Two of LSU’s smallest players making a big impact

Redshirt sophomore receiver Aaron Anderson is 5-foot-8, but he keeps making big catches. Freshman running back Caden Durham is five-foot-nine and he came up big last Saturday in the Tigers 36-33 win over South Carolina.

Anderson was rated as Louisiana’s top high school player in the Class of 2022 coming out of Edna Karr High School. The five-star wide receiver chose Alabama over LSU, but after one season in Tuscaloosa, Anderson returned to his home state.

But Anderson didn’t have the impact on the 2023 LSU team as many expected. He muffed a punt in the season opener against Florida State and only caught 12 passes on the season.

After LSU played Alabama, coach Nick Saban told Anderson he would be playing if he stayed in Tuscaloosa.

I was concerned Anderson would be buried at the bottom of the depth chart again this year with Kyren Lacy, CJ Daniels, Chris Hilton, and Zavion Thomas ahead of him. But an injury during training camp to Hilton, gave Anderson to show why he was a five-star receiver coming out of high school.

Coach Brian Kelly thought this would be a breakout season for Anderson, because of how he’s matured.

“Going to class, being on time, his practice habits, framing the ball, catching the ball, it’s just everything, it’s just a natural maturity that comes with being in the program, you can see it coming, I had a sense that this was going to show itself for him where there’s going to be more production, because his process was so much better,” Kelly said.

Anderson has already surpassed his reception total from last year as he has 15 catches and leads the team in receiving yards with 223 yards and one touchdown.

Durham didn’t play in the season opener but leads the Tigers in rushing after a stellar performance against South Carolina. The four-star prospect out of Texas had 98 yards rushing and two touchdowns against the Gamecocks. According to Pro Football Focus, 50 of those yards came after contact.

Kelly liked how Durham broke tackles and made defenders miss, but he’s not ready to make him the primary running back.

“I don’t think we are at a point where he’s going to be the guy, I think we are going to still have all of those guys that are going to be a part of it, but he certainly saw the things that were looking for” Kelly said.

That means expect to see Josh Williams and Kaleb Jackson continue to get carries, but if Durham keeps breaking tackles he’ll break into the starting lineup.