LSU football coach Nick Saban released the depth chart Monday formulated by the coaching staff for the season opener Aug. 30 against the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Although most starters remained the same from spring practice, there are several notable changes.
While none of the true freshmen from this year’s highly touted class were named starters, many will be counted on to contribute and John Curtis product Chris Jackson will handle kickoff duties.
On the offensive side of the ball, freshmen Matt Flynn and JaMarcus Russell are both listed as the third string quarterback, but Saban said it is most likely neither of them will play this year.
“I am not sure we want to play both (freshman) quarterbacks,” Saban said. “But it would not be unreasonable for us to play one.”
There was one eye-catching change along the offensive line, as 6-foot-5, 313-pound sophomore Nate Livings was named the starter at left guard.
Rudy Niswanger, formerly the starter at left guard, will be the first backup for both the left tackle position behind Andrew Whitworth and the center position behind Ben Wilkerson.
The wide receiver position, once thought to be a deeper part of LSU’s team, has lost some of its juice with the injuries to freshmen Craig Davis and Amp Hill. Freshman Dwayne Bowe will be asked to contribute his first year.
“We are not going to try to redshirt Bowe,” Saban said. “When Davis comes back we’ll decide whether we need to redshirt him or whether he can contribute. I would have said before both (Davis and Hill) got hurt, all three of them had an opportunity to contribute to the team.”
Joseph Addai and Shyrone Carey will be the top two running backs, and three tailbacks are currently manning the third position on the depth chart, including redshirt freshman Justin Vincent and true freshmen Barrington Edwards and Alley Broussard.
“Edwards and Broussard are both learning,” Addai said of the freshmen. “They run hard, but they have trouble learning the plays. So I think that is going to probably hold them back, but every freshman goes through that, so I feel like they will have a good chance to play too.”
Also in the backfield, walk-on fullback Kevin Steltz will receive the starting nod, with highly recruited freshman Shawn Jordan right on his tail.
Defensively, many changes were made from the depth chart of spring practice.
Senior defensive tackle Bryce Wyatt was named a starter on the left side of the line, while sophomore Kyle Williams will back up senior Chad Lavalais at right tackle.
Saban added more speed to the defense by naming former safeties Eric Alexander and Adrian Mayes starters at the Sam and Will linebacking positions, respectively, when the Tigers play a base defense.
Mayes will remain on the field as the fifth defensive back in nickel situations.
“Those guys bring a lot to the table,” said starting middle linebacker Lionel Turner. “Both of them are ex-safeties so they have a lot of great pass coverage skills. A lot of teams like to run tight ends and running backs out in the flat, so they will be able to help us with that.”
Turner also said the changes at linebacker will allow the Tigers to play more base defense.
“When a lot of teams go four-wide, we really won’t have to bring in a defensive back,” Turner said. “No matter what the down is, those two guys can stay on the field because they can cover receivers and take on blocks.”