Death Valley Insider - Which LSU returners will be spring's biggest breakouts | Staff Perspectives
The spring always sees a familiar name or two take a next step and pique interest for a potential breakthrough fall.
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LSU has kicked off its first spring under new football coach Brian Kelly, with plenty of new faces on both the roster and staff.
Two challenging seasons and so many subsequent changes lend themselves to plenty of questions for the Tigers to try to answer this offseason.
The Tiger Details staff will dive into some of these topics daily to begin the spring session.
And if you're enjoying the perspectives, we can keep the routine going through the spring. And if have a question you'd like us to tackle on a subsequent day, let us know.
Every spring seems to provide an apparent breakthrough star, whether or not players are able to actually carry that performance into the fall. Which returning Tiger or Tigers do you think will have us talking in the weeks to come about the flashes of progress and promise they show in their first opportunities of the new year?
JULIE BOUDWIN: Well, we've only seen two spring practices thus far so hard to say just yet, but I expect we'll have a better idea after this weekend when practice is open for the entire practice to the media. But a few players I'm interested to get longer glimpses of are wide receivers Kyren Lacy, Jack Bech and Chris Hilton Jr., along with freshman defensive lineman Quency Wiggins, who physically doesn't look like a freshman. And of course Jayden Daniels, who will be fun to watch how LSU's Brian Kelly and Mike Denbrock use him and move him around, much like I expect to see the coaches use Garrett Nussmeier in practice.
DAVID FOLSE: I have a unique answer. Mine is running back John Emery. Coming out of Destrehan High School, Emery was supposed to be the next great Louisiana running back but in only two years he has totaled 566 yards rushing and seven touchdowns. After missing all of the 2021 campaign with academic issues I think no player will benefit more from the fresh start of a new coach and really new program in Baton Rouge. I anticipate a huge year for the senior tailback.
JERIT ROSER: Let me start by saying that I hope Folse is right. John Emery has felt like a potentially pivotal player for at least a couple years now with a high ceiling that would make LSU's offense drastically more dynamic if he could put everything together and reach it. That was the hope last fall before the Tigers ended up without him entirely and would be huge for Brian Kelly and company if we finally see things play out in 2022.
The first person that popped into my mind for this was Malik Nabers. At least under the past two coaches, a wide receiver or two has seemed most years to fit the bill of strong spring showings that set them up as seeming breakout candidates for the fall. And Nabers was a 2021 signee I said often last year I thought had the mentality to make him an immediate impact player as a true freshman. A camp injury delayed his debut and changed that story line before we finally got to see some of those flashes — notably against Kentucky and ULM. I expect the Comeaux and Southside product to be a constant headliner this spring and one of the Tigers' top offensive weapons this fall, even in a deep and loaded corps.
