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I am very confident in saying that Jayden Daniels success is completely contingent on his health.

 

I have zero worries about work ethic or ability.

 

If he's healthy, he will pan out. 

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26 minutes ago, KDawg said:

I am very confident in saying that Jayden Daniels success is completely contingent on his health.

 

I have zero worries about work ethic or ability.

 

If he's healthy, he will pan out. 

 

Ditto with me.  I am very high on the player.  I am very concerned about injuries.  Will see.

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2 hours ago, KDawg said:

I am very confident in saying that Jayden Daniels success is completely contingent on his health.

 

I have zero worries about work ethic or ability.

 

If he's healthy, he will pan out. 

 

1 hour ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

Ditto with me.  I am very high on the player.  I am very concerned about injuries.  Will see.

 

I'm concerned about injuries and his propensity for pulling his eyes down and running so often once pressured vs. buying time with his legs and finding guys downfield to throw to. But those two are very much linked, because if he does keep running so often once pressured and moved off his spot then that's going to lead to more runs, more hits, and more potential for injury.

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Posted (edited)
On 5/4/2024 at 12:42 PM, HTTRDynasty said:

 

 

 

A couple of questions for those of you familiar with this new hi tech virtual reality stuff.

 

First, I'll tell you what I think I already know (Which may be completely wrong, so please don't hesitate to correct any misapprehension I might have.):

 

My understanding is that anyone can buy VR glasses that reproduce a 3d world with surround sound to play video games. You buy the games separately from the actual VR hardware. I believe Occulus is either the best or the most popular of these VR systems.

 

Now, as far as the VR system that Jayden used, to such great effect, at LSU:

 

1. Does it use the same Occulus hardware that anyone can buy at a store or on Amazon? Or is it a non-commercial, not for sale to the public, system with special caoabilities.

 

2. Is the software (disc?) available online to anyone or is it some special proprietary software that is strictly limited to a select few major corporate entities or businesses? If so, what is the cost (ball park guess if you're not sure).

 

3. Will all players have access to it or just the qbs?

 

4. At LSU Jayden apparently could only access the VR System at the team facility. Is it possible for him to use it at home or is that a neccesary restriction on its use.

 

 

Edited by CommanderInTheRye
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16 minutes ago, CommanderInTheRye said:

I believe Occulus is either the best or the most popular of these VR systems.

Occulus is probably the most affordable vr option...$200 vs say $1500-ish for a high-end 8k Pimax headseat, which is nore suitable for serious gaming. 

 

But, thats becuase Occulus it's mass produced by Facebook/Meta and is pretty low-end as far as resolution, field-of-view, and head-tracking.

 

My guess would be that for what JD is doing, they would want the field-of-view and head-tracking to better than what the Occulus offers.

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Posted (edited)

I’ve messed with some middle end gaming VR headsets in the recent past (didn’t own them). I think it’s extremely cool but I would never say it feels real. There’s way too much of thinking about how your movements outside the game translate to inside the game for it to get that immersive. I’m sure after using it for dozens of hours that may change, but I doubt the value Daniels gets out of it is that it feels “real”. I think it more so just does a good job training his eyes where to be and giving him different looks. Just a different, more elaborate way of “watching film” than anything else really. Which is cool, because everyone’s brain is different and people learn differently. Technology closing that learning gap and giving guys tools to max out their talent is an excellent use case. 
 

I have no information or idea about the exact setup Daniels uses though, or what software he uses football-wise. I would guess it’s proprietary and very different from what your average person can buy online. Otherwise it would be Daniels buying it for himself and not Harris buying it (or LSU providing it last year). Even the most expensive VR setups around are easily affordable on NIL money. So I’m guessing access to the program and football film library is probably extremely expensive. More akin to NFL teams buying access to PFF’s proprietary info than an average VR experience. I would bet it’s extremely expensive. Probably over a hundred grand to access (and personalize with your own schemes and plays) the film library and program. That’s just a guess. I don’t think it’s something you can just buy and play at home as an average person. 
 

Every team in the NFL these days pays PFF a yearly subscription of over 75k to access their proprietary information (not so much the player grades but the detailed information about snaps, formations, player usage, tendencies, etc. across the league). I would guess it’s more like that. An extremely expensive subscription 

Edited by Conn
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Being able to have a lot more reps in Vr versus just reading the playbook and imagining your reps has got to be a big help just with getting the playbook down. Could see if being very beneficial just for rookies in general if they could run through plays. 

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Posted (edited)
29 minutes ago, CommanderInTheRye said:

Does the Pimax 8k system feel (almost) real?

 

Whatever system Jayden was talking about it was clear that he was blown away by how close to reality it apoeared.

 

.

The closer you can got to the action of the game, the less real it feels in my experience.

 

Flight and driving sims, for example, are amazing. Shooters and adventure games are generally a little more clunky.

 

I'd expect sports to be closer to the latter...I don't really know though. I'd love to know more about the system JD uses. As @Conn pointed out I'm sure it's highly specialized and very pricey

Edited by formerly4skins
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3 hours ago, KDawg said:

I am very confident in saying that Jayden Daniels success is completely contingent on his health.

 

I have zero worries about work ethic or ability.

 

If he's healthy, he will pan out. 

Couldn't agree more.  I really don't have worries about his character, work ethic, leadership, desire to keep improving or his natural abilities.  He's a gifted player physically and intellectually, and I'm thrilled to have him on our team.

 

In regards to his physical makeup, I'm hearing that it is expected (but no one confirmed it) that the team already has a nutrition and training plan in place to help JD put on some quality muscle gradually.  Enough to protect himself a bit more but obviously not enough to hinder his game.

 

I'm worried a bit about the O line this year (though long-term, I have no doubt AP is going to build a first-rate line) like everyone else, but what worries me just as much if not more, is what we witnessed with RGIII when scrambling.  The reckless abandon he treated his body with cost him dearly, and if JD doesn't change that part of his game, we're going to be out one starting QB.

 

Obviously, JD is not RGIII, but Robert paid regular  lip service to the serious need to protect himself by running out of bounds, sliding and not seeking contact.  But despite all his talk, he really changed nothing in his game overall, aside from a token slide here and there.  Hell, the times he did try to slide were painful to watch; the way he did it made it look like he was going to break a leg or ankle or something.  😆

 

I hope this staff regularly reinforces (maybe they already have) with JD about how critical the need is to tweak that part of his game.  He has to realize and get his instincts to comply with the fact that he can't help us if he's not on the field.  Intellectually, it's not hard to understand; it's the instincts that are the most hard to corral when in the heat of battle.  If anything, from his college tape, JD runs with more reckless abandon than Robert did.  😳

 

I've seen a lot of physical comparisons of JD to Randall Cunningham.  Randall seemed to do pretty well for himself health-wise overall, and he was very smart about taking care of his body (for the most part.  I do remember a lot of hurdles and dives here and there).   That great thing is that we've got seriously smart people in place all over the organization now, and they all realize and have pontificated on how crucial it is to protect our QB.   Still, I know I'll be wincing each and every time JD takes off to run.  I know the opposing defenses are going to be looking for that one huge hit on that thin frame.   

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, mistertim said:

 

 

I'm concerned about injuries and his propensity for pulling his eyes down and running so often once pressured vs. buying time with his legs and finding guys downfield to throw to. But those two are very much linked, because if he does keep running so often once pressured and moved off his spot then that's going to lead to more runs, more hits, and more potential for injury.

 

I am not worried about the off platform stuff.  When I watched him he was killer at it when he did it.  He IMO after dodging a few defenders as he's apt to do in the pocket then ala Caleb Williams he needs to throw the ball, versus run.  I've seen him throw the ball off plaform and he's good at it when he actually does it.  His completion rate off platform is good. 

 

My main concern with him is bulking up.  I know the plan is to do it but wil see how it plays out.

 

I watched an interview of him last night when he said on game day he just eats an omlette and two waffles -- lol, he has to eat more than that to put on weight. 

Edited by Skinsinparadise
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The good thing is (and Daniels’ recent workout post shows it too) he has thick legs. Not Tua thick but closer than I was expecting. 
 

One thing I’m surprised no one ****ed about in the pre-draft process that I think really pops now—his release is lightning quick but quite low. He’s almost 6’4” so it shouldn’t be a problem, and it’s not quite Phillip Rivers weird, but it is a very low release 

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57 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

I am not worried about the off platform stuff.  When I watched him he was killer at it when he did it.  He IMO after dodging a few defenders as he's apt to do in the pocket then ala Caleb Williams he needs to throw the ball, versus run.  I've seen him throw the ball off plaform and he's good at it when he actually does it.  His completion rate off platform is good. 

 

My main concern with him is bulking up.  I know the plan is to do it but wil see how it plays out.

 

I watched an interview of him last night when he said on game day he just eats an omlette and two waffles -- lol, he has to eat more than that to put on weight. 

 

Yeah I've seen him make off-platform throws when watching his games and cutups, and he can definitely do it pretty well. It's more an issue of how rarely he does it vs pulling his eyes down and looking to run.

 

Hopefully the coaches are planning on working towards getting him to keep his eyes downfield more often when he's pressured and moved off his spot vs immediately run. That propensity combined with his frame just scares the crap out of me.

 

And yeah, my man is going to need WAY more calories than that to start putting on weight.  :ols:  

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Posted (edited)
12 minutes ago, Sacks 'n' Stuff said:

We’re still years away from having sex bots if that’s what you’re asking.

 

 

Damn! I was hoping we were finally on the brink of discovering a practical working orgasmatron for the common man (and woman). lol

 

 

Ttimage.thumb.png.5522d7de3e8a591a77a942f5802d7391.png

 

Born 20 years too late!

 

.

Edited by CommanderInTheRye
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22 minutes ago, TheGoodBits said:

 

 

 

Check these links out if you haven't already.

 

I'm still going through stuff. This is enthralling, cutting edge material.

 

Harris's business is taking over companies on the verge of hitting the big time. Man if I were him I'd be all over this ****.

 

This is not just the future of football-- it's the future of quite possibly every human endeavor.

 

That may sound like hyperbole, but so was the computer when people first started talking about their future utility shortly after wwii.

 

Great video here talking about Daniels using this revolutionary system...

 

 

 

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Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, CommanderInTheRye said:

2. Is the software (disc?) available online to anyone or is it some special proprietary software that is strictly limited to a select few major corporate entities or businesses? If so, what is the cost (ball park guess if you're not sure).

 

Jayden specifically used the Cognilize software. Not something you can just walk in the store and buy. You sign up for the service with the company and they have technicians that work alongside you to implement and evolve the program to your individual specifications (your playbook, defenses, upcoming stadiums, whatnot)

 

No idea about the cost but I'm willing to bet its very pricey and subscription based. They don't quote prices on their website.

 

3 hours ago, CommanderInTheRye said:

3. Will all players have access to it or just the qbs?

 

LSU started w/ QBs and extended it to other positions. While it is likely most valuable for a QB, other position groups can improve from metal reps and recognition as well. The Cognilize company is still relatively new to football tho, so the program will need to evolve farther for better usage at other groups. LSU felt like they were just "scratching the surface" in that regard. They are working with them to create specializations for other groups, but they did not have the time to do it in season. It will absolutely expand in the coming years.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a podcast I found from a while back where it is spoken about in depth

 

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/heyfightinpodcast/episodes/Cutting-Edge-with-Jack-Marucci-A-deeper-dive-into-Cognilize--the-German-VR-technology-key-to-LSUs-quarterback-development-e2fffqm

 

 

Couple interesting things from the above Pod.

-Teams that were interested in JD back in Feb uploaded their own plays for him to practice w/ in VR. He has been working directly w/ a specialized selection of plays from various teams for months. Kinda crazy.

-We knew previously that the program could operate faster than real life, to limit the time a QB has to make a choice, but LSU sped up the program as the season progressed and their players became more acclimated. By the end of the year Jayden was running reps at over 70% increased game speed and apparently was making it look effortless.

-The turnaround time for requested changes was fast. Most of the time, just a day.

-They utilized a specialized ball that lets them track flight data, velocity, spin, wobble, arc, and then instantly provide feedback after a throw. "hey you threw that one to hard" or "you need more arc"

***** MAJOR POSSIBLE FUTURE NFL IMPLICATIONS*** After JD got the concussion, he was cleared to use VR b4 he was cleared for physically practicing or playing. They were able to track and compare his performance from b4 the injury to alleviate fears that he was still hurt. JDs practices were actually slightly better following the injury so they knew he was fine. Then he went out and stole Florida's collective souls.

Edited by FootballZombie
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Posted (edited)

Absolutely amazing article on Daniels quantum leap last year after using the VR system. 

 

I know it's long but trust this old man-- it's really worth the effort.

 

If nothing else just read the bolded parts lol.

 

XXX

 

 

 

Screenshot_20240508_132122_TheAthletic.thumb.jpg.214af7c53f6e488e4343f1112bfd3e75.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

The headsets crackled, and Brian Kelly’s voice sliced through the static.

 

“We’re going for this,” he said.

 

LSU faced a fourth-and-7 situation early in the second quarter of an early September game against Mississippi State. The Tigers already possessed a 10-point lead. This was not so much a dice roll for the head coach as it was a heat check. Keep the ball in Jayden Daniels’ hands, and allow the quarterback to blossom in an arena of clattering cowbells.

 

Joe Sloan, LSU’s quarterbacks coach, listened to the play call from his seat in the press box, then leaned forward in his chair and focused on Daniels. From the shotgun, Daniels received the snap and shuffled backward a few steps. Sloan noticed Daniels’ eyes, first scanning the middle of the field, then moving swiftly to the right. As Mississippi State’s pass rushers besieged him, Daniels acted quickly and launched a deep ball down the right sideline.

 

Sloan’s eyes followed the football, which dropped perfectly into the hands of wide receiver Malik Nabers at the front pylon for a touchdown. The sideline erupted. The fans at Davis Wade Stadium seemed shocked. Sloan high-fived his coaching counterparts, sat down in his seat, turned to one of LSU’s other staffers in the box and mouthed the word: “Whoa.”

 

Few descriptors are more apt for what Daniels would ultimately accomplish in 2023. Among 131 FBS quarterbacks who have attempted 150 passes this season, Daniels leads in passing efficiency, yards per attempt, expected points added per dropback and completions of 20 yards or more, per TruMedia. He’s poised to set the single-season FBS record for passing efficiency, and, by the way, he leads all quarterbacks in rushing yards. Treating play in the Southeastern Conference like he’s on rookie mode in a video game is why Daniels is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, which will be presented Saturday night.

 

“He’s always been a fine thrower,” Sloan said this week, “but he went from being an above-average high-level college thrower to the best passer in the country. It was really cool to watch.”

 

Daniels’ development is not random nor difficult to spot for evaluators. Jack Marucci, LSU’s director of performance innovation, said an NFL staffer told him recently: “It looks like he’s throwing to a spot more.” Improved pass protection played a role in Daniels’ willingness to trust his progressions. So, too, did having potential first-rounders like Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. at wide receiver. But there is another layer to his growth, one that involves an iPad, a virtual reality headset, and a platform built by two folks in Germany who had a vision for a better way to help athletes make split-second decisions.

 

“Listening to him gives us a great feeling that this tool,” Marucci said, “is something that’s made him better.”

 

A ‘flight simulator for quarterbacking’

In March, business partners Verena Krakau and Christian Hartmann flew from Giessen, Germany, located about an hour north of Frankfurt, to Baton Rouge, La.

 

This was not the first time they’d been to the United States, nor the first time they’d shown their technology to high-level college football programs. In the year prior, they’d visited elite high schools on the West Coast. They’d also placed their technology in front of coaches and quarterbacks at the college and NFL level.

 

Most of the time, the coaches and quarterbacks reacted similarly. They’d strap on the virtual reality headset and be transported into an on-field setting from the perspective of the quarterback. Players around them would not move robotically (a criticism of much VR tech) but realistically. Colors matched the real colors of a stadium. The action moved as fast as live football, if not faster, and simulated real action.

 

Krakau and Hartmann sought feedback. Their company, Cognilize, was founded in 2019 and spawned with the idea that elite soccer players could increase reps without needing to be on a field with 21 other players. Hartmann, who coached youth teams for FC Giessen, did not think three or four practices a week were enough to maximize what a player could become.

 

Studying the intricacies of neuroscience and biomechanics shaped his perspective: If he could not address improvement in regions of players’ brains, his coaching could only offer so much impact.

 

Alongside Krakau, whom he’d known since high school, Hartmann pursued an answer to the following question: How could they present information to athletes’ brains that the brain would treat as if it is real practice? They settled on building an artificially intelligent platform that can be funneled to the athlete through a virtual reality headset.

 

“It’s really about how we can control an environment to bring the athlete in the best practice situation possible,” Hartmann said.

 

Krakau added: “We created everything with real biomechanics movements. It’s not just like Madden where people are moving around more robotically.”

 

Both had taken to American football, and a deeper dive into the sport crystallized the complexity of playing quarterback. Playing the position requires the human being to make multiple tens of decisions in fewer than three seconds. Replicating that realistically without the physicality and strain was a gap they believed they could fill — in essence, a flight simulator for quarterbacking.

 

Throughout 2021 and ‘22, Hartmann and Krakau connected with numerous coaches in America. One of them was Greg Studrawa, who coached the offensive line at LSU from 2007-13, and who informed Marucci about what he’d seen. Marucci invited them to LSU. Before he viewed a demo of their product, they relayed their backstory, mentioning neuroscience, decision-making processes and cognitive performance. Marucci marveled at their willingness to learn. Then he and others strapped on the headset and were thrust into the world they’d created.

 

“I was actually blown away,” Mario Macaluso, an LSU analyst, said of the demo.

 

When Sloan tried on the headset, he thought: This feels real. Like you’re inside of an amazing video game. He suggested some tweaks. What if they altered the splits between the linemen? What if they added the opposing teams’ stadiums? Krakau and Hartmann scribbled these suggestions on a whiteboard. At the end of their afternoon-long session, Marucci began to ask when Krakau and Hartmann planned to return to Giessen.

 

“He was, like, ‘We don’t want you guys to leave,’” Macaluso said. “‘We wanted to help build out this product.’”

 

This time, the LSU staffers’ reactions resulted in a full-on partnership. As coaches prepared for the season, Marucci and Macaluso essentially transformed their roles into the beta testers for a new player development tool.

 

‘Man, he looks different’: Programming plays to play clocks

 

Daniels first used the technology in the leadup to LSU’s game at Mississippi State. He had been invited into the initial session and he’d told Marucci that he’d be willing to use Cognilize’s platform as a preparation device in addition to his weekly film study and walkthrough. Now, here he was, crouched down into a quarterback position with a headset wrapped around his face.

 

In the months between their first meeting and this first session, Krakau and Hartmann worked with LSU to add thousands of details. LSU educated them on different coverages and sent them their plays, and Krakau and Hartmann adapted their product so that players moved fluidly the same way they would on the field.

 

Macaluso recalled Krakau and Hartmann’s conversation informing him and Marucci that they hadn’t slept in 36 hours because they’d been working tirelessly on changes.

 

“They would’ve spent every moment trying to get it up and running,” Marucci said. “It’s like anything. They have a love for it. When you have a passion for something, it makes the work that much more rewarding.”

 

The result was this scene days before the matchup with Mississippi State: Daniels wearing the headset, and Macaluso holding an iPad.

 

Macaluso pressed a specific play on the iPad, then said it aloud to Daniels: “Tree Right Hug Y Swift Iowa Cold Flash Z Stop.”

 

Macaluso then selected a specific defense but did not inform Daniels of the defense he picked so he would have to react to coverage movement in real time.

 

Daniels received the snap (virtually), and the technology forced him to read out the plan in 1.7 seconds — faster than game speed.

 

The effect, tying back to Hartmann’s neuroscience study, is similar to a baseball player throwing a different-sized ball to train different movement patterns.

 

Daniels went through this process for each play on LSU’s callsheet for that week and told Marucci and Macaluso that he enjoyed the process. That weekend, he converted the fourth-and-7 touchdown to Nabers and finished 30 of 34 for 361 yards and two touchdowns. After the game, one LSU staffer told Marucci: “Man, he looks different.” Marucci knows quarterback play is contingent on a boatload of factors, but Daniels visited him after the game and said: “I love this thing. I need to do more of it.”

 

Marucci texted Daniels’ comments to Krakau and Hartmann, who watched the game in the evening in Giessen.

 

“We went crazy,” Krakau said. “We never expected anything. We never thought he’d say something like our product made him better. We just thought that we could find a little way to contribute to everything this guy has to do playing quarterback.”

 

Daniels ramped up his usage of the technology to three times a week as the 2023 season progressed. Each week, Macaluso sent Krakau and Hartmann the call sheet, numerical data and film examples of LSU’s concepts, as well as examples of that week’s defense.

 

Krakau and Hartmann added in the different stadiums with details down to the black and gold at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri, to the exact spot where the play clock would be located so that Daniels would not have to acclimate himself to it for the first time when he arrived.

 

Ahead of the Ole Miss matchup, Krakau and Hartmann added an option to change the Rebels’ jersey color to the four different combinations that Ole Miss would most likely use.

 

Some weeks, Daniels would spot new intricacies randomly. Once, while trying to progress through a read, he blurted out: “Oh my! This dude at cornerback just pressed up to the receiver right there.”

 

He, Macaluso and Marucci came to find out that in Hartmann’s spare time, when he was not implementing nearly 800 LSU offensive plays into the system, he was watching coaches’ clinics on YouTubes of defensive back fundamentals and adding them as random easter eggs that pop up the way different techniques would on Saturdays.

 

“You need to understand what the quarterback is supposed to do (to make it realistic),” Hartmann said. “If you have the play, and the defense is running Cover 4, and the safety is in conflict, (how he moves) may be dependent on maybe the seam route or the dig route.”

 

A few weeks ago, Marucci joked with Hartmann that he and Krakau had learned so much about football in less than a year that he could become the reverse Ted Lasso.

 

<snip>

 

--Got to head out now. If interested will post rest later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

Edited by CommanderInTheRye
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Posted (edited)

JD5 took the critiques from the LSU coaching staff, most notably from Sloan (QB whisperer-watch what he does with Nuss this season) and put in the work and clearly it paid off. I believe he will listen to the coaches on learning to protect himself better instead of trying to be the hero as often as he did at LSU. He is extremely coachable and is going to do whatever he can to try and be the best out there. The work ethic is unbelievable with this kid. And just to echo what’s already been said here, the only concern I have is the ability to stay healthy but that can go for any player out there. If he remains fairly healthy, we finally have our franchise QB for the next 10-12 seasons. Obviously a lot of players can say all the right things and then don’t back it up, but that isn’t the case with Jayden. He drove a lot of us crazy at LSU his first season because he wasn’t trusting his receivers and would just pull it down and run a lot more often than he should have. You saw glimpses of his passing ability against Florida in the swamp and everyone was thinking where has that Jayden been? If he puts that together he’s a first round pick :lol: well sure enough, he did. 
 

here is a good article summarizing his first season at LSU

 

Tale of the Tape JD Growth 2022

 

Edited by BayouBrave86
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