It happened time and time again – like clockwork.
LSU would find itself in a bind, and No. 9 would save the day as if he had a capital “S” on his chest.
And now, former LSU wide receiver Early Doucet is trying to parlay those collegiate heroics into an NFL career that should begin after this weekend’s draft.
NFL draft analyst Mike Detillier describes Doucet as a “money player.”
“Alabama game – he came up with the big play,” Detillier said. “You look at the [Bowl Championship Series] Championship game – especially early in that game – he caught one pass after the other.”
The “big play” during the Alabama game was Doucet’s game-tying, 32-yard touchdown reception with less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The “one pass after the other” in the championship game amounted to seven receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown on a play when he broke three tackles.
“He’s a real good route runner,” Detillier said. “He’s good at breaking the initial tackle and making something happen deep downfield, but what I like is at critical times in the game, he gets open, and he knows how to work a defensive back.”
Doucet’s clutch performances are not something that began his senior season.
Doucet caught a game-winning touchdown pass at Arizona State to open the 2005 season and then another at Tennessee during his junior campaign. He compiled a game-high 115 receiving yards against Notre Dame in the 2007 AllState Sugar Bowl.
“Two years ago, in critical times [former LSU quarterback] JaMarcus Russell had two first-round pick wide receivers – Dwayne Bowe and Buster Davis,” Detillier said. “And in critical spots, he went to Early.”
Doucet even came up with big-time plays late in high school games – when they weren’t necessary.
Doucet’s high school coach, Carroll Delahoussaye, told The Daily Reveille in August about a play Doucet made early in his high school career.
Cruising to an easy victory late in a second-round playoff game, Delahoussaye decided to replace his starting quarterback with a freshman receiver – Doucet.
Delahoussaye hoped to run out the clock and called a quarterback keeper from St. Martinville’s 9-yard-line. His son, an assistant coach, joked that Doucet would probably just go 91 yards.
Moments later, Doucet scored a 91-yard rushing touchdown.
Detillier said Doucet should be a second-round pick, but ESPN.com’s Todd McShay has the St. Martinville native slipping to the second pick of the third round.
The time Doucet spent playing with Bowe and Davis could both negatively and positively affect his draft stock.
ESPN.com lists “very little time as the go-to-receiver in college” as one of Doucet’s weaknesses. While he has come up with several big catches or performances in high school, Doucet did so without being the defense’s focus until this past season.
The biggest knock against Doucet may be his speed.
Doucet ran a 4.59-second 40-yard dash – 29th among the top 30 wide receiver prospects.
Delahoussaye said St. Martinville is proud of Doucet, no matter where he gets selected this weekend.
“It’s a great feeling for us,” Delahoussaye said. “The whole town, the whole community is real proud of Early and what he’s done, and now we’re all hoping that he gets on with a good team.”
Delahoussaye said the former high school quarterback visited St. Martinville on Wednesday and was “very nervous and said he’s had trouble sleeping.”
Doucet’s older sister, Carla JeanBaptist, agreed Doucet’s sleeping habits have become unusual.
“He pretty much sleeps during the course of the day, and he’s up all night,” JeanBaptist said. “I’ll sit up with him, and we’ll talk – mainly just coming to some acceptance of whether he’s the first person or the last person drafted, the mere fact that he has an opportunity to be drafted is an honor.”
JeanBaptist said the Indianapolis Colts drafting her brother would be a particularly favorable scenario because he is friends with former LSU and current Indianapolis running back Joseph Addai.
“He’s done a couple of workouts with Peyton Manning when he would have his camps in [Thibodaux], so that would be an ideal team,” JeanBaptist said.
And the “ideal team” may be Doucet’s next squad.
“The team that I’ve heard that definitely has had the most interest in him is Indianapolis, who picks way down the line in round two,” Detillier said.
The Colts select No. 59 overall – No. 28 in the second round.
Detillier said other teams interested in Doucet include San Francisco, Buffalo and Dallas – all of whom have second-round picks.
—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]