The Lawson Factor

[lionheartkc 6,150]

Go back and look at the first quarter of game 1. I firmly believe that, had Carl not gotten hurt (and to a lesser extent Tray), instead of everyone being on here talking doom and gloom, we'd be crowing about how we're going to Roll LSU. Had Carl stayed in, and especially if both he and Trey were in, I would be willing to bet that you could erase 1-2 of Louisville's scores, a lot of J-State's 3rd down conversions, and probably 2-3 of JJs interceptions, as he would be able to play a lot more relaxed when the other team isn't scoring, and not try to force big plays.

Yes, it's sad that the level of our D is reliant on a single player, but I think once we get a healthy Lawson back on the line, it will be a whole new ballgame for us.

side note: getting Young back and Braden back to the inside can't hurt the running game, either.

[JFDTiger80 790]

Go back and look at the first quarter of game 1. I firmly believe that, had Carl not gotten hurt (and to a lesser extent Tray), instead of everyone being on here talking doom and gloom, we'd be crowing about how we're going to Roll LSU. Had Carl stayed in, and especially if both he and Trey were in, I would be willing to bet that you could erase 1-2 of Louisville's scores, a lot of J-State's 3rd down conversions, and probably 2-3 of JJs interceptions, as he would be able to play a lot more relaxed when the other team isn't scoring, and not try to force big plays.

Yes, it's sad that the level of our D is reliant on a single player, but I think once we get a healthy Lawson back on the line, it will be a whole new ballgame for us.

side note: getting Young back and Braden back to the inside can't hurt the running game, either.

I get what your saying and I think our defense would be better with Lawson, Tray, Holsey and others, but I think people are really upset with our offense, specifically JJ's play. If he plays like he is now, we are in trouble. He can't run the read option and that is really hurting our running game. He is not going through his progressions when he is passing. He is staring down receivers and throwing into double and triple coverage.

Our defense overall ha played alrgiht, given that Lawson and others have been missing. LB play is still a struggle at times.

Oh well. Enough from me.

[OnthePlains 2,014]

Go back and look at the first quarter of game 1. I firmly believe that, had Carl not gotten hurt (and to a lesser extent Tray), instead of everyone being on here talking doom and gloom, we'd be crowing about how we're going to Roll LSU. Had Carl stayed in, and especially if both he and Trey were in, I would be willing to bet that you could erase 1-2 of Louisville's scores, a lot of J-State's 3rd down conversions, and probably 2-3 of JJs interceptions, as he would be able to play a lot more relaxed when the other team isn't scoring, and not try to force big plays.

Yes, it's sad that the level of our D is reliant on a single player, but I think once we get a healthy Lawson back on the line, it will be a whole new ballgame for us.

side note: getting Young back and Braden back to the inside can't hurt the running game, either.

I get what your saying and I think our defense would be better with Lawson, Tray, Holsey and others, but I think people are really upset with our offense, specifically JJ's play. If he plays like he is now, we are in trouble. He can't run the read option and that is really hurting our running game. He is not going through his progressions when he is passing. He is staring down receivers and throwing into double and triple coverage.

Our defense overall ha played alrgiht, given that Lawson and others have been missing. LB play is still a struggle at times.

Oh well. Enough from me.

I agree with both of you, had Lawson played full time we probably would be further from the ledge right now and I also have concerns about the offense regardless of Lawson's status. The other worrisome thing is can Lawson STAY healthy once he comes back?

[McLoofus 35,182]

The other worrisome thing is can Lawson STAY healthy once he comes back?

Clearly we can't count on it and need to find somebody who can be productive in his absence.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

I agree with both of you, had Lawson played full time we probably would be further from the ledge right now and I also have concerns about the offense regardless of Lawson's status. The other worrisome thing is can Lawson STAY healthy once he comes back?

Agreed on the offense, though I do think they would have gelled better if we were getting the D off the field and they weren't having to play with such urgency.

Hip flexor strains are pretty common and relatively quick to heal. I wouldn't worry about Carl being injury prone.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

The other worrisome thing is can Lawson STAY healthy once he comes back?

Clearly we can't count on it and need to find somebody who can be productive in his absence.

While I agree that we need to get our back-ups performing better, that's a pretty pessimistic opinion. Of course, you can't count on any player staying 100% healthy, as anyone can get hurt at any time. The human body isn't designed to crash into things on a regular basis. That being said, minor injuries happen, and they aren't a sign of more to come. The only time an injury should be of real concern is if it is repetition of a previous injury.

[aucanucktiger 1,791]

The leadership value to a young but talented D of a "lead, follow or get out of the way" player like Lawson may be almost as important as his playing skills. (Almost).

[homersapien 11,357]

The other worrisome thing is can Lawson STAY healthy once he comes back?

Clearly we can't count on it and need to find somebody who can be productive in his absence.

This ^. Lawson certainly makes us better but if we have to have him to field a good defense, we are screwed.

Our immediate problem is the offense, particularly at QB. Fix that and the defense will improve as well.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

The leadership value to a young but talented D of a "lead, follow or get out of the way" player like Lawson may be almost as important as his playing skills. (Almost).

Agreed. And I bet Monty would love the boost to his stat sheet when teams have to pick who to double, instead of just doubling him all of the time.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,653]

I don't think we'll roll LSU regardless, but Lawson playing full speed with no cramps, or hip injuries, or any of that along with a full Matthews is our only chance to win this game

If they're out, Jeremy could play like Cam, but we're not stopping Fournette

[bikeriderga 134]

Lawson being on the field, definitely has a 50% effect on this defense.

50% better, that is.

[Barnacle 9,064]

I don't think we'll roll LSU regardless, but Lawson playing full speed with no cramps, or hip injuries, or any of that along with a full Matthews is our only chance to win this game

If they're out, Jeremy could play like Cam, but we're not stopping Fournette

Yeah, I don't think we have a chance without Carl or Tray. I'm especially worried about Tray though. He and Fournette are going to have some collisions. I'm interested to see if his shoulder holds up. I hope it does.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

Before even reading anything in the thread, only the title: yes the Lawson factor is large. It's quite large. It's very very large. Large enough that we are a 8-9 win team without him, and a national championship caliber team with him. Defense plays better when Lawson is on the field, gives momentum back to offense. Call me crazy but Carl Lawson is our best player and we need him back bad.

[TexasTiger 12,828]

I don't think we'll roll LSU regardless, but Lawson playing full speed with no cramps, or hip injuries, or any of that along with a full Matthews is our only chance to win this game

If they're out, Jeremy could play like Cam, but we're not stopping Fournette

Stopped him last year.

[AUbooger 0]

I think the question is if Cameron will use Harris on zone reads. The defense tighten up in the second half before Jacksonville Jaguar state took the pressure off with read options. If last week was an indication LSU is not going to drop back enough for a pass rush to become a issue. It will be Cassanova and Kris that will be the most tested.

My 2 cents

[Tiger 8,818]

^ Yup...and yikes. Time for the seniors in the LB group to step up

[cole256 17,042]

There's no way they're not going to try us with zone reads

[triangletiger 1,599]

We need to do whatever it take to not lose containment to whoever is running the football - be it Fournette or Harris. We've been gashed in the last 2 games because we couldn't stop our opponents from getting outside on us.