Thursday Practice Videos

St. Patty’s Day LSU football - QBs, WRs, TEs and physical Big Cat

Wide receiver James Wright (82) and defensive back Tharold Simon (24) squared off against one another Thursday in the Big Cat drill. Incoming offensive tackle La’El Collins, pictured far left, looked on (photo by Jay Potter).

By BEN LOVE
Tiger Rag Editor

Back in shoulder pads and helmets for the second straight practice, the LSU football team worked out for the fourth time overall this spring on Thursday afternoon at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility.

And the mood from players and coaches alike made one thing plainly obvious — these guys are ready for full pads and full-on contact.

They’ll get it, and in high dosage, beginning with Saturday morning’s practice.

For today, however, a few players had to make do with just sending messages in individual drills and the Big Cat drill (see DE Ego Ferguson at the beginning of the first video below).

In much the same way, several coaches lit a fire under the Tigers, trying to set the tone in advance of Saturday. Tight ends coach Steve Ensminger was certainly among that group, barking orders at his position players loudly and with regularity (see “sled” and “TE corner routes” videos below).

For today’s Flip Video footage of practice, I’ve got two Big Cat drill clips that’ll get the blood pumping. Both have players occasionally crossing in front of the camera, so I apologize, but believe me when I tell you it’s close quarters.

I’ve also provided more video of the quarterbacks, today throwing the deep fade to WRs before hitting the tight ends on corner routes. It was definitely the first day, at least from what we saw, where they were letting the signal callers air it out deep with regularity.

Finally, I’ve got the tight ends pushing the sled, giving an intimate view of Ensminger doling out instruction to his troops.

Some brief notes before the videos: Speaking of tight ends, rising senior Deangelo Peterson worked out more with the wide receivers today than on the inside. While you can expect Peterson to take the majority of his snaps at the traditional tight end alignment in 2011, today was a good reminder that No. 19 is also dangerous as a No. 4 WR in the slot. He caught the ball well today and moves very well for a guy his size (LSU lists Peterson at 6-4, 243 lbs) … As for the front seven on defense, it still looked like this in practice: Adams-Brockers-Downs-Edwards up front and Francois-Minter-Baker behind them … At quarterback, Zach Mettenberger had his second straight day where consistent accuracy was an issue. While he continues to throw the deep ball as well or better than the other two (Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee), it’s his placement on some of the short comebacks and underneath routes that leaves something to be desired. But, let’s remember, it’s only the fourth practice in during the spring. Jefferson and Lee both threw the deep ball well today, too. Check out the fade video below. None of the three were as accurate once the tight ends came in and starting running corner routes … 2011 signee La’El Collins was in-attendance, studying the offensive line from outside the huddle.

1. Big Cat drill gets chippy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IywTSgl3qSY