Tragic Injury News For LSU Starting Running Back

Many LSU football fans are still recovering from the Tigers losing their first game of the 2024 season. But today they got a double-dose of bad news, as long time LSU running back John Emery, Jr will be lost for the year, again.

Emery has suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, which is an injury he's dealt with before. During last season, Emery tore his right ACL playing against the Florida Gators. At practice this week, Emery reportedly tore his left ACL.

The former Destrehan High School running back was one of the top 5 rated running back recruits in the country when he committed to LSU. He was ranked as one of the top 5 running backs in the nation, which at the time, made him the highest rated running back recruited to the team since Leonard Fournette. He was a full 5-star recruit according to high school recruiting publications like 247Sports.

Emery played his first game with LSU in 2019, and is one of only two remaining players from the 2019 National Championship team (with fellow running back Josh Williams being the other). During that National Championship season, Emery played in 10 games running for 188 yards and 4 touchdowns. That included one rushing touchdown against Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff Semifinal.

Over his entire LSU career, Emery ran for 1,123 yards and caught 330 yards worth of passes. He has 16 total touchdowns to his credit as well.

Emery went into this season as the starting running back for LSU, and was expected to be a big part of their offensive attack. Now the team will shift to senior running back Josh Williams and sophomore Kaleb Jackson to lead with rushing attack.