It wouldn’t be August unless we were asking questions about the LSU quarterback picture.

Tigers fans are used to wondering if they finally have the game-changer they need to elevate an otherwise one-dimensional offense. That’s true this year, albeit in vastly different circumstances.

Ed Orgeron is not Les Miles, and Matt Canada is not Cam Cameron. But Danny Etling is still Danny Etling, and that’s why there are questions worth asking.

Danny Etling ranked 6th in the SEC in passing yards per game (193.0), 6th in completion percentage (59.5) but 10th in TD passes (11).

The reports out of Baton Rouge have been positive in regard to Myles Brennan, the true freshman who is trending in the right direction after posting solid numbers with the first-team offense during LSU’s weekend scrimmage. Orgeron insists that Etling is still the guy. For now.

Meanwhile, Orgeron said true freshman Lowell Narcisse is getting more comfortable and that the coaching staff is putting in plays that are “conducive to his style.” Similar comments were made by Alabama at this time last year regarding Jalen Hurts. Some believe that Narcisse, like Hurts, can be LSU’s quarterback of the future.

It’s possible that everything the Tigers have done with the quarterback situation has both the short and long term in mind. The question is an obvious one.

What’s LSU’s endgame here?

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The news on Monday that Lindsey Scott, Jr. is transferring confirmed what we already knew. The quarterback that will define the beginning of Orgeron’s tenure is a true freshman. We just don’t know which one.

Perhaps Scott saw the writing on the wall when Brennan, another pro-style quarterback, took first-string reps over the weekend. Maybe Scott realized that Brennan, who was recruited by Canada, had a much clearer path to the starting job than he did.

Myles Brennan, a 4-star recruit, was the No. 6-ranked pro-style QB in the 2017 class. Lowell Narcisse, another 4-star, was the No. 9-ranked dual-threat QB in the class.

Despite being a summer enrollee, Brennan does appear to have the inside track to earn significant snaps sooner rather than later. He put on some weight and it sounds like he’s already settling into the offense. Etling, however, is still the starter until further notice.

So why would Orgeron not only let Brennan work with the first-team offense, but also share that information from a closed scrimmage?

Well, there could be a few reasons. For starters, Orgeron could be doing what every team without a proven starter does. That is, make his opening-week opponent prepare for every possible option the Tigers can throw at them. That’s the same reason he told reporters that he put in plays for Narcisse, the No. 9 dual-threat quarterback in 2017.

Deception is key, and Lord knows LSU hasn’t had very much of it on offense in recent memory.

Remember the Wisconsin opener last year? Even with Leonard Fournette, there was no deception. Brandon Harris was the starting quarterback, which meant the Badgers could sell out to stop the run. Sure, BYU can try and do the same to Derrius Guice, but they’re at least going to have to think about the guy(s) under center.

Having said that, LSU’s handling of the quarterbacks makes sense beyond the season opener.

Etling is coming off back surgery. He’s believed to be healthy and throwing the ball better than he did pre-surgery because of some of the bad habits he developed while trying to compensate. Regardless of what you think about Etling’s upside, that’s good news regarding the team’s lone signal-caller with game experience.

That’s exactly why Brennan played with the first-team offense during LSU’s scrimmage. His development needs to be expedited if he’s indeed LSU’s backup, which he appears to be. Anything LSU can do to get him ready for the possibility of facing an SEC defense, the better.

And if I were a betting man, I’d say the odds of Etling playing all 12 regular season games aren’t favorable. That isn’t to say he lacks toughness, but behind LSU’s depleted offensive line, he could take plenty of punishment.

Keep in mind that this is a unit that lost five players via transfer, and in the early part of camp, it had three freshmen getting first-team reps. Orgeron said that Etling and Brennan each took “at least three sacks” in Saturday’s scrimmage. “At least three” means they got sacked a whole lot more. In a scrimmage.

Fortunately for them, both Brennan and Etling are non-contact participants in fall camp. But they won’t be in a few short weeks. Having a true freshman start with a shaky offensive line doesn’t make sense if it can be avoided.

That might be easier said than done.

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Greg McElroy knows quarterbacks as well as anyone. When he offers up an opinion like he did the other day, it earns headlines. He said that he wouldn’t be shocked if a freshman won the starting quarterback job instead of Etling.

“This is Ed Orgeron’s first year,” McElroy said on “The Paul Finebaum Show.” “This is not a make-or-break season when it comes to his tenure. So if they start with a freshman and allow that offense to grow with that freshman, whether it be Narcisse or Brennan or whoever, Scott, it doesn’t matter. Any of the young guys, they can kind of develop and formulate the offense to that individual skill-set as opposed to Danny Etling, where it’s kind of a one-year deal and then he’s on to greener pastures.

“So I might lean toward going with the younger guy if it’s in fact a close finish like it appears to be right now.”

Scott is obviously no longer part of the equation, but McElroy makes an interesting point. This is a new era of LSU football. Orgeron is in a different spot than Miles was in last year. He doesn’t have to go with the incumbent starter if he doesn’t feel like he’s the most talented quarterback on the roster.

Many fans probably agree with that. They want their quarterback of the future to get his licks in early rather than Etling, who has one year of eligibility left and limited upside.

But there’s the kicker. Technically, we don’t know Etling’s upside playing for Canada. We know that in his one and only year at Pitt, Canada turned the Panthers into the No. 10 scoring offense in America. In the process, he took Nathan Peterman’s game to the next level. We saw that when he lit up eventual-national champion Clemson for 300-plus passing yards and five touchdowns.

Does that mean Etling suddenly will carve up Alabama and become a fifth-round NFL quarterback? No, but it should at least make people wonder what Etling is capable of with Canada in his ear.

That’s why I believe Orgeron when he says that Etling is his guy. He’s still a senior who completed 60 percent of his passes and only threw five interceptions in 269 attempts last year. He might not be the quarterback on LSU’s roster with the most natural ability, but Etling could be the right guy for 2017.

No matter how much discussion the quarterbacks generate, this offense is still going to be predicated on Guice and the run game. The Tigers have a chance to win now with a Heisman Trophy candidate in the backfield for one more year. He’s going to see even more eight-man fronts if Orgeron starts a freshman from the jump.

We should see Brennan and Narcisse at some point in 2017. It could happen sooner than expected if Etling does by chance struggle in this new offense. Depending on how their playing time shakes out, the Brennan-Narcisse debate will get that much more interesting next year. Could one transfer? Could LSU run a two-quarterback system?

Those are questions that will be answered another time. For now, though, it looks like Orgeron has everyone on board.

Maybe for once, LSU’s quarterback situation won’t be too complicated.