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The college football season comes to an end tonight as #2 Alabama (11-1) takes on #1 LSU (13-0) in New Orleans. As we all know this will be a rematch of an early November defensive battle in which LSU won in overtime 9-6. Both teams, obviously, have a slew of NFL talent on their roster. We have been highlighting both teams prospect throughout the season and we'll take a look back at those capsules, as well as give you a prediction for tonight's game.
LSU Pro Prospects
From season opener vs. Oregon:
Patrick Peterson might have been the star of LSU's defensive backfield, but his fellow CB Morris Claiborne (6'0", 185) is no slouch. Claiborne led the team with 5 int's last year to go along with 11 passes defended. He was selected to the 2nd team All-SEC team, and looks to follow in Peterson's footsteps in his Junior year.
Center/Guard T-Bob Hebert (6'3", 305) has started 18 games for the Tigers over the last two years, and looks to be a solid versatile late round pick next April. He plays with a nasty streak, and honestly who wouldn't want to have a T-Bob on their team (seriously just imagine the personalized jersey sales)? T-Bob is the son of former Saints QB Bobby Hebert.
* Hebert has since been replaced by PJ Lonegran
From early season matchup with West Virginia:
WR Rueben Randle (6'4", 208) - Randle is having an impressive junior campaign and could consider jumping to the NFL after this season. He's got good speed, and has a big frame that he uses well to shield the ball from defenders. His quarterback play has always been erratic (part of the reason he could go pro), so it is tough to get a read off of him at times, but he has flashed big time potential. At best he is probably a third round prospect, but he could develop quickly into a contributor and would give the Skins an additional big target.
SS Brandon Taylor (6'0", 200) - Taylor is the heart and soul of that LSU defense, and would be an interesting late round pick-up to replace another Tiger if Landry left. He's a high character guy, who is a strong tackler. He doesn't generate a lot of hype, but I see him as an NFL'er going forward.
Alabama Pro Prospects:
From early season matchup with Penn State:
DT Josh Chapman (6'1", 310) - Chapman anchors the Tide's 3-4 defense at the nose tackle position and could be an interesting selection for the Skins next season. He excels at taking on two blockers and pushing the pocket. He hasn't taken his game to the next level where he breaks a lot of double teams, but he has flashed potential. He could give the Redskins another quality NT and allow Cofield more reps at DE.
DE/ILB Courtney Upshaw (6'2", 265). Upshaw does everything for the Tide and it is a little hard to say where he projects in the NFL. He could just be a traditional rush linebacker in the 3-4, but given his ability to shed blockers and instincts in the ground game he could be effective as a hybrid ILB, who plays with his hand down some and blitzes from the inside. Upshaw is a fantastic pass rusher and looks to be a top 50 pick.
There are plenty of other prospects we all know about and to keep an eye on tonight, here is a complete list:
Alabama
Trent Richardson- RB (1st round)
Dre Kirkpatrick- CB (1st round)
Courtney Upshaw- DE/OLB (1st round)
Donta Hightower- ILB (1st round)
Mark Barron- SS (2nd round)
Josh Chapman- NT (2nd round)
Robert Lester- S (3rd round)
Marquis Maze- WR (5th round)
Darius Hanks- WR (UDFA)
Brad Smelley- FB/TE (7th round)
Michael Williams- TE
Barrett Jones- OT
Chance Warmack- OG
William Vlachos- C (5th round)
Jesse Williams- DE
DeQuan Menzie- CB (7th round)
LSU
Morris Claiborne- CB (1st round)
T-Bob Hebert- C (7th round)
DeAngelo Peterson- TE (7th round)
Brandon Taylor- SS (7th round)
Jarrett Lee- QB (UDFA)
Reuben Randle- WR (2nd round)
Russell Shepard- WR
Alex Hurst- OT
PJ Lonegran- C
Ryan Baker- LB (UDFA)
underclassmen in italics
Prediction: Alabama 20, LSU 16. Alabama takes the rematch behind the intense preparation of Nick Saban.
1 recs | 57 comments
Here’s a long but good post on Les Miles if anyone is interested. I think I like the over since everyone loves the under.
Kevin Ewoldt - January 9, 2012
Who are you going with tonight?
Parks Smith - January 9, 2012
My money (literally) is on 'Bama
StephanHart - January 9, 2012
i'm going with Bama
I don’t think Jefferson or Lee can affect the game as much given the 5 weeks Bama has had to prepare. Another close one 17-13.
Steve Shoup - January 9, 2012
I just flipped a coin and it landed LSU so I’ll go with that.
Kevin Ewoldt - January 9, 2012
+1
Ronnie Adkins - January 9, 2012
Gonna be Bama due to prep time, winning the turnover battle and the Saban advantage.
Skins_Fan_47 - January 9, 2012
It seems like these two teams have a chokehold on college football.
It’s them and everyone else.
iH8dallas - January 9, 2012
Oklahoma State had a pretty good case to this game
Parks Smith - January 9, 2012
Yes, they did. But I think Alabama or LSU would CRUSH Oklahoma State.
iH8dallas - January 9, 2012
maybe, but it's still bullshit
b/c if we based the NFL on regular season records than the SB last year would have been Atlanta and New England.
Steve Shoup - January 9, 2012
Okay, lets look at which teams had a shot at the Title game
The #1 – #5 teams are the only teams that had a realistic shot at the Title game
The Title game is reserved for the top 2 teams in the country. Who on this list had a better case than Alabama?
terpsallday - January 9, 2012
I think he was faulting the system not who is going
Parks Smith - January 9, 2012
I'm not saying they don't deserve it
but to automatically say that no one else gets a shot is insane. The Caps have had the best record in the Eastern Conference before, doesn’t mean they deserved a reserved spot in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Steve Shoup - January 9, 2012
It's definitely the most f'd up of all the sports.
Have an eight team playoff and be done with it.
The ratings would be amazing.
Honestly, what were the ratings like for the Arkansas game? I don’t even remember who they played. Nobody cares. But if that were a playoff game…whole different story.
iH8dallas - January 9, 2012
Yea only 7.8 million people watched the Cotton Bowl in the US
Parks Smith - January 9, 2012
What a failure
StephanHart - January 9, 2012
That's still not a lot in terms of ratings.
iH8dallas - January 9, 2012
On a friday night? It beat out any other tv show.
That’s more than the Orange Bowl
Parks Smith - January 9, 2012
They will never go for it
That’s the problem. The BCS makes way too much money for college football from the sponsor’s and commercials. Its sad, really. College footbal is one of the most coorupt businesses in the country. They pair up bowl games by asking themselves “which match-ups will generate more viewers?”
terpsallday - January 9, 2012
They'll add a "plus one" guaranteed
Parks Smith - January 9, 2012
Let's hope
terpsallday - January 9, 2012
I disagree they could def. make the money needed
they can still have all the lower bowl games, and adding a playoff for the top 12 teams means more games and more TV money.
Steve Shoup - January 9, 2012
I blame ESPN
Parks Smith - January 9, 2012
They could make WAAAAYYYYY more money selling commercial time during a playoff.
Why do people watch the NCAA tournament? Because there is an appeal to a win or go home tournament.
I probably won’t watch the National Championship game tonight and I love football.
iH8dallas - January 9, 2012
You can't compare the NFL to college
They are not picking according to win totals anyway. Atlanta might not have been ranked #2 according to the computers even with the best NFC record. I don’t know how the end of year strength of schedule would have worked out last year but i don’t know of anyone who would have ranked Atlanta as the #1 NFC team.
Jeff Bernard - January 9, 2012
yeah but no one ranked the Packers as the best team
its even harder to rank in college b/c there is so little overlap.
Steve Shoup - January 10, 2012
Barry Sanders Jr. is going to Standford next year...
I expect him to be as big of a superstar than his old dad; and that says a lot
ptowny - January 9, 2012
Where in the first round is Donte Hightower projected to fall?
Would be nice to trade back a bit and then select him later in the first before we get our QB
StephanHart - January 9, 2012
late first I'd say 25 plus...and could see him early 2nd as well
Steve Shoup - January 9, 2012
I agree
Parks Smith - January 9, 2012
Well then it's a done deal: Let's trade all the way back to 25 and take him while accruing a slew of picks along the way
StephanHart - January 9, 2012
haha you don't have to twist my arm
Steve Shoup - January 9, 2012
I would LOVE to get Donte to replace London
But I’m also a completely bias Bama football fan lol
terpsallday - January 9, 2012
I've y'all want him so much then we should spell his first name right, Dont'a
We don’t want to offend him, haha
Parks Smith - January 9, 2012
Wow
I can’t believe I just did that. Maybe it is a little too early to be pre-gaming lol
terpsallday - January 9, 2012
Yea, I think trading back would give us extra picks for this year and next year...
Then we can take a QB in the 2nd, QB in the late round or an UDFA, and add much needed pieces like a QB, Safety help, WR, OLINE, etc.
And yes, we’d have a stellar young replacement for London
StephanHart - January 9, 2012
I'd be surprised if Barron fell to the second round...
there is so much talent in this game though, going to be fun to watch (as long as it isn’t as boring as the last one..stupid defenses)
ptowny - January 9, 2012
I mocked him in the 1st last week, but most mocks have him in the 2nd
Parks Smith - January 9, 2012
I love Barron and think by a talent stand point he's easily a top 32 player
but i could see him falling to the early 2nd, given the lack of need and the fact that safeties don’t have the same ‘prestige’ as other positions
Steve Shoup - January 9, 2012
The Good Ol' Inbred Bowl
Will Jamarcus or Laron be playing tonight?
Elaw6 - January 9, 2012
T-Bob. Heh.
Bama 24-17
SpartanFS47 - January 9, 2012 via mobile
LSU at 'home'
for the victory 27-17
Big Spoon - January 9, 2012
Good Reporting Parks
I can always count on you to provide solid info:
When I looked at the list, I wondered how you could overlook Tyrann Mathieu. Yet, when I did a little digging, I realized he’s not eligible. He would be a good pick up next year, course I hope we are not in position to get him.
Rodskins - January 9, 2012
I hope we don't get him even if we could
He is 5’8’’. Short corners are going out of style with all the size at the receiver position.
Jeff Bernard - January 9, 2012
Dude, you are smoking crack, I would switch to pot or something
BTW he is 5’ 9’
That same logic is like saying 6’ 3" Stephen Curry is too short for the NBA, in spite of being a tremendous playmaker. Mr. Curry went 7th in the draft.
Sometimes we get stuck on stats and overlook the other stuff:
-the first defensive player to be nominated for the Heisman since Charles Woodson in 97.
-He leads the Tigers in tackles (70), forced fumbles (6) and fumble recoveries (5).
-In his 25 game career he has already shattered the LSU record with 12 forced fumbles, tying the SEC record (as a sophomore mind you).
-9 out of 15 games against top 25 opponents he has forced a turnover.
-In addtion he has 6.5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, 2 interceptions and seven pass breakups.
-He was this years Chuck Bednarik award winner for Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
- He was selected to the SEC All Conference First Team
He would strengthen our special teams too, with a record setting year in returns for TD, he is definitely a stud.
No, I would trade up for him, but we would be crazy not to take him for our needs in the secondary and special teams.
Rodskins - January 9, 2012
Actually,
Steph Curry is 6’5" now. He’s still growing.
How soon we forget Ndamukong Suh being nominated for the heisman?
Just a couple things to clear up
terpsallday - January 9, 2012
good points, I just got Steph's size off of Wikipedia, makes sense hes growing though
Don’t you agrees, Mathieu is worth picking up if he falls to us?
BTW, if Steph grew, it stands to reason Mathieu (age 19) will grow to Champ baileys size.
Rodskins - January 9, 2012
I would guess that Mathieu will transition to a SS in the NFL
but it’s hard to imagine that a player of his talent & ability will not be a high 1st rd. pick in next years draft.
ENsDad27 - January 9, 2012
Mathieu is listed at 5'9"
So he’s probably 5’8 1/2", I could see him being 5’11" or maybe 6’ if he’s lucky.
Now, about drafting him. We already have 2 stoners on the team, why would we want another? He was suspended 1 game for testing positive for that K2 leagl weed. I don’t know if I want him
terpsallday - January 10, 2012
I'm sure we've never drafted a college player that smokes pot
Parks Smith - January 10, 2012
Oh my god, the guy's name is Brad Smelley?
willster - January 9, 2012
The Smelley family?
willster - January 9, 2012
South Carolina had a QB named Smelley a couple years ago
Parks Smith - January 9, 2012
No relation I'm sure
It was probably a different Smelley family. (Doesn’t take much to amuse me)
willster - January 9, 2012
I like this kid
Reid for LSU tonight. big hitter. only a soph though
Redskin44 - January 9, 2012
wow that lsu qb
made john beck look like a probowler.. i shut the game off after it was 6-0 turned it back on later score was 15-0 the same qb was still in there. i watch him do a drive go 3 and out and turned the channel for good lol
munson21502 - January 10, 2012
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