BATON ROUGE, La. — There aren’t many teams in college football more “settled” than No. 5 LSU.

The Tigers return 16 starters (including the loss of defensive tackle Christian LaCouture due to injury) from last year’s 9-3 team, and among those players are plenty of established stars like Heisman Trophy candidate Leonard Fournette and All-American candidate Jamal Adams at safety.

But there are still things to settle as August winds down and the focus begins to shift to the Sept. 3 opener against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. Meanwhile, others have been solved. Here’s a look at both lists:

What’s been solved

  1. Nose tackle depth: Coming into August camp, LSU woefully lacked natural two-gap nose tackles to anchor the new-look 3-4 defense under first-year defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, and the Tigers went through spring looking at ways to improvise, including trying the now-injured Christian LaCouture and Davon Godchaux — both more natural ends in a 3-4 alignment — at the position. But with both junior college transfer Travonte Valentine and freshman Edwin Alexander having worked hard to gain their eligibility (Valentine had to work all the way until Monday), LSU has a couple of space-eating nose tackles one may be used to seeing in the middle of a 3-4. Add in the potential of five-star recruit Rashard Lawrence as well as Godchaux playing there, and the Tigers now have plenty of options.
  2. That third receiver: LSU had serious questions coming into camp about who might be the third wide receiver as all the candidates who had caught a pass in a game for the Tigers all opted to transfer. But quarterback Brandon Harris revealed that junior D.J. Chark has emerged not only as the would-be starter, but also as a player Harris said may end up leading the team in receiving yards. Time will tell.
  3. Down on the field: LSU’s best offensive game last season was the Texas Bowl, where the Tigers rolled up 638 yards in a 56-27 trouncing of Texas Tech. In that game, offensive coordinator Cam Cameron moved from the press box to the field, where he could have face time with Harris. So that has become Cameron’s new in-game location, on the field with Harris. Head coach Les Miles said Aranda will also be on the field to work with the defense first hand.

What’s left

  1. Offensive line: Projected starting left tackle Maea Teuhema started camp nursing a sprained ankle and finds himself outside the starting lineup as fall camp barrels to its conclusion. One would expect that if he’s healthy, Teuhema would start somewhere and, right now, that might not be left tackle, where junior K.J. Malone has impressed. Could it be right tackle, where Toby Weathersby is looking like a starter? Or at guard, where Teuhema started last year as a true freshman? Either way, we should probably expect at least one more change before camp is over.
  2. Linebacker depth: LSU has a solid start to its four-man linebacker group with middle linebacker Kendell Beckwith as an anchor. But some recruiting whiffs — LSU has signed just two linebackers in the last two recruiting cycles — and an injury to projected starter Corey Thompson has the Tigers still looking to find depth. Inside linebacker Duke Riley has been around but has only started one game. Converted defensive end Tashawn Bower may replace Thompson — a converted defensive back — at an outside linebacker slot, bringing in a wildly different skill set. True freshmen Devin White and Michael Divinity figure to see immediate playing time. At no position is LSU looking to improvise more than with the linebackers.
  3. The Aranda factor: What will LSU’s defense look like in response to offenses it will face? The Tigers may be settled in on those answers, but as for the media and fans, we won’t really know until the Tigers start facing opponents. It’s a base 3-4, but what happens when opponents line up in five wides or line up in power formations? Will the Tigers be partial to the 3-4 look or will it, like last year’s team, be more likely to get extra defensive backs on the field? We have to wait and see.