LSU Tigers

BATON ROUGE, La. -- There's a new wrinkle to the Russell Shepard saga.

The blue-chip, dual-threat high school quarterback turned underachieving college receiver was worked out by NFL scouts Wednesday during LSU's Pro Day at, of all places, defensive back.

"Never played there in my life," Shepard said. "About six teams asked me to work out there. I thought I did pretty good. Like they told me, it's added value."

Shepard gave NFL teams reason to look for places he might fit. He excelled during physical testing, joining a list of LSU players who had good days.

Shepard ran a 4.5 electronic 40-yard dash and also had a 38.5-inch vertical leap, results that do not suggest a player who struggled to get involved in LSU's offense in his four years and was so marginalized, he was not invited to the NFL combine.

He wasn't the only Tiger to test well. Running back Michael Ford ran a 4.44 40-yard dash and had a 39.5-inch vertical leap, both results slightly better than his combine results. Linebacker Kevin Minter ran a 4.67 40 and had a 34.5-inch vertical leap, both significant improvements over the combine.

"We were at home," Minter said. "Makes all the difference."

Here are some other notables:

• Defensive end Barkevious Mingo did not participate in testing, but like former teammate Tyrann Mathieu got involved in position-specific drills.
• Defensive end Lavar Edwards ran a 4.78 and hit 21 repetitions in the bench press, looking like the next LSU player who might be drafted after not starting for the Tigers.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- It's only going to look like an all-comer's combine.

LSU's Pro Day on Wednesday will feature a whopping 28 participants, the result of a year where the Tigers sent 13 players to the NFL combine. Among the players will will participate is former LSU player Tyrann Mathieu.

Of the 28, 21 were members of LSU's 2012 team, while seven more participants were members of past LSU teams and are trying to catch the interest of teams as free agents.

Fans can watch the event live on ESPN3 at 1 p.m. ET.

Here are the players who are participating, according to LSU:

2012 team members: DE Chauncey Aghayere, K Drew Alleman, TE Chase Clement, DT Josh Downs, OT Josh Dworaczyk, DE Lavar Edwards, OT Chris Faulk, RB Michael Ford, DT Bennie Logan, C P.J. Lonergan, DB-KR Tyrann Mathieu, DE Barkevious Mingo, LB Kevin Minter, DE Sam Montgomery, S Eric Reid, WR Russell Shepard, CB Tharold Simon, RB Spencer Ware, P Brad Wing, DT Cleveland Davis, TE Tyler Edwards

Past Players (last year at LSU): OG Will Blackwell (2011), LB-DB Karnell Hatcher (2011), OL T-Bob Hebert (2011), QB Jordan Jefferson (2011), QB Jarrett Lee (2011), DS Alex Russian (2011), RB Charles Scott (2009).

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Spencer Ware was healthy and running hard. Michael Ford looked fast and Kenny Hilliard was a load.

Alfred Blue, however, did nothing to indicate that he isn't LSU's main running back going forward during LSU's 41-3 romp over Washington Saturday.

Blue turned in his second straight 100-yard game to start the season, rambling for 101 yards and a touchdown on a mere 14 carries.

"It means I've just started out great," said Blue, a junior who jumped LSU's top two rushers from last season, Ware and Ford, to become the starter at the end of August camp. "But I've just got to keep on running hard, running physical and helping my team win."

Blue was a little opportunistic in becoming a starter. Ware, last season's opening day starter and second-leading rusher for the season, had a nagging leg injury and did not play in last week's 41-14 season-opening win over North Texas. Ford, the Tigers' leading rusher last season, had an academic issue that was cleared up during the UNT week that allowed him to play, but deep off the bench.

Blue, third on the team last season with 539 yards, took advantage by going for 123 yards on 14 carries in the opener and showed it was no fluke against a better defense in the second game, getting outside at will, including a 21-yard touchdown run for LSU's first score of the night.

He became the first Tiger since Charles Scott in 2008 to break 100 yards in the first two games for the Tigers.

Ford added 48 yards on 10 carries, Hilliard had 46 yards on 13 carries with two touchdowns and Ware rushed for 38 yards on eight carries in his season debut.