LSU Tigers Tickets

LSU did not win the national championship in 2005, but it's 2006 draft class may be as strong as the bunch that helped win the title in 2003 and was all over the 2004 draft.

The Tigers produced four first-day picks in 2004 as wide receiver Michael Clayton went in the first round to Tampa Bay as the 15th overall pick, wide receiver Devery Henderson and defensive end Marquise Hill went in the second round to New Orleans and New England, respectively, and guard Stephen Peterman went in the third round to Dallas. Three more players "" defensive tackle Chad Lavalais in the fifth round and punter Donnie Jones and quarterback Matt Mauck in the seventh and final round "" went on day two.

That was the most LSU players taken since the NFL went to seven rounds in 1994. There could be seven or more taken Saturday and Sunday in the 2006 draft, beginning with tailback Joseph Addai, offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth and defensive tackle Claude Wroten on Saturday during the first three rounds, according to NFL personnel consultant Chris Landry and NFL draft expert Mike Detillier.

Wide receiver/returner Skyler Green and defensive tackle Kyle Williams have a chance to go in the third round on Saturday but may drop off to the fourth-through-seventh rounds on Sunday. Defensive end Melvin Oliver, wide receiver Bennie Brazell, center Rudy Niswanger and cornerback Ronnie Prude all have chances to go in the late rounds. That would be a total of nine. LSU has never had more than seven players taken, including when the NFL draft had 12 and 17 rounds.

"It's a very good class," Landry said Thursday. "It's not a great class, but LSU has three players who are definitely second round talent in Addai and Whitworth. Wroten will probably go in the second round. He was definitely going to be a first round pick before his arrest, but now he's a wild card. Some people have taken him off their board. Still, I would be shocked to see him go late in the first round or late in the third round."

Wroten was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute on Jan. 4.

LSU has had players taken in the first round the last two years "" Clayton in 2004 and defensive end Marcus Spears last year to Dallas as the 20th pick. The Tigers produced four straight first rounders from 1996 through 1999 - wide receiver Eddie Kennison to St. Louis, tight end David LaFleur to Dallas, offensive lineman Alan Faneca to Pittsburgh and defensive tackle Booger McFarland to Tampa Bay.

Should someone take a chance on Wroten in the first round and Addai gets taken in the first round, LSU would have two first rounders for the first time since tailback Wendell Harris and fullback Earl Gros went to Baltimore and Green Bay in the first round.

"I think Addai could go in the late first round," Detillier said. "Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and the Jets all like him."

Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh has the 32nd of 32 first round picks. Indianapolis has the 30th pick. The New York Jets pick 29th as well as fourth.

"If somebody drafts for need, Addai could go in the first round," Landry said.

"The thing with Joe is his versatility," Detillier said. "He's fast enough to run outside. He's powerful inside. He's a tremendous receiver. He's a great blitz, pick-up guy. The negative is he's been injured a lot."

Both Landry and Detillier see Whitworth going in the middle of the second round.

"Not getting an invite to the Senior Bowl hurt him," Detillier said. "But he did very well in the East-West Shrine game. He'll probably play right tackle in the NFL. You have to be elite to play left tackle. He's very good against the run. He's durable. He missed one practice in four years. He was exposed to speedy pass rushers so his pass blocking needs work."

Green is a bit of a wild card himself. Landry sees him going in the third round, Detillier in the fifth.

"I think anywhere from the second to the fourth," Green said. "But I wouldn't mind going in the seventh. Just thinking that you could go to anybody at any time, it's nerve wracking. I've talked to a lot of teams "" the Giants, the Bears, the Cardinals, the Colts, the Steelers. But I'm clueless."

Detillier said NFL teams may be making a mistake with Williams.

"I think he's a third-round pick," he said. "A lot of teams don't think he'll go that high. But I think he's very good. He has a super hot motor and just knows how to play football."

Detillier said Oliver could go in the fifth round and calls Brazell going in the sixth round his surprise pick. He said Niswanger has a chance to go in a late round as does Prude. Players with chances of signing free agent contracts are outside linebackers E.J. Kuale and Kenny Hollis, middle linebacker Cameron Vaughn and tight end David Jones.

LSU Coach John Brady, who led the Tigers to a 14-2 record and his second SEC Championship with a team that included seven freshman and two sophomores, was named the SEC Coach of the Year. Brady also was a consensus choice as Coach of the Year in the league in 2000 when his Tigers won their other SEC title. He is a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award as selected by Collegeinsider.com.

LSU sophomore forward Glen Davis was honored as the SEC Player of the Year, while freshman forward Tyrus Thomas was named the SEC Freshman of the Year and shared with Corey Brewer of Florida the honors as the league's Defensive Players of the Year.

In addition, Davis and senior Darrel Mitchell were named to the All-SEC first team as chosen by the coaches (Davis was a unanimous selection) and Thomas was named to the All-SEC second team. Thomas and Tasmin Mitchell were unanimous selections to the SEC All-Freshman team.

Davis, who enters the SEC Tournament as the second leading scorer in the league and the league's leading rebounder, adds the 2006 Player of the Year award to his 2005 Freshman of the Year selection. It marks the 10th time and the second straight year that an LSU players was chosen as the Player of the Year by one of the two major selection groups -- coaches or the Associated Press media voting (scheduled to be release next Tuesday).

Davis joins Pete Maravich (1968, 1969, 1970), Chris Jackson (1989, 1990), Shaquille O'Neal (1991, 1992), Stromile Swift (2000) and Brandon Bass

(2005) as players from LSU who have captured the SEC's top honor.

In winning the Freshman of the Year honor, Thomas has kept going a unique streak that has seen LSU freshman win the award three straight years with all three being from Baton Rouge and local high schools. In 2004, Brandon Bass from Capitol High School was the league's top freshman, followed by Davis in 2005 (University High) and now Thomas for his play that ranked him as the top scorer in the league among freshman and second overall in the league in rebounds. Thomas prepped at McKinley High before coming to Baton Rouge.

Other top honors were Lee Humphrey of Florida who was named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while Eric Ferguson of Arkansas was named the SEC Sixth Man of the Year.

Besides Davis and Mitchell on the Coaches First-Team were: Jermareo Davidson and Ronald Steele of Alabama, Ronnie Brewer of Arkansas, Joakim Noah of Florida, Chris Lofton of Tennessee and Shan Foster of Vanderbilt.

On the second team with Thomas were: Jonathon Modica of Arkansas, Taurean Green and Al Horford of Florida, Rajon Rondo of Kentucky, Charles Rhodes of Mississippi State, Tarence Kinsey of South Carolina and C. J. Watson of Tennessee.

The freshman team with Tasmin Mitchell and Thomas were Alonzo Gee and Richard Hendrix of Alabama, Quantez Robertson and Rasheem Barrett of Auburn, Mike Mercer of Georgia and Jamont Gordon of Mississippi State.

The Tigers open play in the SEC Tournament at Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals against the winner of Thursday's first-round game between Vanderbilt and Auburn. The game will be regionally televised by JP Sports and on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network and in the "Geaux Zone powered by USAgencies".

BATON ROUGE -- Competition for positions on both sides of the football was the theme for LSU on Saturday as the Tigers opened spring practice with a two hour-plus workout in shorts and helmets at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility.

Saturday's workout was the first of 15 for the Tigers this spring. LSU will practice again on Monday in the first of three workouts next week for the Tigers.

LSU must replace 11 starters from last year's team that posted an 11-2 overall mark, beat Miami, 40-3, in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and finished the year ranked No. 5 in the nation.

"It was a lot of fun to get back out on the field as a team again," second-year LSU coach Les Miles said following the workout. "Their spirits were high and the team worked hard. It was a good first day of spring practice."

The Tigers were without several regulars on Saturday as quarterback JaMarcus Russell (shoulder), running backs Justin Vincent (knee) and Alley Broussard (knee) and defensive backs LaRon Landry (ankle) and Jessie Daniels (shoulder) were all limited during the workout.

Russell did take a few snaps at quarterback, but didn't do any throwing. Miles said Russell may throw some later this month, while Broussard is expected to see limited duty in a couple of weeks.

"We gave JaMarcus a few snaps to keep his mind into it and to keep his focus on football," Miles said. "Both Alley and Justin are making progressive. I wouldn't be surprised to see Alley taking some live snaps this spring."

Miles said he was pleased with the amount of competition that was present on the practice field during the opening workout of the spring.

"There is more competition overall this spring and competition makes good teams better," Miles said. "I think the competition will raise our level of play and it will be good for this football team."

The practice was also the first for defensive line coach Earl Lane, who joined the Tigers last month after a 10-year stint at South Florida.

"Earl is a quality defensive line coach and we're glad to have him," Miles said. "I really like the way he coaches and I like the way the players have responded to him. He brings a great deal of knowledge and expertise to the defensive line position and I think he's off to a great start."

Saturday's workout also had several players playing new positions. Quinn Johnson moved from linebacker to fullback, Carnell Stewart from defensive line to offensive tackle and Alonzo Manuel from defensive end to tight end. In addition, offensive guard Brett Helms shifted to center as part of an experiment due to the lack of depth at the position this spring.

"The greatest void right now on this team is leadership," Miles said. "The new leaders and the leadership of this team are being developed. It's just going to take a little time, but we'll be okay there.

"I think from a coaching standpoint, we feel a lot more familiar with the team this spring as opposed to last year. This spring doesn't hold as many surprises as last year. We got some things accomplished today and we'll look to build on that come Monday."