LSU held its second practice scrimmage of the Fall Camp this weekend, and the QB battle took another turn. Andrew Hatch left the scrimmage with a health-related-issue of some kind. Les Miles, being the prevaricator that he is, did not call it an injury but said he had "stiffness in his back". Now it's Hatch's turn to wonder whether some missed reps in practice will affect his playing time when the games get real.
By all accounts of those present, Jarrett Lee played rather well, and appears to have come on since his injury forced him out of a couple days of practice. He has played rather well, and some are saying he has closed the gap considerably in that time. With Hatch now possibly not being healthy (we won't know until practice starts), it's his turn to get the extra reps.
In other notes, Miles said (as paraphrased by Carl Dubois) that the staff would be making key depth chart decisions based on this scrimmage at position other than QB. This tells us several things:
- Unlike some teams, LSU keeps a depth chart.
- The coaches are prepared to make some changes to it in the near future.
One wonders what those changes might be. By all accounts, freshman phenom Patrick Peterson has played very very well, and when asked whether he earned a starting job, Les Miles didn't exactly deny it:
Miles didn’t bite when someone suggested Peterson had earned a starting cornerback job.
“I didn’t say that,” Miles said. “It was a nice thought.”
Link here. Then again, he didn't exactly confirm it, did he? I think the coaches are planning on running a rotation at running back, and I think the starters on the offensive lines are set, and our top 2 receivers are set. There could be some movement in the #3, #4, and #5 receivers. I think the defensive line starters are pretty much set, though there's enough talent there that the second and third units could see a lot of churn. We all know who the linebackers are, and who their backups are, so long as there are no injuries. That leaves the defensive backs and special teams as places where there could be real movement on the depth chart, if Les Miles is talking about big moves.
We shall see.