LSU’s Trey’Dez Green: Stopping aliens ain’t easy (but isn’t impossible)

The Tigers have their own mismatch nightmare at tight end.

Stopping aliens is always a tough proposition.

Larger, faster, and more explosive than even the normal run of 1% CFB humans, they always present a special challenge. This week’s particular alien is LSU’s 6’7″ 240lb TE, Trey’dez Green.

Green’s production has been somewhat limited by injury this year, but this Xenomorph is a serious threat to the ‘Bama defense. He has the elite size, length, and speed to make drafty-bois across cyberspace go all tingly in their root chakras. Tight Ends are a special threat with their ability to put defenders in run/pass conflict on early downs. And he’s in a class of his own.

Bama DC Kane Wommack is going to have to use a variety of solutions to limit his impact on the game:

1) KEEP GREEN OFF THE FIELD

As the crew of USCSS Nostromo learned the hard way, keeping an alien outside the ship is the best way to avoid ruining your dinner party.

Green is not an elite run blocker, and LSU needs to be able to run the ball to win this game. If ‘Bama defenders can take the physicality to Green when he is assigned to run block (i.e. let Luke Metz & Red Morgan have a contest to see how many forearm shivers they can apply to his solar plexus) and make him a liability, it will force him to be replaced with one of LSUs thicker but less explosive tight ends. Limiting his snaps to only passing downs would greatly limit Green’s opportunities to rip off an explosive reception.

2) KEEP THE BALL FROM GETTING IN HIS HANDS

A football alien without a football is no threat to our band of Crimson Space Marines. In this case that means taking steps to keep Leavitt from targeting him.

The most obvious solution is to simply sack Leavitt. An oversized Justin Bieber cosplayer smooshed underneath Yhonzae Pierre or Devan Thompkins is typically not going to be completing passes to football alien tight ends.

The structure of the defense itself can prevent the throw. Schematically a DC can tilt where the QB looks to throw the ball. QBs are universally taught to throw at the blitz. Bama Defensor Primatus can exploit this tendency by bringing blitzes from opposite of wherever Green is aligned in the formation.

3) QUANTITY DEFEATS QUALITY

It creates opportunities elsewhere for the offense, but bracket coverage still works.

A physical DB like Red Morgan underneath contesting throws, with help from deep-top like plus-sized corner Dijon Lee, can put the clamps on even the most eldritch horrors found in space. Bama’s cover 3 scheme allows the flexibility to move and disguise an extra defender to help in either pass coverage or pressure.

I’m sure at least some part of this weeks game plan has been devoted to using that defender to help with Green.

4) TAKE OFF, THEN NUKE IT FROM ORBIT: THE ONLY WAY TO BE SURE

This always offends the lovers of gritty, leather helmet, newsreel football and Weyland-Yutani corporate fixers, but there is always a solution to stopping aliens that doesn’t involve defensive schematics, flamethrowers, or P5000 Power Loaders: Score enough points that Greens production ceases to matter.

‘Bama has a couple of its own proto-aliens on offense. Keelon Russell and (a hopefully mostly healthy) Ryan Coleman-Williams have shown their own extra-terrestrial tendencies. If Ryan Grubb can scheme up some explosives against the LSU defense (coordinated by Jalen Milroe’s favorite sub, Blake Baker) that would go a long way to negating Green’s impact on the game. 

Worse Bama teams than this group have faced longer odds than this and won. This is still the same Lane Kiffin that pissed away the Sugar Bowl by refusing to give the ball to future Heisman alien Derrick Henry. This is still the same Sam Leavitt who never met an interception he didn’t want to toss. And with a healthier ‘Bama team, this should be just another bug hunt.

Hope for the best,
RTR