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The LSU football team is being doubted by outsiders after posting a 5-5 record last season and ranking only 13th in USA Today‘s initial preseason coaches poll.
Fear not, Baton Rouge faithful. Here are three reasons why the Tigers are bound to obliterate expectations during the 2021 campaign.
Max Johnson has ended any QB controversy
Although he’s still on the outside looking in among our list of top 10 college football quarterbacks, rising sophomore Max Johnson appeared to be winning the quarterback competition even before Myles Brennan went down with a broken arm a while back.
Johnson was unexpectedly pressed into action as a true freshman when Brennan was hurt in 2020 and held his own so well under the adverse circumstances. In his final two starts, he went on the road against a talented Florida team and led the Tigers to a 37-34 victory in The Swamp as huge underdogs.
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Then, in the regular-season finale, Johnson engaged in an even more extreme shootout with Matt Corral and Ole Miss, as LSU prevailed 53-48. Johnson definitely has what it takes to get it done in the SEC, and with more of a runway as the clear QB1 entering 2021, he’s bound to ascend even higher among the nation’s best signal-callers.
Not to say Johnson is the next Joe Burrow, but as long as he stays healthy, he should have an exceptional year.
Loaded receiving corps makes offense even more dangerous
You’d be forgiven if you thought LSU’s wide receiver position was rather doomed after the trio of Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase and Terrace Marshall Jr. all came and went over the past two years. However, the Tigers’ receiving corps is thriving and in great shape.
Another true frosh who rose to the occasion last year was Kayshon Boutte. He had 45 receptions for 735 yards and five touchdowns, flashing elite playmaking ability against the best competition.
Boutte isn’t the only pass-catcher LSU fans should be excited about, though. A trio of newly arrived recruits is already generating buzz, and anyone from the group of Jack Bech, Deion Smith and Chris Hilton Jr. could very well contribute right away.
Bech is appealing in the sense that he can play tight end in addition to outside receiver thanks to his excellent size.
Head coach Ed Orgeron spoke glowingly about his team’s receiver depth beyond the incoming 2021 class, saying, per 247Sports’ Billy Embody, “Trey Palmer […] Watch out for Koy Moore, Jaray Jenkins, Jontre Kirklin. Hell, we can put about 10 receivers out there right now.”
Orgeron has been in the best conference in the country long enough to understand it doesn’t do much good to fire up the hype machine for no reason. It sounds like the firepower at key skill positions is something that could make LSU’s offense among the country’s best.
Excellent player continuity, as 19 of 22 starters return
OK, so since Johnson and Boutte were so great as freshmen in prominent roles, LSU football can’t totally bank on that for a second straight year. What the Tigers can count on is returning nearly every offensive and defensive starter from 2020.
We haven’t even gotten to the defensive side of the ball yet. Another first-year phenom who balled out during the Tigers’ mediocre 5-5 season was cornerback Eli Ricks.
Think about it this way: Ricks is back to start opposite Derek Stingley Jr., who looks like he’s going to be among the best draft prospects at his position in NFL history.
Stingley and Ricks are going to make LSU’s receivers so much better in practice, and force Johnson to decrease his margin of error even more. That can only help for when the Tigers go up against the likes of Florida, Alabama, Ole Miss and the rest of their conference gauntlet.
There’s plenty of incumbent leadership on this LSU roster, and landing Clemson transfer Mike Jones Jr. to bolster their linebacker group means the Tigers shouldn’t have many holes at all.
To any LSU football enthusiasts who were disappointed by being short-changed in the first coaches poll, take those voting results with a giant grain of salt. All indications are the Tigers are going to roar back in 2021 in a big way.