LSU Quarterbacks – Youthful Talent

By Spawn  |   Friday, August 14, 2009  |  Comments( 1 )

LSU Tigers
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I have always wondered if there was ever a situation in recent big time college football history that a preseason top ten ranked team has ever entered a season like the 2009 LSU Tigers?

Case in point: The Tigers enter the season as a consensus preseason top ten team with five quarterbacks on their roster which consists of two sophomores and three true freshmen. These are not just your typical underclassmen to say the least.

The two sophomores are Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee who both played and started as true freshmen during the 2008 season. Although Lee put up the better numbers with the most playing time, but Jefferson would ultimately emerge as the starter towards the end of the season.

Lee started eight out of eleven games as he completed 143 of 269 passes for 1,873 yards which would include 14 touchdowns against 16 interceptions. But unfortunately, seven of his interceptions were returned for touchdowns.

Late in the season, Jefferson would ultimately finish the season as the starter as he would complete 36 of 73 passes for 419 yards including four touchdowns against one pick. He also would end the season by earning MVP honors in the Chick-A-Fila Bowl while leading the Tigers to a resounding 38-3 victory over the then #14 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Now enter freshmen Russell Shepard, Chris Jarrett and Barrett Bailey.

Shepard (6-1, 188), a Houston, Texas native who is widely considered as the nation’s top dual-threat prep quarterback while earning consensus All-America honors at Cypress Ridge High School. He enrolled at LSU in January 2009 in order to participate in the team’s spring drills. There has been a considerable amount of talk that he is capable of competing for some serious playing time in the fall.

Jarrett is a 6-4, 235-pound, Tupelo, Mississippi native who was rated as a three-star quarterback prospect by both Rivals.com and Scout.com as a senior at Tupelo High School. He just like his fellow teammate Shepard also enrolled at LSU in January and participated in spring drills.

Bailey is a 6-4, 188-pound Baton Rouge native who turned down some scholarship offers to walk-on with the Tigers as a three-star prospect. He was Rivals.com #24 ranked dual-threat quarterback as a senior at University High School.

Although this is a new season for the Tigers, it appears that Jefferson is going to be the front runner for the starting quarterback spot. But after him, the competition is going to be a very wide open race in the fall.
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