Four Tigers who are anxious to roar long and loud in Saturday's opener
After almost a month of preseason practice, everyone in an LSU football uniform can’t wait to hit someone in a different colored jersey when the 2019 season opens Saturday night against Georgia Southern in Tiger Stadium.
But there are four players in particular who are extra anxious for the 6:30 p.m. kickoff. Here are the stories behind their motivation:
Thaddeus Moss
When Moss learned on Monday that he was named the starting tight end, he admitted he got “a little emotional.”
“I almost cried, because I know all the sacrifices I put in the past year, all the work, all the rehab,” said Moss, son of Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss.
The fourth-year junior transfer from North Carolina State is about to play in his first game since his freshman season with the Wolfpack in 2016.
After sitting out a season as a redshirt in accordance with NCAA transfer rules, Moss missed all of last season after he fractured his fifth metatarsal during summer workouts. He underwent two surgeries before it was correctly repaired.
Since then, his work ethic has been off-the-charts crazy, even skipping spring break to toil in the LSU weight room.
“I was trying to make sure my body was right after missing a whole year,” Moss said.
Part of his off-season routine was training with his 42-year-old father in May.
“I have a little brother who doesn’t enjoy it, but I enjoy it because he (his father) really makes it hard on us,” Moss said. “I’ve done it since my freshman year in high school, waking up at 5 o’ clock to work out before school, wearing a trash bag and turning up the heat in the weight room on the hottest days.”
Two things probably earned Moss the starting tight end spot over senior Stephen Sullivan.
The first is he has vastly improved as a blocker since arriving in Baton Rouge in the summer of 2017. He credits former Tigers’ teammates J.D Moore and Foster Moreau for their tutorial expertise.
“When I came here, I had to start from scratch when it came to blocking,” Moss said. “I had to revamp everything from my stance to my first step to my hand placement, really everything. I bought into every single tip I was given.”
Secondly, Moss and starting quarterback Joe Burrow have a good chemistry dating back last season when Burrow would throw routes to gimpy Moss during off-days. This summer during voluntary workouts with Moss healed, Burrow got a glimpse of Moss’ true potential.
“I really excited about the year he’s going to have,” Burrow said of Moss. “He’s worked really hard in the off-season. We have great chemistry, great timing. I know when he’s going to break his routes off, he knows where I expect him to be. We have great communication.”
Moss said he and Burrow have developed a unique comfort level.
“I know as soon as I come out of my break we’re already looking at each other,” Moss said. “I know where to expect the ball if a defender is playing a certain way, when to expect the ball.”
Moss isn’t taking the starting role for granted.
“It means a lot to me,” Moss said of starting the season opener. “It’s just the beginning of a lot of good things to come this year.”
Clyde Edwards-Helaire
From a kick returner as freshman two years ago to second-team running back last season, junior Clyde Edwards-Helaire always understood patience and work ethic would help him ascend to the Tigers’ vaunted starting running back throne.
After rushing last season for 658 yards and seven TDs as backup to 1,000-yard starter Nick Brossette, Edwards-Helaire gets his first college start Saturday.
“Growing up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and always watching LSU on TV and seeing all those guys run the ball,” said Edwards-Helaire, who succeeded former LSU star Derrius Guice as Catholic High’s star running back, “I always was thinking `I wonder if I can be in that position.'
“Now, to be here starting, I was telling (former LSU all-American running back and current staff member) Kevin Faulk earlier that it doesn’t get any better than this.”
When Edwards-Helaire was a freshman two years ago, Guice was the starting running back and Darrel Williams was the backup.
“I’ve learned patience,” Edwards-Helaire said. “My freshman year, my goal was to make the travel list. What do I need to do to make the travel list? I went out and became a starting kick returner.
“Last year, Nick and I became a one-two punch. It made me realize that one guy can’t do everything in the SEC West. Last season was a good primer to get me to this point.”
This past summer understanding running backs being used as a receivers is a key element of LSU’s new offense, Edwards-Helaire worked on improving as a receiver.
And once preseason camp started, he welcomed the competition of highly-touted incoming freshmen running backs John Emery Jr. and Tyrion Davis-Price.
Just as Guice and Williams had done when Edwards-Helaire was a freshman, he has mentored the youngsters on the keys to succeeding in their first collegiate season.
“I’m a more mature guy now and I get to teach the younger guys the same things I was taught when I was coming,” Edwards-Helaire said. “That’s being smart, understanding the playbook, learning a role for a freshman year and compete like you want to be a starter. Bring that every day and you have no choice to get better.”
K’Lavon Chaisson
Call it character, call it faith.
But when third-year sophomore K’Lavon Chaisson lines up as a starting outside linebacker Saturday, he’s back in the place he thought he’d be despite sustaining a season-ending ACL tear in last year’s opener against Miami.
And he can’t wait to turn it loose though he’s trying to remain calm.
“It’s just a game,” he said. “There are 10 other guys on the field and me, so I can’t make it too personal. I’m not going to get nervous or get butterflies. I know once I get on the field, it’s business. I’m locked in and ready to roll.”
He has been that way throughout preseason practice.
“He’s quicker, he’s stronger, he’s smarter than everybody he lines up against,” safety Kary Vincent Jr. said of Chaisson, a 6-4, 250-pound athletic freak whose pass rush was sorely missed the Tigers last season.
After he got hurt, he could have fallen in the deep, dark hole of depression. He had played football since he was six years old and he had never missed a season.
Instead, he was grateful.
“It could have been a Ryan Shazier injury and I couldn’t play football anymore,” said Chaisson, referring to the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker who sustained a career-ending spinal injury in a December 2017 game. “Thank God it was something minor like this. Plenty of guys have had this injury.”
Chaisson not only worked hard in his rehab, but he stayed around the team to help coach players who had to fill his spot.
Maybe it was a way for him to cope with not playing, and he also felt he still wanted to contribute something.
Yet when he was navigating the various stages of his rehab, he never lacked confidence that the knee was healed.
“I’m don’t have a mental block going on,” Chaisson said. “I don’t have time for mental blocks and being cautious. I trust the training staff and the man above.”
In the off-season, defensive coordinator Dave Arnanda showed Chaisson some new wrinkles designed around his talents.
But as far as Chaisson is concerned, his approach never changes.
“My job is to get to the quarterback in the easiest way possible without a lot of stunts, twists and mind-confusing games for the offense,” he said.
And if anything, a year away from game action has increased his passion for the sport.
“I’m dying to play,” Chaisson said.
Joe Burrow
As the figurehead of LSU’s new offensive philosophy mixing spread formations and RPOs, Tigers’ quarterback Joe Burrow has carried first-year passing game coordinator Joe Brady’s football baby since February.
Burrow has been waiting for the opening week of the season to the point he’s about to bust. He’s ready to deliver.
“I’m excited because I think we’re really going to be explosive,” Burrow said. “The old narrative is going to go away that you (media) guys like to write about. I think it’s going to be really good for us.”
Any eligible receiver feels the same way, especially with Burrow having a preseason, a season, a spring, a summer and another preseason under his belt.
When Burrow transferred from Ohio State a year ago in June as a graduate student with two years of immediate playing eligibility, he had little time to learn his receivers’ names much less their nuances.
“Joe came in last summer and we didn’t have that much time to work together,” said Justin Jefferson, LSU’s leading receiver last season. “Having a whole year and having this summer and this preseason camp has helped our whole unit.
“He has that mind frame of `let’s go get it, I’m not scared of anybody, let’s go win these games, I’m ready to tear everybody up in front of me.’
“Having a quarterback like that is serious. We need a quarterback like that.”
Tight end Thaddeus Moss said Burrow’s summer workouts with wide receivers, tight ends and fullbacks have set the foundation of Brady’s offense.
“Joe got a chemistry with everyone, he doesn’t want it to be one dominant receiver,” Moss said. “He wants everybody to eat, everybody to score more touchdowns. It keeps the defense honest.”