Just over five minutes into its 48-18 win over Auburn, LSU was forced to throw a true freshman in at right tackle.
Starter Emery Jones Jr., who had just been honored as the SEC offensive lineman of the week for his performance against Missouri, suffered an ankle sprain after an Auburn defender landed on him at the end of a run.
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Zalance Heard, a five-star recruit this offseason ranked as the No. 16 player nationally in the 2023 class by 247Sports, came in for the next play.
Earlier in the season, LSU had toyed with the idea of starting Heard at right tackle and sliding Jones Jr. to right guard, using that look in practice and finally rolling it out for a drive against Mississippi State, garnering mixed results.
It hadn’t been necessary to try it again. The LSU offensive line has been one of the best in the country, and right guard Miles Frazier has been solid.
Now, LSU had no choice.
The first play with Heard in was a five-yard Logan Diggs run. The second play, Auburn sent a blitz designed to challenge Heard.
Heard immediately engaged with the rusher aligned on the edge, but a linebacker came on a delayed blitz around the outside. Heard passed the rusher off to Frazier and moved to stop the linebacker. He was able to get in front of him but was pushed into Jayden Daniels’ lap, forcing a throwaway.
The same thing had happened when Heard entered the game on LSU’s fourth drive against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs sent a second down blitz that put Heard in conflict, and he looked completely lost in space as two Mississippi State defenders blew past him and dropped Daniels for a loss of eight.
On the next play in that game, Heard was beaten around the outside and called for a holding. Finally, on third-and-23, Heard was involved in yet another blunder, as he and Jones Jr. failed to communicate on a stunt, allowing a free inside rusher for another sack that ended the drive.
Heard didn’t see the field again after that. It was the only drive of the day for Daniels and the starting offense that didn’t end in points.
Even though it ended in a throwaway, the rep against Auburn was a marked improvement. Overall, Heard seemed much more comfortable in the mental aspect of the game against Auburn. There was very little confusion with his assignments.
LSU often sent help his way with tight end Mason Taylor, Josh Williams or Diggs, and Heard did a good job of trusting the running backs behind him in pass protection.
LSU also ran a handful of runs with Heard as the lead blocker with decent results. His athleticism allows him to get out in space for outside runs.
In one-on-one pass protection matchups, Heard got quickly into his stance and used his strength to hold off the rusher. He played with effortless strength, looking calm and in control.
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Throughout the game, Auburn stopped sending as many rushers Heard’s way to commit more players to pass coverage and also played a fair amount of quarterback contain, meaning the rushers were more concerned about keeping Daniels in the pocket than all-out going after him.
That’s the advantage of playing with a quarterback like Daniels. The threat of what he can do in the air and on the ground makes defenses more cautious about blindly sending pressure, and that will aid Heard, as will LSU continuing to send help his way in blocking assignments.
Heard’s game wasn’t perfect. He was called for a false start and a holding and was involved in allowing two sacks and a pressure.
On one sack, the blitzing Eugene Asante ran right past Heard for a sack, something either Daniels or Heard should’ve recognized pre-snap as Asante was showing blitz all the way. On another sack, Daniels held the ball for over four seconds and then scrambled to where Heard’s rusher could easily reach him, basically amounting to a coverage sack that wasn’t Heard’s fault.
The pressure Heard allowed was an example of him playing a little too passive, as he was out-muscled and beat around the outside. Though Daniels evaded that pressure, Heard played at times with a lack of physicality, especially in the run game.
Still, it was hard to find mistakes in Heard’s performance for the most part, and he was technically sound and did his job, one of the best things that could be said about an offensive lineman.
Starting left tackle and team captain Will Campbell gave the credit for Heard’s performance to offensive line coach Brad Davis.
“Coach Davis is the best in the country,” Campbell said. “If you just listen to what he says, he’s going to put you in the right position to succeed.”
For one season, Heard and Campbell were teammates at Neville High School in Monroe, Louisiana. The two bookended either side of the offensive line en route to a 11-2 season that ended in the 4A state semifinals.
“Being back on the field together at the same time, it was special, and, you know, it kind of felt like the old days, even though we’re not that old,” Campbell said.
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Jones Jr. is doubtful for LSU’s upcoming game against Army, so Heard will most likely again hold down the right tackle spot for the Tigers. He has big shoes to fill, as Jones Jr. has been one of the best linemen in the country since becoming the starter as a freshman last year.
Brian Kelly characterized Jones Jr.’s injury as one that is manageable, though he doesn’t have a specific timetable for return. It’ll be interesting to see if Heard performs well enough against Army to make the coaching staff reconsider starting him at right tackle once Jones Jr. does return.
Whatever the case, Heard’s talent makes him hard to keep off the field, and he’ll clearly be a factor on the LSU offensive line for years to come.
