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Breaking down LSU’s offensive outlook over the next three seasons

LSU hired a coach with a solid offensive track record, and that unit is expected to take a leap forward this year.

There were a number of factors that made former Notre Dame coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] an appealing option in Baton Rouge. His track record of success in South Bend — where he’s the winningest coach in program history with a national title appearance and two College Football Playoff berths — and recruiting ability certainly moved the needle.

Though Kelly is a defensive coach, he has historically had productive offenses. That side of the ball took a step back for the Tigers over the last two seasons, but with an influx of talent paired with the addition of Kelly and offensive coordinator [autotag]Mike Denbrock[/autotag], who had a great deal of success with Cincinnati, that could be changing in the near future.

In its power rankings of college football offenses over the next three seasons, ESPN ranked LSU among the top 25, standing at No. 16.

2022 future QB ranking: 16
2021 future offense ranking: 11

Scouting the Tigers: Brian Kelly has produced solid to excellent offenses throughout his coaching career, and aims to replicate his success on the Bayou. His first LSU offense features plenty of talented pieces, but how they come together in Year 1 and beyond will be fascinating. The quarterback room is quite full, as LSU has two veteran options for 2022 in Myles Brennan, who returns from injury, and Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels, a three-year starter trying to recapture his 2019 form. The future at QB also looks bright with Garrett Nussmeier and incoming freshman Walker Howard, both ESPN top-65 national recruits in the past two classes. Whoever wins the job this year will throw to one of college football’s best receivers in Kayshon Boutte, who had nine touchdown receptions in only six games last fall. Receptions leader Jack Bech returns as a sophomore, and LSU has several other interesting non-seniors, including Brian Thomas Jr. and Malik Nabers. Also, ESPN 300 junior Omarion Miller is committed to LSU.

The big short-term areas of concern are the offensive line and tight end. LSU has some versatile linemen such as sophomore Garrett Dellinger and junior Anthony Bradford, who can play both guard and tackle. Kelly and line coach Brad Davis, a holdover from the previous staff, need transfers Miles Frazier (Florida International) and Tre’Mond Shorts (East Tennessee State) to pan out this coming season. LSU also could get a boost if oft-injured senior Cam Wire stays healthy. There’s good news in recruiting, as LSU added five-star tackle Will Campbell (ESPN’s No. 13 overall recruit) and four-star guard Emery Jones in the 2022 class. Tight ends Kole Taylor and Jack Mashburn both played 12 games last fall but have room to grow, and LSU has a commitment from Mac Markway, ESPN’s No. 121 junior prospect. Running back John Emery Jr. returns after academic issues cost him all of last season. LSU also added Penn State transfer Noah Cain, who rushed for eight touchdowns as a freshman in 2019.

The unit has a lot of potential in 2022 with talent at the skill positions (including one of college football’s best receivers in Boutte). The Tigers have options at quarterback, and if they have a good enough offensive line to keep that passer upright, this could be a group that surprises some folks this season.

Whether that pans out or not, with Kelly’s recruiting and proven aptitude in the transfer portal, this should be an offense set to be among the best in the nation over the next few years, especially with the likely quarterback of the future already on campus in Howard.

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Ranking LSU’s top-five quarterback recruits since 2000

LSU hasn’t produced many elite quarterbacks over the years, but it has certainly recruited a handful.

LSU is one of the most talented programs in college football year in and year out. The Tigers have produced countless NFL stars at positions all over the field.

They have an especially impressive track record when it comes to receivers, running backs and defensive backs. However, one position that LSU is not nearly as well known for is the quarterback spot.

While [autotag]Joe Burrow[/autotag] looks to change that after taking the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl in his first fully healthy year as the starter, there hasn’t been a long list of notable players that were signal-callers for LSU.

With that being said, the Tigers have certainly recruited some talented quarterback prospects over the years. Here are the five best, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

What will LSU’s quarterback room look like if Jayden Daniels wins the job?

Myles Brennan could be a transfer candidate if Daniels is able to secure the starting spot.

When [autotag]Myles Brennan[/autotag] announced that he would be returning to LSU, much of the fan base and people that write about the team pegged him as the favorite to win the job, and with good reason.

Brennan is a sixth-year player who has talent and some starts under his belt. It’s not clear what his ceiling is, but his three starts in 2020 showed a solid floor.

With blue-chip recruits like [autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag] and [autotag]Walker Howard[/autotag] in the room with Brennan, it looked like LSU was fine at quarterback wasn’t going to go after one in the transfer portal.

The Tigers were only going to go get a quarterback if it really liked the guy. [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] found that in [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag]. LSU wouldn’t have gone out and got Daniels if it didn’t think he would make the team better.

Does that mean the coaching staff thinks Daniels is better than Brennan? That’s not clear yet, but it’s certainly possible.

Because of the circumstances, it could be assumed that Daniels is the favorite to win this job. Which raises the question, what does Myles Brennan do if he’s the backup?

If spring practice concludes and Brennan senses that the competition is trending in Daniels’ direction, he could still transfer. Even with all the transfer activity that’s already been seen, there’s still another wave to come.

That would probably be Brennan’s last chance at a transfer, and he’s had a lot of them over the years. If he waits until September, it’ll be too late, as he has until May 1 to transfer and play next season.

He could always stay. Just because Daniels wins the job doesn’t mean he’s going to be good. Daniels could struggle and Brennan could take the job that way. At second string, Brennan would also just be one snap away if an injury were to happen to Daniels.

Brennan is out of eligibility after this year. This is it. It’s doubtful that he has any interest in being a backup or sitting out yet another year.

Because of that, it could actually be likely that he transfers after spring. If he doesn’t know that he’s going to win, why risk it if there’s a place he knows he can go, win the starting job, and put something on tape for the NFL?

From LSU’s point of view, Brennan sticking around is ideal. The last couple of years have shown it’s never a bad thing to have more than one option at quarterback.

The writing may be on the wall. Daniels didn’t come here to watch Brennan play, and Brennan didn’t come back to watch a transfer swoop in and start. Something has to give, and an answer might be coming soon.

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Kayshon Boutte cracks Bleacher Report’s list of top big-play threats

Primed for a big season, Kayshon Boutte ranks No. 5 on the big-play threat list.

LSU’s Kayshon Boutte was one of the most dominant receivers in college football last season, catching 38 passes for 309 yards and nine touchdowns.

He played only six games because of injury and still led LSU in touchdowns with nine. Boutte averaged 13.3 yards per catch in 2021, and if it were not for the injury, Boutte would have put up even better numbers and been one of the top receivers in the country.

Heading into 2022, he’s poised for a big season. Bleacher Report ranked college football’s top big-play threats, and Boutte came in at No. 5 on the list.

Here’s what Morgan Moriarty had to say about Boutte.

LSU’s Kayshon Boutte was on this list last year, but his 2021 season didn’t pan out as expected because he suffered an ankle injury against Kentucky in early October.

Before the injury, Boutte was on pace to have an even bigger season than he did as a true freshman, when he averaged 16.3 yards per catch.

In 2021, Boutte had 38 catches for 509 yards, averaging 13.4 yards and scoring nine touchdowns. Even though he played just six games, he still led the Tigers in receiving yards and touchdowns.

And Boutte averaged 21.2 yards on 10 catches and scored three touchdowns in the two games before his injury.

According to Pro Football Focus, he’s averaged 2.5 yards per route run with a 134.3 passer rating when targeted against press coverage. Since 2020, those figures rank sixth and second among Power Five wideouts.

LSU will have a few options at quarterback next season, including veteran Myles Brennan and youngsters Garrett Nussmeier and Walker Howard. As long as Boutte doesn’t have any lingering issues from his injury, he should again be LSU’s No. 1 receiver.

Boutte caught 45 passes for 735 yards in ten games as a freshman on 16.3 yards per catch. He also caught five touchdowns. In two years at LSU, the receiver has caught 83 balls for 1,244 and 14 touchdowns. Boutte did all this on 15 yards per catch.

Hopefully coming into next season healthy, he should put up big numbers for LSU. However, the Tigers do have to figure out the quarterback situation.

Veteran Myles Brennan is back along with Garrett Nussmeier, who played in four games last year as a freshman. Also, LSU has five-star quarterback Walker Howard looking to take over the quarterback position.

Regardless of who wins the job, though, that player will certainly target Boutte, LSU’s No. 1 receiver, quite a bit.

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LSU’s coaches discuss outlook on quarterbacks heading into 2022

Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and quarterback coach Joe Sloan discuss the approach at the game’s most important position during spring practice.

Tigers coach Brian Kelly introduced his offensive coaching staff on Thursday in a press conference, and one of the hottest topics of discussion was the quarterback position.

The battle for the starting spot there will certainly be interesting to watch. The early favorite has to be Myles Brennan, the sixth-year quarterback who briefly entered the transfer portal this offseason but ultimately chose to withdraw his name.

Brennan was seen as the heir apparent to Joe Burrow, and he began the 2020 season as the starter. However, his year was cut short with an injury, and he missed the entire 2021 season with a different injury. With him coming back, many see 2022 as his year.

But he won’t be without competition. The Tigers return redshirt freshman Garrett Nussmeier, who saw some action last season, and they also add five-star true freshman Walker Howard.

LSU’s offensive staff made it clear that it will be very much an open competition when spring practice begins on March 24, with offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock outlining what the staff will be looking for from the quarterback room.

“The different defensive looks, the multiplicity of looks at this level, understanding protections. We ask our quarterback to know how to protect himself and change the protection if he needs to,” Denbrock said, according to Sports Illustrated’s Glen West. “Spring football is going to be a little bit of us figuring out exactly what we can be and what we can become throughout the process of building this offense.

“We haven’t had an opportunity to really be out on the field and work with these guys all that much yet, but it’s coming, which is good. So, we can really gauge where that’s at, and then through giving the quarterbacks the information they need to be successful, give them opportunities within the spring to kind of show who really fits into what we’re best at doing. And, let that competition play its way out and make sure that the best guy is out there giving us the best chance to win.”

Meanwhile, quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan said his focus is on building a relationship with each player and assessing where they’re at and what they need to improve upon.

“I think right now what I’m focused on is the relationships with each one. Making sure they know me and I know them,” Sloan said. “Because that’s where it’s gonna start, that’s gonna be the foundation for helping them develop on the field and off the field. Finding their strengths and weaknesses and making sure they understand that so we can have communication on what can make them the absolute best that they can be.”

Brennan could be considered the favorite given his experience, but based on these sentiments, it seems like the quarterback battle could go beyond spring and into fall camp.

Regardless, the Tigers have talent at the position and should have a much better idea where each player stands when the team can finally get on the field with the new staff when spring practice begins next month.

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Previewing the 2022 roster: How does the quarterback situation look?

With the dust now settled, we begin to breakdown where LSU stands at each position.

Managing a quarterback room in 2022 resembles something more similar to a political art than coaching football.

Only one quarterback can play, and usually, there’s more than one that wants to. This has resulted in a quarterback carousel across the country.

Over the last couple of years, LSU has had a few guys decide to ride that carousel. Most notably, Max Johnson is now at Texas A&M. During the last offseason, TJ Finely transferred to Auburn.

Myles Brennan was in line to ride but opted to return to LSU after Johnson’s transfer and speaking with Kelly.

LSU, for now, is in good shape here. Brennan is a sixth-year player with plenty of arm talent. He waited for this opportunity, and he waited again.

When Joe Burrow came in 2018, many assumed Brennan would transfer. Some viewed it as a sign that LSU did not believe in Brennan and if he wasn’t ready then, he’d never be.In his three starts in 2020, he looked good in what turned out to be a bad situation. He was shaky in that loss to Mississippi State. He looked like one would expect a quarterback to make when making his first career start. As Brennan got his feet under him and started to settle in, he looked like an SEC quarterback.

Behind Brennan, sit Garrett Nussmeier and Walker Howard, two blue-chip recruits.

Eventually, either Nussmeier or Howard will eventually transfer. They’re both talented and after Brennan leaves, one of them will have to win the job.

If It’s Nussmeier, it’s plausible that Howard could stick around and wait it out, but it’s rare to see someone as highly recruited as Howard do that.

Nussmeier got a little time last year and showed his willingness to be a gunslinger, but outside of that, didn’t show much as LSU remained with Johnson under center.

Quarterbacks are almost impossible to predict. There’s never a sure thing. There have been too many five stars never to be heard of again after signing day. Each year, just look at all the QB’s in the portal that never panned out.

Nobody knows how Nussmeier’s or Howard’s careers will turn out. They could be first-round picks or they could finish their careers in the Sun Belt.

It’ll be interesting to see how hard LSU goes after a quarterback in the 2023 class. Obviously, everyone in college football would like Arch Manning on their team, but if LSU misses out on Manning, do they see it as necessary to get someone else?

One would also think LSU having Howard and Nussmeier is something Manning or any other 2023 signal-caller has to take into account. He’d enter his freshman year as the third-string QB, as opposed to some other spots, where he could have a much easier path to the field.

Last Word

LSU’s QB room is in good shape with a lot of talent, but it remains a possibility to turn volatile in 2023, or sooner if Brennan struggles this fall. There’s plenty of talent here, but it needs to be developed. LSU is one injury away from having less than three scholarship quarterbacks, again.

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Which new SEC West quarterbacks have the best chance to start

Previewing the new faces around the SEC West.

In the SEC West division, we have a lot of new faces in familiar places. In Baton Rouge, they have Myles Brennan and Garrett Nussmeier returning while adding 2022 five-star quarterback Walker Howard.

As a whole, we could see new starters in five of those seven schools. The Alabama Crimson Tide will return Bryce Young and Mississippi State Bulldogs have Will Rogers. We can skip past those quarterback situations, but we will circle back to Alabama in a moment.

A familiar face in a new place is former LSU quarterback Max Johnson, who started 15 straight games for the Tigers over two seasons. He now heads into another quarterback battle in College Station. The Aggies lost starter Zach Calzada to the Auburn Tigers, who lost Bo Nix to the Oregon Ducks.

The. transfer portal has completely changed the landscape. As we prepare for spring football coming up, we review the new faces at quarterback in the SEC West. Which ones have the best opportunity to start in 2022? We attempt to forecast them all.

Three freshman who can make an instant impact

Three Tigers among the Freshman All-Impact Team.

Let’s dive into the 2022 campaign and the new roster under Brian Kelly. He joined the Tigers after a decade-long run at Notre Dame where he won a total of 92 games with the Fighting Irish.

Kelly brings in a whole new staff plus the return of interim head coach Brad Davis that will resume his duties as the offensive line coach. There will be competition all over the roster as Kelly looks to revive LSU football after the two-season letdown. The Tigers won just 11 combined games in that stretch. As a head coach of Notre Dame, Kelly won 11 games three times over the last four seasons.

With the spirit of competition on the roster, there are several fresh faces who could make an impact in their freshman season. These players were among those signed in Kelly’s first class that finished ranked No. 12 overall. The members of the All-Impact team don’t include five-star quarterback, Walker Howard. Instead, we have some new faces in the trenches that want to improve a unit that underperformed under the watch of the previous regime.

We’ve established that it’s rare for freshmen offensive linemen to play and succeed immediately. There’s a chance neither Campbell nor Jones plays next season. But with the Tigers losing four starters along the offensive front, it’s a decent bet that at least once of them will be forced to play significant snaps. There’s more need along the interior of the line for LSU, but Campbell, a tackle, still probably has the best chance to start as an early enrollee.

Starting on the offensive side of the ball, you have an offensive line duo that can jump in immediately.

We start with one right out of the Tigers’ backyard.

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How the Tigers fared in bringing in blue-chip talent in the 2022 class

How did Brian Kelly fare in bringing in the blue chippers?

Going into the 2021 campaign, the LSU Tigers were tied for the fifth-most blue-chip players on their roster. Essentially the number of players that were made up of four and five-star players. The Bayou Bengals were tied with the Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma Sooners, and Florida Gators at 66%.

Ironically enough, three of the four schools mentioned here had changed their head coach this cycle and Texas is going into year two with Steve Sarkisian. Brian Kelly had plenty of work to do to salvage the 2022 cycle after being named head coach just a couple of weeks prior to the early signing period.

Looking back at the 2022 class, Kelly was able to secure a class that ranked in the top 12, and top six once you factor in the litany of college transfers. A total of 28 players with 15 coming by way of high schools. All told, the Tigers added 47% blue-chip players of the 15 signed. The class is led by former Texas A&M pledge Harold Perkins.

What 247Sports Says…

Harold Perkins — (Photo: Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District)

The Tigers signed 15 prospects on National Signing Day, and seven are blue-chips. The top signee is five-star linebacker Harold Perkins, who 247Sports’ Gabe Brooks compared to Myles Jack athletically. Keeping QB Walker Howard in the fold was also big. LSU did not choose to load up on high school prospects in the short time that new coach Brian Kelly has been on campus, a strategy I agree with. Attacking the portal heavily and saving scholarships for the 2023 class makes a lot of sense.

In the transfer portal, LSU added several blue-chip transfers. Jarrick Bernard-Converse (Oklahoma State), Mekhi Wingo (Missouri), Greg Brooks Jr (Arkansas), and Miles Frazier (Florida International). New running back Noah Cain was rated as a four-star running back coming out of high school but downgraded to a three-star transfer in the cycle.

Cain didn’t necessarily lose a step but injuries did slow him down a bit with the Penn State Nittany Lions. He will have ample opportunities to get back to that level with LSU. Cain will likely serve as RB2 to the returning John Emery Jr.

Overall, if you factor in the blue-chip transfers, it would give LSU a ratio of 39.2%. Not exactly a fantastic number but as we all know, recruiting rankings aren’t the gospel but more of a guide. Players develop and sometimes you just flat out miss on evaluation.

For Brian Kelly and this staff, the 2022 cycle was a good building block. They just need to hammer it home in the 2023 cycle.

Brian Kelly has become a lightning rod in college football

BK impresses with his first class, but is he a lightning rod for CFB media?

When it comes to reviewing the 2022 hauls, the reviews have been all over the map. Some would call LSU big winners on the trail this year after it was all said and done on Wednesday. Others will lump them in with first-year head coaches and call them the losers of the cycle.

Whether you agree or not, Cooper Petagna of 247Sports was impressed with the new man on the Bayou.

Calling Brian Kelly a lightning rod for college football pundits is certainly one way of looking at it. This isn’t some new phenomenon in Death Valley. It seems as though whoever the head coach is over the last couple of decades, the spotlight is on the head coach. From Les Miles to Ed Orgeron to Brian Kelly, they have all taken turns.

Brian Kelly’s short tenure in Baton Rouge has been nothing short of entertaining since arriving on campus in Louisiana’s state capital. Highlighted by fake accents and viral dance moves, Kelly has become somewhat of a lightning rod for the national media and college football pundits. Take all that away and zoom in on what matters, there’s a lot to like about what Kelly and his staff have accomplished in Baton Rouge in a short amount of time.

Sure the hip thing to do is make fun of Kelly for that fake accent attempt during the basketball game when he was introduced. Or stating people from Boston don’t have accents during halftime of the Texas Bowl. Or his cringe-worthy dance moves with quarterback Walker Howard and former target Danny Lewis Jr. It seems everyone is piling on the former Notre Dame head coach, it comes with the territory of leading the Bayou Bengals.

What you can’t deny is that what Brian Kelly is doing on the recruiting trails and the transfer portal seems to be working. His overall class ranked at No. 6 according to 247Sports. On3 gave them the No. 12 recruiting class. He loaded up this offseason in the short time he has been on the job.

Finishing with a bang on Wednesday, the Tigers wrapped up the No. 5 prospect in the country according to the Top247, beating out a couple of SEC foes for one of the nation’s best in linebacker Harold Perkins. In addition to Perkins, LSU is currently in command of the nation’s third best transfer portal class according to 247Sports.

All jokes aside, Kelly had a plan and executed it. Did they win every recruiting battle? No. Did they lock down the state? Also no. But given time to get his system in place and produce on the field, that should come soon. If Kelly gets LSU to eight or nine wins in 2022, it’s a win for the team. Especially considering they just finished the last two years with 11 wins combined.