It's the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Day four of spring practice in the books. We'll tell you what we saw locked on LSU. Here we go. You are Locked On LSU, your daily podcast on the LSU Tigers. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Okay, let's get it. It is Locked On LSU, your team every day. I'm your host Matt Moscona. Thanks so much for making us your first listen. The Tigers were back outdoors at the practice field on Thursday for day four of spring practice. We'll go through what we saw. I did today chart the 11 on 11 period. If you're an every dayer, you've heard our previous three reports, if you missed it, effectively the way that this works is we get five periods, five five minute periods. The first five minute period that we get to see is an 11 on 11. It's the first team offense against the first team defense on one field, second team offense, second team defense on another field. On this day, they were working third down situations. Now, candidly, the first three practices, I've been feverishly, I've been less watching the plays and more so trying to chart who is out there. Who is the first group offense defense, second group offense defense? That's been my focus. Well, there was only one notable personnel change defensively on day four here on Tuesday that I'll get to in a second, but because it was mostly the same people, I was able to actually watch and chart the plays. So there were six offensive snaps that we got to see and I'll run through how they looked and Landon Clark did continue as the first team quarterback. The offensive line remained the same with the left to right, Seton, Harper, Moore, Baa, Davis. That's been your offensive line. Notably today, Trey Desgreen was out there, but in a black jersey, we didn't have the opportunity to ask Kiffin what the black jersey signified. If you're not familiar with the offense at practice, where's white, the defense, where's purple, the quarterbacks who are no contact are in gold jerseys. Trey Desgreen was in a black jersey. I've covered LSU a long time. I've never seen an LSU player in a black jersey at practice. So we get answer to that. I'll pass it along to you. We did see, however, in this 11-on-11 period, a reception by Malachi Thomas, the tight end transfer from Pitt, who is in there for Trey Des in that situation. So I actually watched the 11-on-11 and sharded the plays. I'll run through the six plays that we got to see. But what was notable is they were running third down simulation. So they start on one end of the field, say around the 10-yard line, the offense does, and they're just progressing down the field. No matter where the ball stops, they're still playing a third down. Third and five, third and 10, third and 15, whatever it may be. So here were the six plays. I'll kind of run through. And Landon Clark was the starting quarterback. So the first play they ran, and remember, everything's out of the shotgun, a clap cadence. Clark takes the snap, immediately runs around left end. It was a designed quarterback run around left end. He gained about five yards. Second play was a drop that was covered. And so Landon Clark took off up the middle. He found a seam and just took off. And I'm here to tell you that this was a game, and there were refs out there, but if this was a game, he runs 70 yards for a touchdown. The C's parted. He made a guy miss, and then he darted up the left hash, and he was going to be gone. It just, they blew it. Dad didn't make him run 70 yards. The tempo of the period is important, so he had to come back, but he was gone. So that was exciting to see if you're the offense. It's maybe a little disappointing to see if you're the defense, because you're running a high lead of quarterbacks, ran for 70 yards. And please spare me. I know we're going to say, well, Blake Baker's defense in the running quarterbacks. I'm not drawing that conclusion on day four of the first spring practice under Lane Kiffin. The third play was the play to Malachi Thomas that I referenced. They ran a shallow cross. So Malachi Thomas, the tight end, was lined up on the right side of the formation. He ran about five yards and just ran a drag right across the middle of the field. Landon Clark hit him as he went across the middle of the field for about a, about a seven to 10 yard gain. The fourth play, they set up his third and 10. And this was a play where it was great coverage defensively. Clark, the play was well covered. So Landon Clark is flushed to his right. So he rolls right out of the pocket, and he's looking for number four. It's Jackson Harris, the receiver from Hawaii. And DJ Pickett was blanking it all over. And so Clark just sort of threw it at their feet. So it would be incomplete, about 10 or 15 yards downfield. So great coverage there by DJ Pickett. The fifth play, there was a whistle for an offensive fall start. I don't know that it was one player. It felt like there was movement across the line, but they still ran that play anyway. So at fall start, but they kept the ball where it was. And they ran a quick out route to Jace Brown. Jace Brown, of course, is the Kansas State transfer who's wearing number one. Clark just, he just rose, similar play we saw a lot last year. Just rose up, threw it out in the flat, and Brown got a feel for about a five yard gain. And then the final play that we got to see was a scramble for a short gain by Landon Clark, because it was a passing down where it was well covered. So he had to just tuck it and run and get what he could. And he got a few yards. So all things considered, it was nice to see both the offense and the defense have some wins in this period. Now, I did mention that there was a one notable change. Remember last week when we were going through this, I told you about defensive tackle and how we've seen a rotation there, because mostly what we've seen is pretty consistent personnel, except we've seen the defensive tackles rotate. On Thursday of last week, it was two freshmen, Deuce Gerald's Richard Anderson. On Saturday, it was Deuce Gerald's and Malik Blockton, the Auburn transfer. On Tuesday, practice number four, the first team tackles were Deuce Gerald's and Dominant McKinley. So it's interesting that we continue to see this rotation at defensive tackle each of the last three practices with what that first group is out there, but the consistent has been Deuce Gerald's. By the way, Gerald's is the true freshman early in Roli out of Georgia. He wears number 99. He's listed at six foot 279. He looks much bigger than that. And he plays physical and aggressive. So he's going to be an interesting one to watch, but each of the last three practices, he's been out there running with the ones. Your defensive ends were the same. It was Jordan Ross and Prince Williamon Mielin, the two transfers. The other sort of notable was they ran dime today. So dime is of course six defensive backs. So a linebacker came off the field. In this instance, it was Devon Keys who came off the field. So TJ Daughtery was the only linebacker who remained. And then you had six defensive backs and your defensive backs were. A Jacim Jackson went and played wide opposite PJ Woodland, excuse me, opposite DJ Pickett and PJ Woodland played the nickel. So he was in the slot. So Woodland was in the slot. Jacim Jackson and DJ Pickett were out wide. And then Deshaun Spears was in there at the star and then your safeties remain to Marcus Cooley and Ty Benifield. So all things considered still a lot of the same, right? With your receivers, you're seeing Jace Brown and Jackson Harris and Winnie Watkins as your three primary starters at receiver. And as we mentioned, the one change at tight end today with Traydez, maybe being a little limited in what he was doing, we saw Malachi Thomas take the first team reps there at tight end in that 11 on 11 period. So they broke 11 on 11 and then went into individual drills. And I want to give you a few observations from what I saw and watched a lot of quarterbacks and receivers on this day. We'll dive into that a little bit here as we continue. It is locked on LSU, your team every day. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter. Robin Hood prediction markets changes the game. 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A Steph File and green made his first appearance or remembers to file and green who wears number 90 is the Clemson transfer don't confuse it with Grant Chadwick, the punter who also wears number 90. They're they're notably different physical statures. But Steph File and green 6 3 296 out of Rome, Georgia, start his career Clemson now transferring into LSU green transferred in the pool through the first three practices we had not seen him yet on the field. He was there on on Tuesday at practice number four for the first time. So that was nice to see out there, leading some of those defensive line drills with a veteran player likes to file and green. Also, I thought it was interesting that when the defense team was in the field, they were in the field. So the defense went individual Blake Baker is with the star position and the Nichols. And so at one point he called for the Nichols to come over to work with their group and the and the three that went were were I'm sorry the two that went were P.J. Woodland and Aiden ending. So again, we know P.J. Woodland is going to be a boundary corner very likely starting boundary corner opposite DJ picket. But when they went nickel and 11 11. Again, we saw Jakeem Jackson go play boundary and Woodland kicked down and played played the nickel played in the slot. So Woodland P.J. Woodland Aiden ending were the two that we saw. It was a when we watch the individual drills. I spent a lot of time watching the quarterbacks who started with their shotgun handoffs with the running backs. And then they started working with passing drills with the tight ends and then they started working the quarterback receiver past catching drills. And this was a day that my observation was what I wrote down was inaccurate day for the quarterbacks. And I have a lot of videos will post them at on our social media at Matt Mascone if you want to check us out Twitter or Facebook or Instagram, you'll see some of this. But it didn't matter if they were running crossing patterns, go balls, slug goes. It was just an inaccurate day. Now it was a windy day. So maybe that had some effect thrown the deep ball with quarterbacks. But I also thought it was notable because it is so important. It's why I think this spring is so important for it, in particular, the quarterbacks and receivers. It's one of the reasons why Sam Levitt's injury gave me a little pause because he was going to be limited here. Thankfully, all of these passing drills, Leavitt is out there and is throwing. He's the only thing he's not doing is 11 11. So and there was a drill today specifically where they were working on quarterback runs quarterback would fake a handoff and then run a boot or a read option around it. Levitt did not do that. But when they go different ends of the field, he is jogging from one end of the field to the other whenever they they're switching position drills. So it's not like he's only walking. He is jogging. He's certainly not sprinting and he's not doing any of the real physical running drills and not doing any 11 11. But I think the most important thing is that he's throwing because you there's one receiver one. There's one scholarship receiver back from last year. And by the way, the entire quarterback room is made over. So developing timing and rapport with quarterbacks and receivers. I think it's paramount. It's the most important thing for those two positions aside from learning the offense. And so having these opportunities for these guys to work together, throw together, run routes together. I think is really important. As a matter of fact, after practice when Lane Kiffin met with reporters, one of the things he was asked was if he was if he felt like they were on schedule at this point in spring. And he gave his answer. But at the end, he sort of mumbled under his breath. I wish we had more execution, especially in the passing game. Now, obviously, that's something that he as an offensive guy and a quarterback guy is going to want to see progress really quickly. But that is something that the last couple of practices has certainly not been there is the execution in the passing game. Now, a few other things that I think are are notable. I jotted down that I thought I put a big star next to number three. And today at practice, I didn't have a roster. So instead of trying to look at the roster and see, okay, well, who was that? I was just jotting down notes that observations and jersey numbers. And then I would go cross reference it. Well, I wrote down three was explosive. I thought three was incredibly quick off the ball, running go routes, holding pass. As I was filming that drill, they were running toward us. And it was just a different level of quickness and speed. And I went and looked at my roster. Well, three is Trey Wilson, the former five star Florida transfer. He is an incredibly impressive guy. Now, when we're watching the 11 on 11, the first three receivers are Jace Brown from Kansas State, Jackson Harris from Hawaii and Winnie Watkins from Ole Miss. But I think it's going to be hard to keep someone like Trey Wilson off the field because he physically has a different skill set and looks like a different gear as well. I mentioned Jace Brown had a catch in the 11 on 11 period. He did have a one handed grab on a fade route during the quarterback and receiver pass catching drills. And we also get to watch a lot of the running backs because the way we're set up is we get to we can walk the west sideline and the north end zones. Okay. So that's the west sideline of one field and the north end zone of either field. So there's four fields that run parallel to each other. So, so two and two that so basically 200 yards long, you know, parallel to one another. And so we can walk the north end zone and one of the west sidelines. Well, if you want to stand at the position to get a view between the two fields, you stand in between the north end zone between the two fields. So you can look to your left and watch offense, look to your right and watch defense. So which is where I've been standing. Well, when they go individual, that's where the running backs work out. That's where the running backs sleds and shoots are. So that's where Kevin Smith is putting his guys through drills. Like today, quite literally, Kevin Smith had to had to say, like, excuse me, can you move? Because like I was standing with my back to the running back drill. But when they were moving to a different drill, I was literally in the way he had asked me to move. So I mean, that's how I mean, we're right there on top of them watching these running back drills. And today it was interesting because it was in fact, Dylan Jones taking the first rep. Now, I'm not reading too much into that. Like in the 11 or 11s, it's not Dylan Jones, but he the Wisconsin transfer. And if you're an everyday and you've heard our reports to this point, I told you, Jones is a guy that just physically looks different. They have him listed at 511 to 11. Now, just for context, you know, Harlem Barry is at 510-187. So Dylan Jones is almost 25 pounds heavier than Harlem Barry. They've got Caden Durham at 5'9", 200. So you're talking about guy that is taller and thicker and you just tell, he's just physically put together a different style of back than all the other guys that are out there. I don't know if that's good or bad, but if you need a physical between the tackles runner, he looks like the guy that's probably the best option to do that. So just a few observations here from the 30 minutes or so that we got to watch on Thursday at practice. The Tigers do have practice, excuse me, a Tuesday practice. They have availability again on Thursday. So I will get you another practice report on Thursday. They're set to practice. I'm told in Tiger Stadium Saturday, that is the plan, but we do not have listed media availability for Saturday. Maybe they're going to be scrimmaging. I don't know that, but we do not have availability, at least not now listed for Saturday. So I will get you a practice report Thursday. We'll see when our next availability will be after that. And every time we do, we'll be here to let you know how it goes as the Tigers make it through the first spring under Lane Kiffin. So you never want to miss it. 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