Good news on Arik Gilbert
HOOVER, Ala. – It appears questions over whether or not LSU transfer Arik Gilbert will be eligible for this fall can now be put to rest.
“I fully expect for him to be ready to start the season,” head coach Kirby Smart told reporters during SEC Media Days Tuesday at the Wynfrey Hotel.
That certainly qualifies as great news for the Bulldogs.
Although he played tight end his freshman year with the Tigers, Smart confirmed that the Marietta native is indeed working at wide receiver. At LSU last season, Gilbert caught 35 passes for 368 yards and two scores.
“He’s a playmaker—a guy who you need to get the ball in his hands. He’s worked out with the wide receiver group; that’s where he indicated he wanted to work and train at. That’s been a big part of what he wants to do,” Smart said. “We’ve got to find out if he can sustain, if he’s got the stamina at that position to play that position, to play the X, to play the Z, play the slot. We’ll find ways to move him around. When you have a coordinator like Coach (Todd) Monken, that’s what he does.
“When you’re in the NFL, you’ve got guys all over. You’ve got Mike Evans over here, you’ve got people you’ve got to move around. We know Arik Gilbert is going to be a big part of that.”
Quarterback JT Daniels joked during his meeting with the media that answering questions about his new teammates appeared to be the topic du jour.
“I’m talking more about Arik than anything else today,” said Daniels, who could not be more thrilled with having Gilbert at his disposal this fall.
“He fits right in,” Daniels continued. “He spends a lot of time with Coach (Cortez) Hankton and Coach (Todd) Hartley. He learns stuff fast. This is a difficult offense, but he takes the time to learn it. He gets it. I don’t even need to speak about his talent—that’s obvious. But the mental side of the game, he’s phenomenal.”
The physical, Smart said, is not bad either.
“With Arik, anytime you can get a skilled player that can do things with the ball, you’re always looking to be dynamic,” Smart said. “You look at teams that have won the national championship recently, they’re most dynamic on offense and the skill positions.”
