Similar to the NHL’s “Three Stars of the Week,” David Billiot Jr. and I snake-draft to hand out Stripes of the Week for our podcast Geaux Deep Dive.
A couple of things to preface. Even in the ugliest of losses, we will still scratch and claw to hand out stripes for the week. However, two things need to be addressed from LSU’s 32-24 loss to Ole Miss. First, what you do on one side of the ball greatly impacts the other. For example, if the offense can’t string together drives, the defense wears down
quickly. Second, despite being a $40 million roster, this won’t be the most well-constructed group Lane Kiffin and Billy Glasscock put together in Baton Rouge. Context matters far more than what you see in brief moments.
So, without any further delay, here are Week 3’s Stripes of the Week:
Three Stripes: Dilin Jones (David), Jhase Thomas (Zach)
Lost in the hyperfixation on the defensive performance and quarterback play, Dilin Jones turned in a really solid performance. You could argue, because of the quality of the opponent, that it was better than his week one performance against Clemson. Jones rushed 23 times for 112 yards, 57 of which came after contact, and took one in for a score. The biggest question is why they did not lean on Jones earlier in the game, as he had just two carries in the first quarter.
Seemingly in the habit of handing out stripes to players who may not pop out on the stat sheet, Jhase Thomas gets three stripes this week for stepping up at Safety as Tamarcus Cooley shifted to the Star role after Dashawn Spears’ injury. Thomas finished Saturday with five tackles and was graded as the highest overall defensive player by Pro Football Focus, with a 78.6 rating, leading the team in coverage grade and second on the team in tackling grade. Thomas was spoken of very highly during the fall, and with Spears unfortunately likely out for the season, he’ll now have the opportunity to show why.
Two Stripes: Trey’Dez Green (Zach), Tamarcus Cooley (David)
Frankly, it is quite surprising how underutilized Trey’Dez Green has been through three games so far this season. It seems like the offense really starts hitting its stride when Sam Leavitt starts finding Green. Case in point, Trey’Dez did not have any catches in the first quarter; his first and second catches came in the second quarter on the Tigers’ lone scoring drive of the first half. Green would finish as the team’s leading receiver with four catches for 60 yards before leaving the game after an ugly hit to his knee. Good news and bad news on the situation: despite early feelings, Green will not require surgery, but with some bad sprains and bruises, he will likely miss a few weeks.
In the same vein as Jhase Thomas, Tamarcus Cooley earns two stripes for the week with five tackles and one pass broken up. Filling in the Star role for Spears, Cooley seemed to not miss a beat. He will likely continue to fill that role with Spears out for the season, and should do well there, as it seems to fit his player profile.
One Stripe: Winston Watkins Jr. (David), Whit Weeks (Zach)
The second leading Tiger receiver from Saturday was Winnie Watkins with three receptions for 54 yards and one score. Through the early portion of this season, it seems like Watkins is the receiver Leavitt trusts the most, and the stat sheet and the tape show it with that 26-yard dime on the score. With Green being out for the foreseeable future, I expect Leavitt to lean further on that relationship.
It feels like every week, we are going to rotate back and forth between Whit Weeks and TJ Dottery for who leads the team in tackles. This week it was Weeks with eight, along with one for a loss, one PBU and a QB hurry. Weeks flew around the field and was one of the few LSU defenders who kept their legs fresh throughout the game, a far cry from vomiting on the field at Vaught-Hemingway just a year ago. Weeks was the third-highest-rated defender overall (74.6) and the leading tackler by rating (84) from PFF.
Honorable Mentions:
Princewill Umanmielen: Four tackles, one sack
Deuce Geralds: Three tackles, one QB hurry
