LSU Tigers running back room takes major blow as former five star is set to miss 2024 college football season
Just two short days after LSU's loss to USC the Tigers suffered some more bad news. Former five star running back John Emery Jr. reportedly tore his ACL during Tuesday's practice and will miss the rest of the 2024 college football season.Emery Jr. was finally looking like the talent LSU had long hoped he could […]
Just two short days after LSU's loss to USC the Tigers suffered some more bad news. Former five star running back John Emery Jr. reportedly tore his ACL during Tuesday's practice and will miss the rest of the 2024 college football season.
Emery Jr. was finally looking like the talent LSU had long hoped he could be as he led the Tigers in rushing yards with 61 and grabbed a reception for another 10 yards. Sadly, the team is going to be without him the rest of the way this season.
When Emery Jr. entered college he was a consensus Top 15 recruit in the entire nation. Unfortunately, throughout Emery's career he struggled with various injuries and off-field issues that limited him from ever reaching his sky high potential. 2024 was set to be his fifth active year with the program (since 2019), but in that entire span he managed fewer than 700 total snaps and never more than 500 total yards in a season.
However, this past week against USC he had one of his most efficient games ever, forcing three missed tackles, adding an explosive run for 39 yards. While it is true Emery had entered his named into the Transfer Portal earlier this off-season, it's clear he had worked his way back near the top of the depth chart as one of LSU's key contributors at running back.
Now the team will need to turn to long-time veteran running back Josh Williams, true sophomore Kaleb Jackson, and perhaps begin to sprinkle in some opportunities for the true freshman speedster Caden Durham.
Head coach Brian Kelly was asked on Wednesday in his SEC media call about perhaps utilizing Garrett Nussmeier more in the running game now too given his alleged 4.7-second forty-yard dash speed coming out of high school and he had this to say:
"I think [Garrett Nussmeier] is extremely capable as a runner. I think within the offensive structure we want to take advantage of his strengths. And you know, quite frankly, I don't think we did all of that…I think we can do more…We can move him around a little bit. I think the occasional run here or there, as long as it's at the right time and the right place I think he can be a weapon…Certainly he's not Jayden Daniels. Certainly he's not a quarterback that you would think about designed runs as part of your core. But if you don't defend him he can hurt you."
LSU will likely still deploy some sort of running back by committee situation moving forward, as they were already doing this past week. Expect to see a little bit more of Caden Durham, the true freshman. And don't be surprised if Garrett Nussmeier starts to add some value with his legs here soon too.
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