By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
LSU redshirt junior Roman Mothershed did not come to Baton Rouge to be a tight end, but he has made that adjustment nonetheless and is finding his groove in a new role.
The transfer spent the past two seasons as a wide receiver at Troy and started his career at Independence Community College. He was rated as the No. 252 wideout in the transfer portal by 247Sports.com and found himself in a jam-packed wide receiver room with eight other transfers.
He had to find his own path to playing time.
“I was prepared to do whatever it took to get on the field to be able to make an impact to help the team, so when coach (Joe) Cox came to me and introduced the idea to me, I was with it,” Mothershed said during media availability on Tuesday. “I was ready to step into whatever role was needed for me to be able to get on the field.”
At 6-foot-5, 212 pounds, the Pike Road, Alabama native was the obvious choice for necessary reinforcements to the tight end room. He started to get work with the foreign position group throughout spring and fall practice, but did not make his transition on the field and on the roster official until after Trey’Dez Green was injured against Ole Miss.
Mothershed has a similar, albeit smaller, frame and skill set to Green (6-7, 242) in the passing game. Both have backgrounds as high school basketball standouts and use their experience boxing out, body control, height and vertical to win contested catches. Filling in for Green as a slot and wide receiver was seamless. It was everything else that has taken adjustment.
“It’s probably the first time I’ve put my hand in the dirt,” Mothershed said. “That part of it is kind of new to me.”
Since Green was sidelined, it has been tight end by committee for the Tigers. Mothershed avoids most of the dirty work in the blocking game, which is handled primarily by Oregon transfer Zach Grace with short-yardage contributions from Pitt transfer Malachi Thomas. Mothershed, though, is growing his role on offense each week. He is getting used to coming out of a three-point stance and the physicality in the trenches, but more importantly, learning a new position.
“I just had to expand my mental, like my understanding of the offense more, especially in the run game because I’m in a lot of blocking schemes,” he said. “So, knowing where to go and what guy I’m getting and being able to move out of that stance because I’m not really used to being that low.”
Luckily for Mothershed, he has an Associated Press preseason All-American on the sideline to lend him some tips. He said Green has been a tremendous help as another set of eyes off the field.
“He’s been able to calm my eyes down, so what I’m seeing, I see slower,” Mothershed said. “So I’m able to do my job quicker. Like when I’m coming off the sideline, if I miss something, he’s right there to tell me this is what you should have done, or when next time you get that look, this is what you should do to be able to better it.”
Since transferring, he has worked to learn and adjust to a bigger school, a bigger program, a bigger platform and a bigger playbook.
“Before I came here, I wouldn’t say I was a great offensive-minded guy,” he said. “I knew what I was doing and how I needed to do it, but now I can understand why this guy next to me is doing what he’s doing.”
The work is ongoing for Mothershed, but the results are starting to show. He did not see the field until Green’s injury but played eight snaps against Texas A&M, 30 in the McNeese State blowout and 19 at Kentucky. He actually spent a majority of his snaps as an in-line tight end for the first time against the Wildcats and has recorded two catches and a touchdown in each of the last two games.
While still in the process of becoming a full-time tight end, Mothershed’s usage and production are starting to increase. No timeline has been given on when Green could return, but he has gotten out of his leg brace and is progressing well in his recovery. Mothershed could be the short-term answer the Tigers were looking for while their No. 7 is out.
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