My name is Louis Johnson, and I’m addicted to LSU football. Now that I’ve acknowledged the problem, I can heal. Lucky for me and other college football junkies like myself, the season is here. The purpose of this site is to provide news and opinions about LSU sports. I considered previewing the 2019 football team position by position, but let’s be honest; that’s been done a million times since spring practice. Instead I’ll get straight to the point, telling you why the 2019 Tigers will be better than last year.

1) Joe Burrow

Don’t let the stats fool you; Burrow was better than good last year. Consider the fact that he had one summer to win the job all while getting acclimated to a new scheme and receivers, and it makes last season even more impressive. He will excel with a full year of familiarity, experience, and the addition of…

2) Joe Brady

Much was made of the offensive line’s struggles last year, but not enough was made of the staff’s obsession with max protection to compensate. Far too often Burrow took sacks in spite of max protection because there was nowhere to go with the ball. Enter Joe Brady, former Saints offensive assistant. Brady brings a wealth of knowledge about the spread offense, most importantly ways to quickly get the ball to your playmakers. The key to neutralizing a pass rush is a good run game and getting the ball out quickly, which also helps get your QB in rhythm.

3) Apu Ika/Tyler Shelvin

With Grant Delpit and Kristian Fulton, two possible 2020 first rounders in the secondary alone, it’s easy to overlook key players in other position groups of the defense. The combination of freshman Apu Ika and sophomore Tyler Shelvin at nose guard will help bring LSU back to the run stopping, dominant defense fans are used to. Aranda’s defenses have been good, but not great during his time in Baton Rouge. He brought the 3-4 along with him from Wisconsin, and we simply haven’t had the massive, gap filling, run clogging nose guard that is needed to make the 3-4 reach its potential. I’m expecting a lot from a freshman, but I haven’t seen many 6’4″ 350 pound guys move like Apu Ika. Shelvin was effective when in shape, but now there’s depth. Expect a huge year out of Sr. DE Rashard Lawrence now that the offense can’t put as much attention on him.

Now that I’ve expressed my optimism towards the 2019 season, I’ll dive into potential pitfalls this year in my next post. Stay tuned.