Film Study: LSU QB Harris could lead most explosive offense in SEC

In part two of my L-Club film review on Louisiana State University’s quarterback position, I’ll be analyzing what I saw from uber fan favorite Brandon Harris.

In part one I surmised that the much-maligned Anthony Jennings was undoubtedly building off the experience he gained from being the season-long starter as a true sophomore — with only 29 attempts coming into the season (click here to read part one on Jennings).

I also shed light that many in the media were unfairly judging his performance by comparing him to that of his great predecessor, Tennessee Titans QB Zach Mettenberger, despite most of Jennings’ skill position players possessing little or no experience whatsoever.

Make no mistake, Jennings does have flaws in his game, but rarely are the positives pointed out: toughness, leadership, touch, deep-ball prowess and a willingness to usually keep his eyes downfield when extending a play.

Most will point to his 48.9 completion percentage as to why he stands no chance to even improve enough to be a viable option on a championship-caliber team. (As if our initial offerings in life are a clear indication of where we will ultimately end up.)

But they won’t remotely put into consideration he’s in an offense with a ton of lower-percentage throws — offensive coordinator Cam Cameron’s vertical-based attack — with those aforementioned inexperienced targets: Travin Dural (seven total catches coming into the season), Malachi Dupre (true freshman), Trey Quinn (true freshman), John Diarse (freshman) were his top four receiving targets.

However, his focusing on the initial read in his progression, at least as it pertains to spring practices, seems to have been replaced by a look-off of the safety and a full-progression scan. And it appears as though Cameron, like any great OC would do, has put an emphasis on the quick game to infuse a greater amount of high-percentage passes.

But you get the feeling that anything short of Heisman and the majority of the fan base would yearn for the second-year Harris to get the call at signal-caller.

And rightfully so.

Harris may be the most electrifying athlete to come to Baton Rouge in quite some time — especially as it pertains to the QB position. His performance in last season’s spring game, coupled with his late-game exploits in what seemed like a blow-out loss to Mississippi State University, only further enhanced his legend to near Rock-God status.

But his inability to follow up that performance in his first start against Auburn University, and his further failure to procure the job from a struggling Jennings, had to put things into perspective for supporters of the Purple & Gold, right?

Not in the least bit.

Everything from favoritism, to a looney head coach, has been cited as to why it appears that Jennings is still the clubhouse leader after most of the offseason has come and gone. Most believe that Harris has a stronger arm, is faster and, well, more electrifying than his counterpart.

And while all that may be undeniable, it still doesn’t make him a better fit for a vertical offense predicated on ball-handling, proper footwork and the ability to spray the ball around the yard in the short-to-intermediate game.

But let’s be real here; Harris is at the exact same point Jennings was this time last season. Meaning he has ample time to improve and procure the job.

And if the spring game is a clear indicator, he may just do that.

What Differentiates Harris

It’s hard not to dig what Harris brings to the table in the form of a dual-threat option. He’s not only fast, but he also accelerates to full speed rather quickly, which allows him to get away from trouble in the detached-run portion of the game; he seems to have a lid on the designed-run part of the playbook.

At 6’3″, 188 pounds, one might have to wonder if head coach Les Miles is looking for Harris to completely fill out his frame before he unleashes him on the conference. While it’s hard to paint Harris’ style as reckless, there’s no doubting it puts him in harm’s way more times than not.

But how could you not make use of this young man’s athletic gifts?

While I believe Jennings is more of a scheme-specific fit for the type of offense Cam has ran the duration of his career — Air Coryell system — Harris would completely dominate in a scheme centered around “Cheetah” personnel (one RB, one tight end, three receivers).

Here we see Harris working from the spread with split-flow action. You have to respect the potential zone-read/inside-zone and the split action provides him with a two-way go.

Jennings is more valuable with “12” and “22 personnel,” where if aligned under center, he can work the back-to-the-basket play-action fake game — in a scheme meant to constrict you to the middle of the field. Harris, however, would function best in a horizontal spread with targets outside the numbers to provide him with more room to improvise.

He has yet to master the mechanical part of quarterbacking, but a spread attack would alleviate the necessity to be on-point with the nuances; LSU has the personnel to run both schemes.

Cameron can still dictate to the defense by going vertical early and often, but he can do so with front-side play-action fakes centered on the thought of uber-talented running back Leonard Fournette — and his talented No. 2 guy Darrel Williams — being deployed on inside zone and zone-read plays.

Here’s a beautiful corner route from Harris to Dupre with the latter working out of the slot.

This means that the SEC’s next most talented receiving corps — featuring Dural, Dupre, Quinn, Diarse and D.J. Chark — can be used to open up the rushing game. With Jennings, you would use the rushing game, and quick-passing concepts, to open up the vertical shots.

LSU will have the type of defense that can deal with playing with the type of ultra-aggressive offense Harris would thrive in.

Just different ways to skin the same cat.

In this particular scrimmage, it seemed as though a totally different game was called for the two QBs. It’s almost hard to effectively evaluate Harris as just about everything called for him was aggressive in nature (at least when he ran with the starters).

However, you could definitely tell a difference in the nuances: inconsistent footwork as he rarely seemed to set his feet even when there wasn’t pressure. He also locked-in on his initial target and bolted the pocket if it wasn’t open.

Pay attention to the above sequence; Harris forgoed an opportunity to get the ball to his open playmakers with an anticipatory throw because he didn’t quite trust what he saw.  Once he hit that back foot, the ball should’ve been launched before his primary read whipped his head around on the stab route.

Not everyone will be wide open in SEC play. Additionally, there has been accounts of Harris having trouble leading the huddle and not being able to spit the verbiage out comfortably.

But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t field an effective offense as natural playmaking ability may supersede his lack of polish. Auburn’s Nick Marshall, who was one of the better playmaking QBs of this generation, started over a very polished Jeremy Johnson for two seasons to very favorable results. 

As further along with the nuances as Jennings is, the Tigers have a chance to be extremely explosive with Harris at the helm.

But when you have as much talent as the Tigers do, in all three phases, efficiency may hold a higher value to the coaching staff.

But neither QBs should be judged solely on their performances of last season. University of Arkansas QB Brandon Allen was all but run out of town after a sophomore season in which he completed just 49 percent of his passes with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions (on 258 attempts) .

He followed that up with 20 TDs and just 5 INTs with a 56 percent completion percentage, and now he has some thinking he’s the best in the conference entering his senior season.

Jennings’ statline: 11 TDs, 7 INTs, 49 percent completion rate, almost mirrors Allen’s, but, yet, he — nor Harris — can’t improve?

Come on, people; the Tigers will be just fine…