LSU sophomore running back Joseph Addai knew he would have to wait one more year to get a chance to be the man.
After all, LaBrandon Toefield, finally healthy, would be back for his senior campaign, looking to regain the form of his sophomore year when he scored an Southeastern Conference record-tying 19 touchdowns and was named First Team All-SEC.
Addai did not have a problem with that scenario.
“I was going to play and learn from him and have fun,” Addai said. “It is not just about me starting. I want to just get out on the field. It was not a big thing about me starting.”
But Jan. 6, that all changed.
Due to problems with injuries of the past and his good health at the time, Toefield announced he would forgo his senior season and place his name in the NFL Draft pool.
That fact and the graduation of fellow running back Domanick Davis catapulted Addai, who was third on the team in carries in 2002 with 80, to the top of the depth chart.
Addai said he realized his burden would increase with Toefield’s announcement.
“I wished him good luck,” Addai said of Toefield. “I knew that I would probably have a bigger role on the team, so I have to step my game up. I viewed it as an opportunity, but all the running backs have a chance to start. I would not just say I am going to be the one that is starting. I see my chance to go ahead and better myself.”
Addai actually played a significant role last season.
With Toefield coming off a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in the 2001 SEC Championship game and Davis also returning punts and kickoffs, there was a necessity for a third running option.
Addai responded, rushing 80 times for 438 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry and led the team in rushing four times. He rushed for 98 yards in the win over UL-Lafayette and 91 yards in the win over Kentucky, which included a 63 yard touchdown run.
Toward the end of the season, his production and workload tailed off. He received only seven carries in the final four games.
“Toward the end of last season, I hurt my hip, and I was not able to recover real quick like I thought I would be able to,” Addai said. “I think that took some of my playing time away from me.”
Addai said his experience from last year gives him an advantage most of the other running backs do not have.
“I am real excited,” Addai said. “I think there is a lot of competition, but I think I have more experience than the other running backs, so I think what is going to separate me from the other running backs is the little, small things that I need to work on.
“I think I am starting to understand the offense more. So everything is starting to flow together as I am playing.”
Addai said he knows the other running backs are not just going to lay down and hand him the job.
Junior running back Shyrone Carey proved that in Saturday’s scrimmage, the first of the spring.
Carey handled the ball 10 times for 101 yards, and Addai added nine carries for 61 yards and led the team in receiving with four catches for 71 yards.
Both runners impressed head coach Nick Saban.
“I think Joseph Addai and Shyrone Carey showed a lot of toughness and ran the ball extremely well,” Saban said. “There is a lot for them to prove in terms of their durability, but I certainly think those guys have the ability to make big plays.”
Carey is not the only running back who caught Addai’s eye.
“Jason Spadoni is doing real good right now,” Addai said. “Ryan Gilbert is getting tougher. I think all of us have developed, and even though we are young, we are developing and understanding the offense.”