LSU football: Dear Andre Anthony: It’s how you finish that matters

Dear Andre Anthony,

This is it.

It’s your time to shine – finally.

You have an opportunity to help lead an LSU revival.

You came to LSU as a 4-star recruit because of your size, strength and speed.

But the assets that have served you best have been your patience, perseverance and maturity.

Now is your chance to blend your physical abilities and your character traits into one heck of a final season.

You’re the oldest Tiger, ready to turn 25 the day after the game against ULM (Nov. 21).

You probably figured you’d be an NFL veteran by now, but you’ve taken a road less traveled since arriving in Baton Rouge.

That can be a good thing.

You’ve seen a lot during your career – 2 head coaches, 3 defensive coordinators, 3 position coaches, a position switch, a national championship, a historically bad follow-up to that championship and, of course, COVID.

“I’ve been through some stuff,” you said.

You sure have.

But here you are, days away from starting your second senior season against UCLA in the Rose Bowl – and all is well.

You were one of the better players on an admittedly bad defense last season, but you’re poised to be one of the better players on a much better defense – maybe even a really good one – this season.

Sure, your career defensive stats – 18 games, 47 tackles, 7 sacks – aren’t a whole lot to show for 5 seasons. But what matters most is how you finish, not how you start.

Your stats from last season – 8 games, 24 tackles, 5.5 sacks – suggest someone taking advantage of a long-awaited opportunity, but more than that has LSU excited about the upcoming final act in your distinctive story.

You redshirted as a true freshman after some of your high-school credits didn’t translate to LSU. An injury cost you the next season.

A lot of guys might have started looking to transfer after that disappointing start, or especially after being stuck behind more experienced players for another 2 years.

But you didn’t. You stayed. You waited. You kept waiting, kept learning, kept improving.

Along the way you added 50 pounds to your 6-3 frame and now at 255 pounds you’re going to be a handful for blockers.

It looks like you’re going to start at one defensive end and Ali Gaye will start at the other. BJ Ojulari will join you guys in a 3-man rotation that should cause opposing blockers fits.

In fact, you guys are loaded across the defensive line. The depth there might be the biggest strength of this team.

You’ve said it yourself during this preseason camp. You’ve talked about the line setting the tone for the defense, praising the depth at every position and saying “we’re all the same and there’s no weakness, no weak links.”

It sure looks that way.

You guys feed off each other. Your new defensive line coach, Andre Carter, loves that. So does your new coordinator, Daronte Jones.

It didn’t take them long to figure out you were a guy they could lean on as a leader.

This offseason and preseason have been filled with constant communication about how poor the communication was last season between the defensive coaching staff and the defensive players.

“Last year everyone was on different pages,” you said.

But you’ve praised “the trust” between the new coaches and the players.

Everyone has.

You played at one of the premier high-school programs in Louisiana (Edna Karr) and made the short trip to LSU from your hometown of New Orleans.

You probably expected this opportunity to come a lot sooner than it has.

But it’s here now.

This is your last year.

Everything is in place for you and your teammates to make LSU proud.

Everybody has the Tigers in their Top 25. This defense should look like an LSU defense is supposed to look. The line should lead the way, just as LSU lines usually do.

You should be one of the top playmakers on that line and show those NFL folks that you are worth waiting for.

You’ve learned a lot of lessons during your Tigers career. You have the talent, the experience, the maturity, and now the opportunity.

“It’s been a journey for me,” you said. “I’m proud of myself.”

You should be.

Now go get ’em.

Les East

Les East is a New Orleans-based football writer who covers LSU for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow him on Twitter @Les_East.