Ed Orgeron vows LSU is committed to throwing the ball: ‘We want to be 50-50’ run-pass
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Stop if you’ve heard this one before — LSU believes its issues passing the ball have been resolved this offseason. Despite the fact the team will trot out a quarterback with no starting experience, unless a graduate transfer at the position is added this summer, Ed Orgeron remains confident passing won’t be an issue this fall for the Tigers.
To his credit, LSU did make strides throwing the ball last season finishing with the SEC’s 8th ranked passing offense after finishing with the league’s 12th ranked passing attack in 2016. While LSU will most likely be leaning on an inexperienced signal caller this fall, Orgeron believes the players around that quarterback should elevate his level of performance.
“It all starts with protection first. We’ve got to get our protection down. We’ve gotten better,” Orgeron said during his latest media availability on Tuesday.
The LSU coach also noted that the plethora of receivers on the roster, which will only get better this summer with the arrival of two highly-touted prospects, will aide the team’s efforts in the passing game.
“I really think we have some guys that can catch the football — we got a lot of guys,” Orgeron said. “We have JaMarr Chase coming in we got (Kenan) Johns coming in, so we are excited about it. (No.) 7 (Jonathan Giles) was back today, he made some big catches… We have to get the ball to them.”
He also shared his thoughts on the team’s young, albeit improving, quarterback play.
“Myles (Brennan) is throwing the ball better. Last Thursday he had his best scrimmage, had a good day today, so is Justin (McMillian) and Lowell (Narcisse) is coming along. I do believe we can throw the football, but it’s going to be protection first,” he continued.
When asked how committed to throwing the ball the LSU offense will be, Orgeron was adamant that the hopes in Baton Rouge are that the offense will be completely balanced.
“We are committed. We want to be 50-50, 50 percent run, 50 percent pass, right down the middle. We are committed,” Orgeron concluded. “Three-wide sets, four-wide sets, five-wide sets. We will also go base, which is twenty one personnel. We will run the football when we have to, but Steve (Ensminger) and I have talked about it, we are committed to throwing the football.”
We’ve heard this all before in Baton Rouge. Will this time be any different?
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
