GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
A toe injury does not sound that serious, but for a football player, particularly a running back, it really can be hobbling.
LSU tailback Caden Durham dealt with toe issues hampering his planting, cutting and running ability through much of last season, but he still led the Tigers with 753 yards on 140 carries in 12 games with six touchdowns as a freshman. He also caught 28 passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns.
So far after a week of spring practice, it’s toes up and running for Durham (5-foot-9, 205 pounds).
“The good part about it is he’s healthy,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said Saturday afternoon after the team’s first day in pads. “And we’re doing some things in the spring that are first time looks for him. So, the spring for him is really about getting some looks.”
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LSU, as promised last year but not carried out well, is concentrating on improving the ground attack now.
“You guys were out there, you can see what we’re doing,” Kelly said to a media contingent allowed to watch about an hour of scrimmaging before heavy rain moved the workout indoors. “I don’t want to give anything away, but those things that we’re really focusing on, they’re new looks for Caden And he’s got to get comfortable in that, because that’s going to be featured within our offensive structure.”
Kaleb Jackson, a sophomore last season who gained only 150 yards on 44 carries, has been sharing time with Durham and freshman signee Harlem Berry (5-10, 185), who was 247sports.com’s No. 1 running back in the nation in the class of 2025 out of St. Martin’s in Metairie.
“As it relates to Kaleb, this has been more about him climatizing to his weight (6-0, 235 pounds),” Kelly said. “And he’s done a great job. He struggled the last year with his size and volume. And he’s been great this spring, so he’s really crossed that hurdle. And then add Harlem Berry into it. He’s just figuring out the offense, but you can tell he’s extremely talented. And now it’s just a matter of him learning the offense and putting some coat of armor on him. He’s getting a lot of reps. He’s a young talented back. All three of them are having a good spring.”
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The backs have been running behind a first team offensive line that has usually featured Tyree Adams at left tackle, Paul Mubenga at left guard, DJ Chester at center, Bo Bordelon at right guard and Weston Davis at right tackle.
Adams started twice, including the Texas Bowl win over Baylor, and played in eight games last season as a redshirt freshman. Mubenga played in 10 games and started the last five at left guard as a redshirt freshman. Chester started all 13 games at center as a redshirt freshman in 2024. Bordelon played in 13 games and started one (Texas Bowl) at right guard. Davis played in four games as true freshman last season.
Other offensive linemen getting significant work so far this spring are junior transfer guard/center Braelin Moore of Virginia Tech, redshirt freshmen tackles Coen Echols and Ethan Calloway and freshmen guard signees Carius Curne and Solomon Thomas.
SPRING GAME ELIMINATION DISCUSSED
Kelly opened his press conference Saturday by explaining his move to not have LSU’s usual spring game in favor of a regular practice with some scrimmaging on April 12 in Tiger Stadium, but it will still be fan friendly with an autograph session.
“It’s certainly going to be an opportunity for our fans to see our team, but it will be in a different format,” he said. “It’ll be a scrimmage, but it will be controlled, situational. You’ll get a chance to see all of your favorite players. There’ll be live scrimmaging, but it won’t be a continuous game. It’ll be broken up into red zone, some kicking game, a lot more special teams.”
There were follow-up questions on the spring game elimination:
QUESTION: “What are your reasons for changing the format?”
KELLY: “We haven’t got enough special teams work in those games, and I wanted to include a bigger piece. What was more important to me was to get all of our players an opportunity to get reps, and sometimes you don’t get the equal amount of reps in a spring game. We have some young players who need some practice time. You don’t have to worry about splitting the squad. Having two teams sometimes make it difficult for you to get the match-ups that you want. This just makes more sense.”
QUESTION: “Some coaches (Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin, for example) expressed concern that other schools were watching spring games with the idea of poaching some of their players. Did that factor in at all for you?”
KELLY: “I wasn’t worried about that. I mean if you’re going to lose a player, it’s not because of what they put on film in the spring game. It’s because of what’s happened throughout the entire semester or year (laughing). I think that was just an easy soundbite to get out from under having a spring game. That’s just my opinion.”
FIRST SPRING GAMES, THEN ELIMINATE SPRING FOOTBALL ALL TOGETHER?
Kelly went on to elaborate on his desire to not have spring games, regardless of the fear of some coaches – like Kiffin, who didn’t have a spring game last year – that they can become potential televised transfer tryouts for rival coaches on portal hunts.
“I think the game itself needs to be treated much more as a work day,” Kelly said. “We’ve had to use one of our practices leading into the spring game to organize the spring game. And we actually lost a spring practice, if you will, of development. We had to go through situational substitution in all the special teams, who was on what team, and pregame and all those things. Now, I don’t have to worry about that. I get a full practice in and more developmental work (instead of staging for the crowd).”
In other words, “Good riddance!,” Kelly is saying. Time to divorce the spring game and the past and be more like the NFL with its organized team activities (OTAs). That’s a fancy NFL term for simple practices after free agency and the draft and before training camp.
“We were wedded to this idea that spring practice had to culminate with a spring game,” Kelly said. “And I just think we took a step back and said, ‘You know that, let’s think like OTAs.’ You get so many OTAs. Use them up. Make sure that you’re getting all the developmental and skill work necessary and don’t be wed to the idea of a spring game just because.”
SAFETY JARDIN GILBERT WILL MISS ALL OF SPRING
Add senior starting safety Jardin Gilbert (shoulder) to the list of players sitting out spring drills recovering from an injury. He joins three previously reported senior players out for spring as they recover from injuries – linebackers Whit Weeks (broken leg) and Harold Perkins (knee) and defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory (Achilles).
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