John Emery's had a rough go at it in his collegiate career at LSU. He came to Baton Rouge as a four-star running back from Destrehan, Louisiana, but since then, he's been plagued by injuries and academic suspensions.
The No. 2 running back in the 2019 class had his pick of the litter with offers from Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, Tennessee and many others, but when it was all said and done, he wanted to play for his home-state school, LSU.
The Louisiana native was one of the most hyped offensive recruits LSU's had in recent memory, and it's a real shame that his career has been tainted due to his lack of availability.
In 2019, the freshman running back appeared in 10 games in which he rushed for 188 yards on 39 carries (4.8 YPC) and scored four touchdowns during the Tigers national championship run. He returned as a sophomore in 2020 and played in nine games where he'd amass his career high 378 rushing yards, but from there, it all went downhill.
In 2021, Emery was declared ineligible to play due to academic reasons. Not much is known about the specifics of the situation, but he would also miss the first two games of the 2022 season due to academic issues.
After serving his two game suspension, Emery rejoined the LSU squad in 2022. He would appear in 11 games, starting two, and would rush for 375 yards and six touchdowns while adding on another 129 receiving yards and two more TD's.
This past spring, Emery stepped away from the team in order to focus on his academics. Brian Kelly told us before the year that he was in the process of getting cleared by the NCAA to play.
Emery would miss the season opener against Florida State and the home opener against Grambling for undisclosed reasons, but he's been back with the team since the third game of the season.
The LSU running back was beginning to see more and more work as the season progressed, and with Logan Diggs out for Saturday's game against Florida, it seemed like he and Josh Williams were in for a big night.
The night started off well for Emery, who recorded 22 yards on two carries for an 11.0 yard average, but early in the game after breaking off a big run, Emery went down with a non-contact knee injury.
From the second he went down and began holding his knee, it didn't look good. Non-contact injuries are usually pretty serious, and Emery went down after making a hard cut, which usually points towards an ACL tear.
After the game, Brian Kelly said they believed his knee injury to be "significant," and on Monday, Kelly confirmed everyone's worries, John Emery Jr. tore his ACL.
It's a sad ending to what should've been a great story for John Emery Jr. at LSU. A highly touted prospect who stayed at home to represent the purple and gold, but things just haven't worked out for him in Baton Rouge.
Emery stayed while almost everyone else jumped ship when Coach Ed Orgeron was fired after the 2021 season. While his story at LSU may not have been what it should've been, LSU fans should be grateful for Emery and his contributions to the program over the last five seasons.
