LSU coach Ed Orgeron discusses which newcomers have impressed

Orgeron pointed out some key names this week.

The LSU Tigers are back on the field.

No, fall camp hasn’t officially begun, but the team is back together for walkthroughs before camp does actually start.

LSU head coach Ed Orgeron was on his weekly spot on ‘Off the Bench’ on ESPN 104.5 Baton Rouge with hosts Jordy Culotta and T-Bob Hebert and discussed which of LSU’s freshmen have impressed him thus far.

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Two quarterbacks, TJ Finley and Max Johnson have both caught Orgeron’s attention.

“We have a ball but we’re not throwing it, we’re not going full speed, so you can’t grade accuracy,” Orgeron said. “But, I’m really impressed with these two young quarterbacks. Max Johnson has a presence about him that when you walk out on the field you can tell he’s a quarterback, and TJ Finley has thrown the ball very, very well, and he’s lost some weight.”

With so many players off to the NFL after LSU’s historic run to the national championship last year, Orgeron knows he is going to need contributions from this freshmen class and he believes that is not going to be a problem.

“We have got some excellent players that are going to add depth to our team, and some of them are going to start,” he said.

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One of those players is tight end Arik Gilbert, a five-star recruit, who has an opportunity to start as a true freshman with the departure of Thad Moss.

But the head coach also sees a big role for defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy.

“Jaquelin Roy looks like an NFL player already,” Orgeron said.

It’s encouraging that Orgeron believes there will be several freshmen making an immediate impact for LSU this fall as the Tigers lost some of the most prolific players in school history.

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