| There's one question I get more than anything these days, even the question of "How do you look so youthful and vibrant at your rapidly advancing age?" I'll tell you how: lots of walking, water and cherry tomatoes. The top question on my hit parade is: "How good are the Tigers going to be this year?" My real answer is "I don't know." But coming up on the outside are the parallels between these 2023 LSU Tigers and the 2019 championship-trophy hogging version. As a reminder, I'm not putting the Curse of the Bambino or anything on LSU. Having another 2019 season is a pretty unreachable star for this LSU team, any team. But there are some things that are starting to remind me of how LSU shaped up heading into that 2019 season. I've compiled a list of a few thoughts for you on the subject, but of course you'll have to click through to see them. Brian Kelly and his staff have been on a heater lately with recruiting. Friday they reeled in another prospect for this 2023-24 recruiting cycle with the addition of four-star wide receiver Jelani Watkins, a Louisiana native living in Texas. All the intrigue and suspense surrounding Tigers' running back John Emery has been like its own little subculture as far as LSU football has been concerned this offseason. Emery was back at practice, his first preseason practice, on Friday morning. The questions now shift to how did he look and where do he the Tigers go from here? Our Wilson Alexander has some answers. Finally, we're down to about four weeks until LSU's Sept. 3 season opener in Orlando against Florida State (Got your tickets? For Walt Disney World, I mean, not the game). Our countdown to kickoff is now down to No. 29, former LSU All-American defensive back and football pioneer Mike Williams. Well, kids, we're all out of time today. Thanks as always for subscribing and reading. You're the cherry tomato of our eye, unless of course you don't like tomatoes. Then you're just the water. Have a great sports weekend and we'll do this again next week. Scott Rabalais | 
