Five players who pushed for bigger roles on Saturday
LSU dismantled Grambling State after a slow start, winning 72-10 on Saturday night at home. Everything went according to play as head coach Brian Kelly and his staff were able to get in several new faces and further evaluate the talent on this roster.
Here, we’re looking at five players who got significant snaps for the first time or even made their LSU debut on Saturday. Went back and watched the tape to focus on these five and here are my evaluations, highlights, and some quotes from Kelly on their outings.
CB Denver Harris
It was our first look at Harris in the purple and gold and on the surface he had a touchdown caught on him and a defensive pass interference. We were able to watch Harris in the first two weeks of fall camp and it was a mixed bag as well.
Harris’ two “losses” weren’t really bad reps, as much as just not being fully comfortable with his technique. Not being able to play the ball in the fade and then grabbing down the field. Those are two plays that show he’s maybe not back to where he was last year, but also there were reps where his athleticism showed to me. After rewatching the game, there’s plenty of good to go with the mistakes, so will Harris be a starter moving forward? It’s likely up to him and how much he’s bought in. The door is wide open for Harris to start if he’s ready.
“I don’t know if he’s got there yet, but he’s working on it,” Brian Kelly said. “He’s making progress. There’s a lot of work to be done, but I’m not going to put a guy on the field unless he’s committed to our process. He is not there yet, but he;s committed to it, so we’re going to work with him.”
DL Maason Smith
Smith’s situation was interesting. I know a lot of fans were disappointed in his return, but I actually liked what I saw in terms of his ability to be a playmaker and shed blocks. He looked exactly how I expected in that regard. As a pass rusher, I’m still buying Smith’s dynamism.
The problems came in his run fits. Some of these can be attributed to him/his eyes, but some are the linebackers and safeties as well. He often got caught too far up field either in trap situations or just winning too quickly and opening up holes around him.
His strength perhaps didn’t show through as much as fans wanted it to, but what makes him special is the ability to counter and throw different moves at linemen at that size. I thought this was an impressive return in his first game in over a year and he’ll continue to get more comfortable.
RB Logan Diggs
The best debut goes to Logan Diggs. Diggs not only tallied 115 yards and a touchdowns on 15 carries, but he was consistent, explosive, and ran with a burst that most of the other backs in the room don’t have. I know, it was against Grambling State, but Diggs did enough to warrant starting reps in the coming games.
This isn’t new for Diggs, either. This is a player who totaled over 800 yards at Notre Dame last year. We knew what he was capable of when he transferred to LSU and this was the first chance for everyone else to see it as well. I’ve maintained that Diggs should be the starting running back on this team throughout the offseason and he showed exactly why on Saturday.
WR Chris Hilton
Hilton did not show anything new against Grambling. He had one 47-yard touchdown on a go route where the safety was out of position and one six-yard hitch. We know he can run vertical routes, which is incredibly valuable, but there need to be more dimensions to his game. There’s a hope that Hilton can help this offense when others are struggling, but to me, it looks like he hasn’t done enough to impress this staff. For those who think Hilton has better hands than others on the roster, Kelly said that’s been his biggest struggle.
“Where Chris is he doesn’t just want to be the guy who stretches the field. He wants to be a complete wide receiver,” Kelly said. “He has speed, there’s no doubt, but he wants to do much more. For him to be on the field, he has to catch the ball consistently and that’s where he;s making the biggest strides. He’s been a much more consistent ball catcher in practice. He had a great week of practice, so we’re seeing that grit, because we lost him last year to injury. We’re seeing a receiver that can help us this year.”
OT Zalance Heard
Yes, Heard technically played against Florida State, so this was not his debut, but this was our first chance to really evaluate him and I thought he looked tremendous. The size is the size, but his feet and power are just elite. He’s everything we thought he’d be as a freshman and someone I think is too good to leave off the field. In the run game in particular, Heard can just lean on people in a way few others can.
We’ll see if he can get the start against Mississippi State, but Heard’s talent was on full display on Saturday and it’s something for the LSU staff to watch and evaluate moving forward.
“The key guy for us [to evaluate] tonight was Zalance Heard at right tackle. We put him in the second series, that’s what we focused on. I’ll look at the tape, but we know the other rotation pieces on the offensive line.”
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