BATON ROUGE, La. — When Tyron Johnson left LSU last week to pursue a more wide-open offense, the Tigers were left with just two wide receivers who caught a pass in a game last season.

With John Diarse and Trey Quinn, the two receivers who were most likely to line up as the third option in 2015, both departed, that leaves quarterback Brandon Harris the option to throw to his two favorite receivers — Malachi Dupre and Travin Dural — but with no proven third option.

So who’s it going to be? One of the true freshmen, like the talented Drake Davis? Or Jazz Ferguson, who emerged as the starter at the end of spring?

Harris had the answer on Thursday night and it was none of the above.

“Hey, I’m telling you, D.J. Chark, watch that guy,” Harris said of the 6-foot-3 junior from Alexandria who has yet to catch a pass in a game. “He’s so good, it’s unreal.”

That seems like high praise for a guy who has not caught a college pass and came to LSU without the fanfare of many of the other receivers, including many of those who he’s looking to replace. But Harris is quick to praise the progress of Chark, whose mix of size and speed makes him an intriguing option.

“It wouldn’t shock me if he’s our leading receiver in yardage this year,” said Harris, who added that Chark is, as of now, running as the No. 3 receiver on the depth chart ahead of Ferguson.

One could see hints of his talent in last year’s Texas Bowl when he took a reverse handoff and sprinted 79 yards for a touchdown in his only college touch so far. It was a burst not many knew a player so deep down LSU’s depth chart had.

“His speed is unnatural,” Harris said. “He can run routes and take the top off a defense. He’s 6-(foot)-3 and some change, and he may be our fastest receiver.”

That’s not to say that there aren’t other candidates. Ferguson, one of many large receivers for the Tigers at 6-foot-5, has had a good camp and is also contending. Harris also had high praise for Davis, a true freshman built like a tight end but with breakaway speed.

One player who won’t be part of the equation is Johnson, who surprised many last week by opting to look for greener pastures, bringing a premature end to the LSU career of a player who was rated Louisiana’s top 2015 prospect and one of the nation’s top-rated wide receiver recruits.

“It’s unfortunate,” Harris said. “Tyron is a great player, a great teammate. But we have some other key guys that came in. It’s unfortunate he’s no longer part of our team. He moved on.”

But Johnson seemed to be relegated to a lesser role at the end of the spring, falling behind both Chark and Ferguson on the depth chart. All indications were that he wasn’t making much progress in August when he opted to leave.

That may have something to do with Chark’s mix of talent and work ethic making him hard to keep up with.

“He had such a great offseason,” Harris said. “My eyes light up every time I go out there and see him. Whether it’s 1-on-1s or running routes, he’s so talented and he’s really worked his tail off … I think you’re going to like what you see.”