as a kid that is going to battle to get around the football. He lacks ideal height for a defensive end, but he is a kid with a thick, muscular build and possesses a nice reach for his height. He is not a dominant run defender and will need to continue to improve playing strength and polish technique, but he does demonstrate some headiness, and with his motor he can be productive defending the run. He is not a pure speed rusher or a power rusher, but he uses that long reach well, can counter, and when he can get to the corner he can get low and tightly bend back in toward the quarterback.

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This time last summer, Spencer Ware was the LSU running back at the center of the preseason hype.

It was certainly justified excitement. Months before his sophomore season, Ware was coming off a 102-yard performance on just 10 carries in LSU's Cotton Bowl thrashing of Texas A&M. He followed that up in April 2011 with a 103-yard, two-touchdown afternoon on just 13 carries in the Tigers' spring game.

Ware seemed certain to deliver on the promise in the early going of the 2011 campaign, when he opened the season with 100-yard efforts in three of LSU's first four games. But LSU redefined the idea of running back by committee last season, as we've since come to learn. Ware's return to the pack was no doubt aided by a one-game suspension for violating team rules when the Tigers faced Auburn.

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Lewis Neal picked a unique setting to announce his college choice.

The Wilson, N.C./Hunt High school defensive end picked a Coastal Plains League baseball game to declare that he will attend LSU. Neal made his announcement over the ballpark's public address system between the fourth and fifth innings of a game between his hometown Wilson Tobs and the Edenton Steamers, a most unusual spot for a college choice announcement.

Neal, a 4-star prospect ranked No. 38 among the nation's defensive ends by ESPN, picked LSU over SEC rivals Tennessee, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Kentucky and also had offers from Ohio State, Clemson, North Carolina State and East Carolina.

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GeauxTigerNation writers David Helman and Gary Laney break down the competitions, issues and talking points of LSU's August camp. Players report to campus Aug. 1 and we'll have a preview segment every weekday in July leading up to the day the players report:

If one were to look at an LSU defensive depth chart, he'd see four linemen, three linebacker and four defensive back positions.

But in the last two years, John Chavis' defense hasn't really looked that way very often. Forced to match up with the ever-popular spread offenses and faced with personnel where the Tigers defensive backs were a bit stronger as a unit than the linebackers, the five-DB look has been more the norm for LSU.

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If Wilson (N.C.) James B. Hunt defensive end Lewis Neal commits Wednesday to LSU, the Tigers' defensive end class will become quite crowded, with a few desired players at the position still undecided.

Neal will make his announcement in a most unusual setting -- a summer league baseball game, between innings at a home game for the Wilson Tobs, a collegiate summer league team that plays in the Coastal Plains League. The Tobs feature two players from LSU's 2012 SEC championship baseball team: Jackson Slaid and Kevin Berry.

Tobs director of media relations Chris Edwards said it hasn't been decided in what inning Neal will make his announcement.

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BATON ROUGE, La. – If you're looking for reasons why LSU could be so dominant last season despite being occasionally anemic on offense, chew on these numbers:

LSU was plus-7 yards in net punting (41-34), plus-2 in net kickoffs, kicked 11 more touchbacks than its opponents, had three kick returns for touchdowns to none for its opponents and made 89 percent of its field goals compared to 68 percent by its opponents.

It short, the Tigers absolutely dominated on special teams. If you are around the program, that is no shock, given the emphasis placed on it by Les Miles and his staff. Here are five things to know:

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