Every team has vulnerabilities, one of them being susceptibility to injuries.  While we have a lot of talent all over the field, there are positions where lack of depth will make us particularly vulnerable.  If we have to replace a key player with a true freshman, that will be a problem.  Here is my list of the 5 players we can least afford to lose significant time:

1.  Ciron Black, OT:  He's quite a good left tackle, and we currently have little idea who his backup is.  Plan A for backing up Ciron "CB" Black was sophomore Jarvis Jones, but he was expelled from the team and is now at Oklahoma.  That leaves LSU with only one experienced backup offensive lineman, Ryan Miller.  He backs up every position except left tackle.  The depth among young players is admirable in the interior line, but not at the tackle positions, where the loss of Marc Snyder to injury really hurt.  If Ciron Black gets hurt, we'd probably have to move Joseph Barksdale over from right tackle, his natural position, and insert Miller at right tackle.  Or, we'd have to play a true freshman a lot of snaps.

2.  Colt David, PK:  He's developed into an All-SEC field goal kicker, and the two sophomores behind him have been disappointing at kickoffs while not attempting any actual placekicks for points.  If David is somehow lost, which I know would be unusual for a kicker, but not unheard of, extra points and short field goals could become an adventure.

3.  Darry Beckwith, LB:  He's our best linebacker, and our most experienced starter.  He's the only linebacker on the team that is unlikely to come off the field while a game is still in doubt.  The backup (Jacob Cutrera) is actually pretty experienced, but the drop-off in skill is substantial, and Beckwith's leadership at the linebacker position is essential.  Unfortunately, Beckwith has a history of injuries, and we would be fortunate to have him healthy for the entire season.  Stranger things have happened, though.

4.  Ricky Jean-Francois, DT:  The depth here is very solid, but Jean-Francois is definitely the playmaker of the group.  While his replacement would be pretty good if he were to get hurt, his replacement wouldn't be anywhere near as disruptive as Ricky Jean-Francois.  He's expected to be one of the key playmakers of the defense, and one of the ones who can get consistent pressure on a quarterback.  He needs to be on the field as much as possible, while still of course rotating him out enough to stay fresh, as I've preached many times for defensive linemen.

5.  Richard Dickson, TE:  The big passing target is going to be an important outlet for our young quarterbacks all season long.  If they struggle to get the ball to the outside, Dickson will be there finding holes in the zone and giving them a big target to throw to.  There is no receiving tight end to speak of behind him, and no receiver quite like him on the team, so he is going to be an essential part of the offense.

So, that's my five.  I could have easily picked a couple of other players instead, but if you're going to go with the round number of five, this is my group.  Honorable mention include Curtis Taylor, Brandon Lafell, and Tyson Jackson.

Here's a guy you've probably never seen with his helmet off.  He's Colt David, #6, a senior kicker.  He hit 26 of 33 field goals last year.  While he started out the season pretty shaky, he finished really strong, except for a bad miss on a very short field goal in the SEC Championship Game.  He almost won the Kentucky game at the end of regulation with a kick from 57 yards out that was long enough, but just wide.

He's the pre-season 1st Team All-SEC placekicker, which is a pretty high honor.  

And let us not forget his touchdown run against South Carolina:

Colt David is going to be solid for us this year.  He'll hit most of his field goal attempts, but I am firmly of the opinion that any college football coach who plays for a last-second field goal attempt is a fool.  Sure, you take it if it's all you can get, but you never plan for it.  You never "run the ball to the middle of the field to set up your kick."  You're asking for trouble.  You only take it as a last resort.  College kickers just aren't that good.  Even Colt David, who is a rather good college kicker, is not reliable enough to trust like that.

OK, we're solid at field goal kicking, what about the rest?  Not so much.

Last year, our kickoffs were terrible.  We had only two touchbacks all year, and on average we put the ball on around the 10 yard line.  That's bad.  We have to improve that.  Returning from "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Far" are Josh Jasper (left) and Andrew Crutchfield (top-right, or middle, depending on the display), both are sophomores on scholarship.  Neither impressed last year at this particular job, but it's a new year, and an offseason of leg strength work and practice may make a substantial difference.  It remains to be seen.

If they can't get the job done, newcomer Drew Alleman may be able to.  He's a walk-on out of Lafayette, and a true freshman.  If we can consistently get the ball to the 5 yard line, that would be a big improvement.

On to punting:

There's Josh Jasper again.  Next to him is senior Brady Dalfrey, who has never played while at LSU, and has had some eligibility problems.  He spent a year away from the team but has returned hoping to take over the punting duties from the dearly departed Patrick Fisher, who made punting one of the strengths of this team.  Or at least, punting for distance was a strength of the team.  Punting to kill the ball near the goal line wasn't, as we got more touchbacks in the punting game than we got punts fielded or downed inside the 20.

Josh Jasper punted once last year, for 40 yards.  It was fair caught.  If he can do that every time, I'd be pleased.

Punting, along with QB and CB play, is one of the real question marks of this team this year.  A good punter really can make a difference to a team.  I remain convinced that the LSU vs. Auburn game in 2006 would have gone differently if our punter was as good as theirs.  Whenever the team exchanged punts, we seemed to lose 5 to 10 yards of field position.  Part of that problem may have been the return unit, which we will go into another day.