Rumor Mill Sez: Jordan Jefferson’s Charges Getting Dropped This Week
Not putting this out there as fact, just passing along that there’s a story kicking around in Baton Rouge legal circles to the effect that the district attorney’s office isn’t going to press the case any further.
Whether that’s because the grand jury won’t return an indictment or the DA’s office doesn’t think they can get a conviction is unknown.
It’s been pretty clear for some time that Jefferson won’t get convicted. There’s as much evidence he didn’t kick anybody in the head in that bar fight as there is that he did. And the BRPD clearly overcharged him when they went for a 2nd degree battery charge rather than just a misdemeanor battery summons like almost everybody else who gets in a bar fight gets. It’s clear that was a completely botched case on the part of the Baton Rouge Police Department and the stink of the error wafts all the way up to Mayor-President Kip Holden, who seems to be doing everything he can to create a leadership vacuum in East Baton Rouge Parish on virtually every front.
Was Jefferson involved in that fight? That seems to be the case. And it also seems – more than seems, actually – that Jefferson attempted to conceal his involvement in the fight from LSU head coach Les Miles. Which, combined with Jefferson’s having violated Miles’ curfew on the night of that ill-fated trip to Shady’s Bar, gives Miles more than enough ammunition to have suspended Jefferson.
Strangely, LSU looks like a lot better offensive team with Jarrett Lee taking over for Jefferson as the starting quarterback. The Tigers look a lot like the team they were when Lee came off the bench last year, only he’s clearly improved this season.
And if Jefferson’s charges are dropped and Miles welcomes him back to the team, which he will do, it will be interesting to see how he’s integrated back into the offense.
Lee has to remain the starter at quarterback. You don’t beat three Top 25 teams on the road and put your team at #1 in the AP poll while hitting 64 percent of your passes and boasting a 6-1 TD-to-interception ratio and then lose your job. Not gonna happen, and it shouldn’t.
But after a couple of weeks of getting back into football shape, Jefferson is probably going to expect to play this year. If he doesn’t, one wonders whether he’ll want to redshirt this season and compete for the job with Zack Mettenberger next year. Or maybe use the NCAA exception to the transfer rule for student-athletes who have gotten degrees to ply his trade as a free agent and land at another program in need of a quarterback next fall.
Miles has to be watching this situation and seeing it for the double-edged sword it is. He’s got an offense that really looks like it’s evolving into a good one. Perhaps not a 500 yards-per-game offense, but then again between the defense getting four turnovers a game and the potency of Brad Wing as a weapon to control field position with it’s going to be difficult to get 500 yards a game under any circumstances. If your average starting field position is the 50 yard line, which isn’t quite what LSU is averaging but it’s pretty close, then at around 12 possessions a game on average you’d have to score a touchdown on every possession to get to 600 yards of offense. That would mean scoring 84 points a game. Nobody would expect LSU to do that; scoring half that much and maybe getting a first down on the rest would mean 360 or so yards per game.
Guess what? LSU is averaging 350 yards per game and they’re at 38.8 points a game. You can’t ask for a lot more production than they’re giving, particularly against the competition so far – two games against teams who will win 10 or more games and win their conferences, plus a likely bowl team out of the SEC, and none of them at home.
Russell Shepard just came back, and while he didn’t look like he was in midseason form yet that will likely come pretty soon, and the rest of LSU’s receivers look like they’re getting better every game. So does Lee. And that smash-mouth offensive identity LSU currently has is a welcome change from the schizoid offense they’ve had the past three years under Gary Crowton.
But Jefferson was LSU’s starting quarterback the last two years and he was the guy expected to lead this team right up until a week before the season started. It’s a bit hard to have him back on the team and sit him on the bench for his final season and not expect an erosion of team chemistry. He’s got friends on the team and they see his situation as a terrible injustice regardless of how happy they might be with the job Lee is doing.
Of course, you’re going to need depth at quarterback like any other position on the field if you’re going to play an SEC schedule. Guys get hurt. Lee could turn an ankle or get his bell rung, and while Mettenberger looks like he could be a superstar when his time comes you’d like to have a senior available in reserve.
It’s a delicate situation. And while you’d hope Jefferson understands that circumstances have dictated his role on this year’s team might not be what he expected it to be, a week or so ago when his lawyer Lewis Unglesby decided to make a PR push to LSU to put him back on the team before first doing his job and getting those charges dropped it was an indication maybe that hope might not be as grounded in reality as you’d like.
Miles and his staff prepared an offense this season based on Jefferson’s capabilities. One imagines much of that was shelved when Lee took over, because he’s not going to run like Jefferson can. And maybe a package including that stuff that Jefferson can come in and run starting in, say, the Tennessee game or Auburn game might be enough to both boost the offense and give him a chance to showcase his development.
But there’s a reason why most coaches don’t like a two-quarterback system. Offenses work best, in most cases, when the quarterback is managing the game. And so far this looks like Lee’s offense and it’s better than LSU has had since 2007. So to dilute that with a recently-returned Jefferson who runs a different style than Lee is running while asking the backs, receivers and line to master both in practice, as politically helpful as that might be, could go down as a real mistake.
Let’s just hope that Jefferson – and Lee, for that matter – are more interested in maintaining that No. 1 ranking than individual considerations like playing time or statistics.
And let’s hope the people of Baton Rouge get a look at the performance of the BRPD and its political supervisors in this episode and deliver a crushing rebuke in next year’s elections.
“And let’s hope the people of Baton Rouge get a look at the performance of the BRPD and its political supervisors in this episode and deliver a crushing rebuke in next year’s elections.”
Go ahead and hope for world peace while you’re at it ….
“And let’s hope the people of Baton Rouge get a look at the performance of the BRPD and its political supervisors in this episode and deliver a crushing rebuke in next year’s elections.”
Go ahead and hope for world peace while you’re at it ….
“And let’s hope the people of Baton Rouge get a look at the performance of the BRPD and its political supervisors in this episode and deliver a crushing rebuke in next year’s elections.”
Go ahead and hope for world peace while you’re at it ….
In my opinion, Lee should remain the #1 quarterback. He’s doing a good job and seems to be improving every week.
Lee was voted captain for a reason – he should stay and lead. I will never forget Jefferson’s actions after bad plays last year: yelling at WRs, hanging his head, whining… Captains lead.
Good job. I believe the biggest mistakes in this imbroglio were made by the EBRPD.
DNA for a bar fight? That should have immediately triggered everyone’s b.s. meter.
I always knew that when Jefferson
as QB for LSU would return all the comments would fly behind why ruin a good
thing – this is a popularity contest right now, is it not?!
Well, we are not ruining a good thing; we are making our offense
stronger. Tell me who the second leading rusher was last year, tell me our past
MVP, tell me who has thrown for 3 touchdown passes – twice once in a Bowl Game.
I would like to
challenge anyone to give me a real scenario where a starter would be injured
then fully healed in four weeks or five and not start the game because his
backup did well. Would the Saints do it, would Dallas, would the Panthers?! I don’t even
think Steve Spurrier and his unwit ways would do that!
The answer is no, you don’t bench your hard work during off
season! Everyone that has ever played a sport
knows that the starting job is earned in practice by hard work and improved performance
skills…
At minimum, Jordan Jefferson deserves the benefit of at
least earning his position on the team without the public scrutiny and with our faith in LSU’s coaching staff. Anything else would be an injustice to all the players hard work,
and added punishment on Jefferson from the miss accusation … He earned the right to play people over 7 months, not in five short weeks. Lets see what he can do!
If JJ is innocent, he should be back on the team, but he shouldn’t just be given the starting job back unless he earns it. Through 4 games, Lee has earned the job.
There’s a big difference between Drew Brees and Chase Daniel (NO’s backup) that would almost certainly guarantee that Brees would be the starter after an injury. You can’t say the same about Jefferson and Lee because they’re in a much closer competition for the job.
I want LSU to win, and I have no problem with JJ being the starter over Lee if he’s the better QB. But at this point, I have seen Lee do nothing to warrant JJ moving ahead of him. We’re winning convincingly over quality opponents.
I will accept your challenge and give you the example of a QB losing a starting job due to an injury: Drew Bledsoe lost his job to Tom Brady, and the rest is history.
Perhaps you have also heard of Wally Pipp… you know, the guy who was injured and lost his job to Lou Gehrig??? This happens all the time in sports. LSU isn’t little league where everyone gets to play. You go with what works, and right now Lee is what works. That doesn’t mean things can’t change during the season, but Miles will risk messing up a formula that is working very nicely right now.
My only problem with your article is the assumption that Jefferson was involved and that he lied about it.
If you just take the initial report at face value–that he told his dad he didn’t know anything–then that is understandable. However, the full quotes–that he didn’t know anything about the fight and tried to get his guys away from it and then left as soon as he saw it going down–and context from John Jefferson are completely consistent with Jefferson’s claim of innocence all along.
More importantly TWENTY-FIVE eye-witnesses have sworn that he wasn’t involved.
It’s time to end this and get the young man back on his team.
I’ll trust LSU’s most successful coach and acclaimed fair and honorable guy, Les Miles figure out what to do from there.
Only problem is that the majority of those 25 witnesses are football players. It’s hard to say they’re not biased.
Miles won’t blow this call – he can use Jefferson for down field blocking on Mark Barron and other defensive studs that get in the way of running backs – about all he is good for at this point
That’s Hilarious - so are you admitting that Lee missed or was scared to block on the end around play Saturday night?
And that he’s not as fast as Jefferson, and that he has -4 yards to date , and that he was never going to start in the first place before all these false accusations. And by the way, he broke curfew too Don. My son seen him out that Friday night.
Our best chances are to play the best player, not my favorite son. and the team is behind Jordan likely to be even more energized when he returns.
This is FOOTBALL, not Dancing with the Stars!
The team is NOT behind Jefferson. Just look at the WRs after JJ made a bad pass or decision last year, or how JJ would yell at his teammates on the field. Compare that with Lee. Even after Randle dropped the easy knockout-TD against WVU, Lee went over and gave him some encouragement.
Remember, Jefferson is the person who had a link on his Facebook page to an article that claimed he was a legitimate Heisman contender. I doubt Andrew Luck or any real Heisman hopefuls are that caught up in themselves.
Lee is DEFINITELY not the favorite son. If he was, he would have started more games last year because he was much more effective when we actually need to rally from behind (think Tennessee and Florida). Miles has been loyal to a fault with JJ.
Of course Lee is going to have negative rushing yards. They aren’t going to call any designed run plays with Lee at QB. He’ll either get sacked or scramble for a few yards occasionally. Same goes for Drew Brees and Tom Brady last time I checked… would you rather have Tavaris Jackson as your QB?
When JJ’s in the game, LSU’s going to throw less and run with the QB more, so obviously JJ’s running stats are going to be better. That’s a poor argument for why JJ should start over Lee.
While an extra block from a QB is nice, I’m a lot more interested in how he throws the ball, manages the offense, and leads the team. I want everyone else to know how to block.
Personally, I don’t think either Lee or Jefferson is a very good QB. They are each manageable, but their success is predicated on how well the defense plays and running game works. Jefferson can’t throw, Lee can’t run, and the offense is completely different depending on who’s in at QB.
In the past when using his 2-QB system with Jefferson and Lee,Miles has stated he would play whoever had the hot hand. Right now, Lee has the hot hand and should continue to start.
That’s Hilarious - so are you admitting that Lee missed or was scared to block on the end around play Saturday night?
And that he’s not as fast as Jefferson, and that he has -4 yards to date , and that he was never going to start in the first place before all these false accusations. And by the way, he broke curfew too Don. My son seen him out that Friday night.
Our best chances are to play the best player, not my favorite son. and the team is behind Jordan likely to be even more energized when he returns.
This is FOOTBALL, not Dancing with the Stars!
I have read everything I can find on this topic. I still have not seen a shred of evidence indicating Jordan Jefferson’s guilt, other than the statements given by the plaintiffs and their friends. Further, the Marine reservist plaintiff has been caught in several misleading of false statements that are now part of the public domain.
If Jordan Jefferson is exonerated fully, why should he not rejoin his team and help defend their number one ranking as his coach deems fit?
Because he is a bad player?
Please, he had a chance to become LSU’s winningest quarterback if he had not been so unfortunate.
I don’t think anyone has a problem with Jefferson rejoining the team if he is exonerated. The question is whether he should be the starting QB.
[...] Rumor Mill Sez: Jordan Jefferson’s Charges Getting Dropped This Week [...]
I never believed Jordan was involved in the fight, however, he did break curfew and that is not setting a good example for his team (as captain he should have known better). I would love to see him back on the LSU team, but as a back-up quarterback. Lee has earned his place on the team and doing a great job!
I never believed Jordan was involved in the fight, however, he did break curfew and that is not setting a good example for his team (as captain he should have known better). I would love to see him back on the LSU team, but as a back-up quarterback. Lee has earned his place on the team and doing a great job!
Curfew!!! So did Lee and Mett – ask around – That’s a lame excuse to not play the better player.
Jefferson earned the position in Spring, summer and fall camp — what would you tell him?! you broke curfew like Lee, but you are not playing right now after working your butt off and earning it because some guy said you hit him and the whole world thinks you are guilty>>>>> NOT! I like that saying – THIS IS FOOTBALL not DANCING WITH THE STARS!!!
The whole team broke curfew. Apparently, it’s a tradition that the TEAM breaks curfew the last night of two-a-days, so I don’t think that’s a big deal at all. If JJ is innocent, and I hope he is, he should be allowed back on the team immediately, and I’m sure he will be. However, JJ is responsible for being at the scene and being implicated in the fight, so that’s on him, even if he wasn’t involved. If he hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have gotten arrested. Regardless of what some may say, the cops don’t go looking to arrest people for no reason.
However, the reason JJ has lost his job as the starter is because Lee has earned it, and that’s exactly what I would tell him. This happens in sports all the time. JJ may have won the job in the spring, but we’re now 4 games into the season and Lee has proved himself to this point. Performance during games matters a lot more than during spring practice. Quite simply, JJ hasn’t played as well in any 4-game stretch during his time at LSU as Lee has this so far this season.
I have still NOT heard what the “racial slurr” was that was hurled at the football players for “someone.”
Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Hugh Buckingham
This will be a tough call for Miles to make. One way to look at it would be to ask what you would do if JJ had pulled a groin muscle the week before Oregon and had missed the first four games but was now ready to go. Many coaches would give him a chance to start. But after three straight years of quarterback misery Lee has taken us to a # 1 ranking and given us the best quarterbacking we’ve seen since Matt Flynn. How do you bench him in favor of a guy who got into a mess by breaking curfew? The other thing to consider is that the coaching staff is privy to details of the fight which we don’t know. Just because the DA doesn’t prosecute, or the grand jury doesn’t convict won’t necessarily mean that Jefferson did not engage in misconduct. It will be interesting to see what Miles does and, also, how Jefferson will react if he doesn’t get the starter role. If it were me, I would follow Belichick’s example after Tom Brady replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe.
Yes it will be interesting – and I can see it now, if Les puts him in because he’s outperforming Lee in practice ( as any coach should) some fans will have a fit. But Les has his own mind and will likely do whatever he wants. On his coaches show yesterday he mentioned that the players would come back to their respective roles — I dont know if that means a starter, but its likely he will play. As far as some fans, they want him to stay in the arrest mode so Lee can keep the spot – that tells you that given a side by side – apparently the diehard Lee fans think Jefferson can outplay him, or they wouldn’t even bother . That’s wrong!
Meanwhile our total offense in the SEC is 7th and
8th as of today - and guess what, most of
the teams we will be playing are ahead of us on offence – BAMA, AUBURN, FLORIDA, ARKANSAS….
Unfortunately as an LSU football lover we better stay with Team LSU and not my favorite player needs to play despite the rest. if Jefferson can open up our running and
passing lanes with his duo threat like in the Cotton Bowl – I’d say let’s see what he can do.
LSU has played half the ranked teams on its schedule already this season. Being 8th in the league in total offense is anything but an indictment of their play – and furthermore, as explained in the article when you’re getting the ball at midfield or close to it all game long you’re not going to lead the league in total offense and you really don’t have to.
So you admit that they’ve had an easy way to pay dirt right? Case and point – We played a very worn down Miss State team 5 days after they played Auburn and we only scored 19 points. Auburn scored in the 30s 5 days earlier when there Defense was very fresh at Miss state. Heck, La tech almost beat MS. Go look and see if Wing was kicking that game. He was not, was he?! … 19 points is not going to cut it with Bama and Florida because their offenses are better than MS’s and they will likely score more than 19. Their rushing defense and strong linebackers (some say best in the SEC) will not allow us to play the vanilla offense and beat them like we have been playing.
This is not a down on Lee, he’s fine person from what I read and hear and has great character. Its my opinion that we need to play our best player period. And if its Lee so be it, but I don’t think it is right now. Les and Krot would not have named Jefferson starter 5 weeks back if he wasn’t better. You haven’t seen Jefferson play this year since the cotton bowl, how can you honestly say Lee is better?! you cant.
Lee already has more passing TD’s the Jefferson had all last season. Jefferson has proven he can only play solid in games that he has weeks to prepare. His demeanor and character will not be good for the team moving forward. Lee has stepped up and performed. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
Drew Bledsoe was better than Tom Brady in practice, or Bill Belichick would’ve played Brady as starter before Bledsoe was injured, right? Trent Green (I was a big fan of Green) must have been better than Kurt Warner before Green was injured and Warner led “The Greatest Show on Turf.” And Jefferson may be better than Lee in practice, too. But to quote Allen Iverson, “We’re talking about practice!” It’s game time now, and Lee is delivering wins.
Oh, and those two young men (including a Marine) probably beat the crap out of themselves. Like women who show up at work bruised repeatedly after “falling.” No, none of the players were involved, these guys just “fell.” We should be so proud. At best, certain recent LSU quarterbacks and others have had a knack for putting themselves in bad situations (being kind here) because they believe they’re above the rules. I can’t imagine why they’d think that. Some of you think Perrilloux shouldn’t have been dismissed, either. What a shame we’re even having the discussion.
For those who think Jefferson should start if he is reinstated-you have to be out of you minds!!!!!! Why stop a rolling train???? Until Lee gets hurt or plays very bad, then he is the starter-PERIOD!!!
Go ahead and drink the CoolAid on Lee ! Newsflash – Our offense was about the same last year if not a little better last year after four games. we are behind bama, florida, even auburn on total offense — Do your homework please! or become a Bama fan!
Its our defense that is giving the Tigers the #1. I bet you Southestern’s offense down in Hammond could win with this tiger defense….. wake up!
Nobody’s saying Lee is a Heisman candidate, but there is no reason to make a change if JJ comes back. JJ started every game last season… 7 TDs, 10 INTs. Through 4 games Lee has 6 TDs, 1 INT. Ever heard of Wally Pipp? If not, you should google him.
Nobody can legitimately make the claim that LSU’s offense hasn’t been very effective this season so far. Like the article alluded, you don’t get as many opportunites to put up big yardage when your defense and special teams score or create short fields to work with. Look at West Virginia. Would you rather throw for 460+ yards and lose 47-21, or throw for 180 yds, 3 TDs, and, oh by the way, win the game?
Quite simply, Bama, Florida, and Auburn haven’t played the schedule LSU has. They run up stats on weaker opposition. LSU has now outscored both the PAC-10′s best team and the Big East’s best team by a combined score of 87-48.
Good article, intelligent comments to be sure to read – not a bunch of trash as has been on so many posts during this period. We are getting down to the wire now!
Good article, intelligent comments to be sure to read – not a bunch of trash as has been on so many posts during this period. We are getting down to the wire now!
I can only hope that the Student Government or the Athletic Director and/or other higher-ups at LSU
will be the ones to make the decision on Jefferson. I would want to take all of this out of Miles’s hands.
[...] out fantastically for LSU in the first four games of the season with Jarrett Lee at the helm, and we’ve had a great discussion about that fact in our other thread on this subject this week. Nobody should want Lee to give up the starting quarterback job at this point, and Miles [...]