Columnist Carl Dubois Makes Case For Jarrett Lee to Be LSU Quarterback

Oh Dear.

But you know I think he makes some good points and I think many LSU fans are thinking the same thing. This struck me

Character? Lee faced the music last year. He threw all those pick-6 passes and didn't hide. He answered every question about his failures. Leadership? I never heard him say, "The receiver ran the wrong route," or "The ball hit him in the hands, and if he'd caught it instead of letting it deflect into the arms of the defender, it might have been a totally different game after that." I don't know much, but I know what I've seen from 26 years of looking at the faces of people who failed and watching them take responsibility for their mistakes -- and the mistakes of their players or teammates.

Louis Coleman didn't duck out the side door when he was the LSU pitcher most prone to giving up home runs early in his career. He didn't hide when he'd slid so far down the hierarchy as a junior everyone wondered if he'd ever pitch again. He didn't seek shelter inside the team bus after giving up the grand slam that ended LSU's season in Omaha. A year later, after passing up a chance to turn pro so he and his teammates could have one more shot at it, he got the first and last outs of LSU's national championship season -- and many in between. ................

None of this matters on the scoreboard if you can't throw the ball accurately. I get that. Taking responsibility and being willing to "man up" after crushing failure is no guarantee of later success, but those are the types of guys I'd want with me in a foxhole. Jefferson lost his first game as a starter, the regular-season finale at Arkansas last year, and faded into bowl preparations. Protected by LSU's policy of shielding true freshmen from reporters, he didn't have to face tough questions about the loss. When he led the Tigers to their annual Crush Somebody in a Bowl Game Under Les Miles, LSU allowed him to discuss victory. After Jefferson's next loss, his first in Tiger Stadium, he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't appear for postgame interviews. That told me something, and it jogged my memory. This decade, JaMarcus Russell was the LSU quarterback most likely to be absent from a requested meeting with reporters. Matt Flynn and Matt Mauck showed up when asked. Which two of those three won national championships? Yeah, I know. It's not that simple. But it's worth noting. Look, I know the media often comes off as self-serving jerks with a sense of entitlement. Sometimes, it's with good reason. But this is not about media access. The quarterback doesn't have time to stop and talk with each of 92,000 people after a game and explain what happened, so the media is supposed to be the proxy. When the losing quarterback begs off from an interview request or fails to show up, that says something. When things are tough is when depth of character is revealed. That's what this is about. It speaks to the decision making of someone in a leadership position. Miles agrees, and he spoke about it with Jefferson. "What we've done is to tell him it's the responsibility of the position," Miles said, "and he needs to consider that." .........................

Jefferson can make a difference in the right situations. He's proven that. Find a role and a plan that better suits him. But LSU is pretending to play offense with him in the game. The Tigers are playing defense while they have the ball. Maybe that's all Miles thinks they need. It's worked for many championship teams: Play strong defense, have a solid kicking game, and don't beat yourself on offense. This team has too many weapons to have to settle for that. The Tigers can open things up with Lee if they take a chance and line up in formations suited for him and for their skill set. ..................................

Read the whole thing. The fact is the coaches know something here. I suspect Miles might be weighing giving Lee a start which is a risk on several starts. But I am willing to maybe give Miles some slack to see what happens