Purdue transfer may serve as cattle prod for LSU quarterback Brandon Harris

One rarely ever hears this about a Les Miles-coached LSU football team, but when the Tigers began spring drills Monday, they came out of the locker room throwing the football.

Miles called it an “inordinate” amount of passes the Tigers threw to start spring drills, an emphasis he promised to maintain throughout spring drills.

If there is an area where the Tigers fell short the last couple of seasons, it was with the mediocre passing attack led by quarterbacks Brandon Harris and Anthony Jennings. Harris, a rising junior, was solid early in LSU’s 9-3 season last year, but struggled down the stretch. The Tigers’ passing game failed to provide the balance to keep defenses from piling up to stop star running back Leonard Fournette.

“It’s something we’ve effectively addressed as someplace where we have to get better, no question,” Miles said.

Is this spring about getting the incumbent Harris better, or is it about a competition in which Harris has to fight for his job?

It’s an interesting question, considering that Harris isn’t the only current Tigers quarterback who has been through adversity. If he does lose the job, he’ll share the locker room with a couple of players have lost jobs in their past as well.

There’s Danny Etling, the one-time starter at Purdue who lost the starting job in 2014 to Austin Appleby (who, a season later, lost the job to freshman David Blough). Etling sat out last year at LSU after making the move South.

Then there’s LSU’s 2014 starter, Jennings, who seems to have fallen completely out of the picture after losing the job to Harris last August.

As for Harris, he hardly gave reason for a strong vote of confidence in the second half of last season after he struggled through his four worst performances in LSU’s final regular-season games. He completed only six of 19 passes against Alabama, threw all of his interceptions (5) in the four games and had his four worst games in terms of quarterback rating.

Those were big reasons why the Tigers lost three straight games down the stretch and even when the Tigers broke the losing streak against Texas A&M in the regular season finale, Harris still struggled, completing just 7 of 21 passes. He did rebound with perhaps his best game, a 261-yard passing effort against Texas Tech in the Houston Bowl.

But the question is, can Harris be challenged by a group of quarterbacks who, in their own past, have not been able to withstand the challenge of an up-and-comer?

Handicapping the Race

This is Harris’ job to lose. For all the criticism he took, his numbers (149-for-277, 2,165 yards, 13 TDs, 6 interceptions) were middle-of-the-pack among his conference peers. He finished seventh in the SEC in both passing yards and quarterback rating.

But those who watch LSU the most are quick to point out that fans shouldn’t assume Harris will be the starter. Etling made quite the impression on LSU’s coaches last year.

“He’s going to be given a chance,” ESPN.com’s David Ching said of Etling. “From what he did last year with the scout team after transferring and having to sit out a year, I think he impressed them. I think they are willing to give him a shot.”

Is that enough to make him a legitimate challenger to Harris? Perhaps, but at the least, LSU is hoping that he provides enough of a challenge to at least spur improvement from the incumbent.

As for Jennings, his name hardly comes up. He’s started in two bowl games, but now appears relegated to the No. 3 role in his senior year.

The Tigers do have a couple of young quarterbacks in redshirt freshman Justin McMillan and true freshman Lindsey Scott (who won’t join the team until summer). But neither figures to be ready to contribute quickly.

The Case for Harris

As embattled as Harris was down the stretch, there is no questioning his potential.

As a senior at Bossier City, La.’s Parkway High, he rated as the nation’s No. 3 dual-threat quarterback. A consensus four-star prospect, Harris was a rare find for an LSU program that has regularly whiffed on landing big-name prospects at the position. By contrast, Jennings, McMillan and Scott were three-star prospects and while Etling was a four-star prep star, he was not as regarded as Harris.

One could see flashes of Harris’ talent last season. He can effortlessly throw the ball down the field. On deep outs from one hash to the opposite sideline, he gets the ball there without using maximum effort. He moves well enough to gain yards on the ground and extend plays to make throws downfield.

With that skill set, it may just be a matter of playing time and repetitions for the mental part of the game to fall in place, something Miles is already noticing.

“He is much more comfortable under center, much more comfortable with cadence, calls,” Miles said of Harris. “What was high anxiety before is easily handled today. He’s much better. It’s evident in the way he practices.”

The Case for Etling

Before one dismisses the Purdue transfer, he has some things going for him.

First is his ties to offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. He went to the same Indiana high school Cameron attended and that can only help in his building a relationship with his position coach. Could there be a certain chemistry that develops between quarterback and mentor?

While his numbers at Purdue (238-for-429, 2,490 yards, 16 TDs, 12 INTs in parts of two seasons) aren’t earth-shattering, it’s important to note he did not throw to the same class of receiver, nor did he hand the ball to a running back like Leonard Fournette.

Rising senior Travin Dural (who will miss spring practice due to injury) is a likely high draft pick and both junior Malachi Dupre and sophomore Tyron Johnson were among the top receivers in the nation in their respective recruiting classes.

If Etling had those weapons at Purdue, would his numbers have been considerably better? If he had defenses that stacked the box to stop a back like Fournette, would he have been better able to better take advantage of it than Harris was?

Miles insists Etling has impressive tools to work with.

“(Etling is a) talented guy who can play,” Miles said. “It’s another good player in the room. It creates some competition.”

Enough competition to challenge Harris? That’s the question.

In the future

LSU’s last productive starting quarterback was Zach Mettenberger, who threw for 3,082 yards while slinging the ball to future Pro Bowlers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry in 2013. While Mettenberger was your prototypical pocket passer, it appears the Tigers are committed to a different look.

“LSU certainly has recruited to having a dual-threat quarterback,” Ching said, “Although I think Cameron would be comfortable with a Zach Mettenberger or Drew Brees type.”

The two young quarterbacks in the program, McMillan and Scott, are both dual-threat athletes who, like Harris, bring a running element to their game. McMillan passed for more than 2,800 yards and 37 touchdowns as a high school senior, but also rushed for more than 600 yards. Scott led his high school team to a Louisiana state championship as a senior by passing for more than 3,000 yards and rushing for almost 2,000.

Could they quickly compete for playing time? Probably not. The feeling from LSU is that both may need time to develop and, in the case of Scott, that development in the program won’t start until he graduates from high school this spring.

The crystal ball says … an improved Harris

Etling might compete, but it’s hard to imagine Harris losing the job with his skill set plus his accumulated time in the program.

The bigger question may be whether Miles — often criticized for his devotion to an old-school, power running game — remains steadfast to his commitment to having an improved passing game.

After spending a good chunk of the first spring practice in the passing game, Miles swore it would be a pattern. “I want to throw the football 15 (spring) practices like we did today,” he said.

If all the work leads to Harris finally morphing into a consistent thrower who can complement Fournette and guide LSU to an elusive SEC West championship (and a win over Alabama), those in the know will know to tip their caps to Etling.

If he doesn’t win the job, he might light the competitive fire under Harris that allows him to finally emerge.