A changing of the guard at the tailback position leaves LSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher wondering about the consistency of the Tigers’ five young tailbacks.
“We’re going to see how the players perform,” Fisher said. “They’ve done a good job so far in practice, and they know what to do. We’ll just see if they can do it on a consistent basis.”
Domanick Davis and LaBrandon Toefield accounted for 1,406 of 2,560 rushing yards for LSU last season. With their departure for the NFL – Davis to the Houston Texans and Toefield to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Fisher hopes the remaining tailbacks will pick up the pace.
“I hate to say you’re going to have a drop off,” Fisher said. “You will in experience. You will in guys that have never been in that situation. I’m not going to say they’re not going to do well, but I’m not going to say they’re going to be good either. Time will tell.”
Sophomore Joseph Addai and junior Shyrone Carey return as LSU’s only tailbacks with collegiate game experience. Fisher said both already are great football players.
Addai was the third leading rusher for LSU last season with 80 carries for 438 yards and four touchdowns as a redshirt freshman. The Houston native rushed for 80 yards or more in three of those games, including a career high of 104 yards against UL-Lafayette.
“Joseph played in a lot of ball games – a lot of big ball games,” Fisher said. “We’ve got one guy there that has had some significant time.”
Addai said he is ready for the responsibility of being a starter at tailback for LSU. He said receiving instruction from Davis and Toefield as well as playing in 12 games last season readied him for the task at hand.
“I feel like the experience I had playing behind them, I learned a lot,” Addai said. “I think I understand the offense better this year. I think I understand the quarterbacks and how they play and I feel very comfortable.”
Carey will share time with Addai at tailback. Listed at 5-foot-7 and 198 pounds, he rushed for 97 yards on 17 carries with one touchdown as a sophomore for LSU. The New Orleans native converted from wide receiver to tailback, the position he desired all along, midway through last season.
“Running back is what I wanted to play,” Carey said. “I’m looking forward to showing everybody that I can tote the ball.”
Carey refuses to be known as a replacement for Toefield or Davis. He wants to make a name for himself on his merits in the backfield.
“It’s time for other people to step up,” Carey said. “I’m looking forward to stepping up and playing ‘Shyrone Carey football.'”
While Addai and Carey are the top two tailbacks on the depth chart, Fisher said redshirt freshmen Justin Vincent and true freshmen Alley Broussard and Barrington Edwards have every opportunity to compete for the top spot.
“Everything is open competition,” Fisher said. “The best player can play and everything can go. That’s what we try to create. Young guys push the older guys and try to beat them out. The older guys step up and play better, and that’s when the team gets better.
Vincent, a former Parade All-American, redshirted last season after failing to qualify academically to play football. Vincent participated in spring practice, and he hopes to be a contributor for the Tigers this season.
“Last year it was kind of a heart-breaker,” Vincent said. “Everything happens for a reason, so you have to pick up where you left off and try to make everything better.”
LSU coach Nick Saban experimented with Vincent as a defensive back, but he has returned to the offensive backfield.
“The thing we have to remember about him is that we had him a little bit on offense during the spring,” Fisher said. “Then he went on defense for a while, and the offense is sort of new to him again. He’s a week or two older than the rest of the freshmen.”
Fisher said the two freshmen, Broussard from Lafayette and Edwards from Bowie, Md., both have great potential at tailback. Both were first team all-state players in their respective classes.
“The young guys, I think, are all going to be good football players in time,” Fisher said. “When that time comes, I don’t know. It may be soon; it may be later.”Reveille Sportswriter