All Eyes Will Be on Quarterbacks During LSU Football Spring Game
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It's no secret what the focus will be for many who come to watch and evaluate LSU's team on Saturday afternoon at the spring game. Quarterback is the most important position on the field and naturally eyes will gravitate towards how each responds to the number of reps he's given.
Coach Brian Kelly has laid out a format that's conducive to all four of Myles Brennan, Jayden Daniels, Garrett Nussmeier and Walker Howard earning equal reps for the offense vs defense spring game. It's a scrimmage that will have a decent amount of weight attached to it in terms of the post spring depth chart and where each quarterback sits heading into the summer.
Throughout the entire spring, there's been one name that's been far and away the most consistent and confident throwing the football and that's been the senior Brennan. Finally putting his injury history behind him, Brennan has looked poised in the pocket and very accurate throwing the ball on all three levels of the defense.
Whether it's throwing short, intermediate or deep, Brennan has found the right velocity and touch to be an extremely effective quarterback and it's rubbing off on his receivers and coaching staff.
"Physically he's improved, his body, his conditioning level and all of those had to start with his ability to compete," Kelly said. "He did a tremendous job leading into spring ball taking care of himself, getting stronger which put him in a position to use a lot of his experience against by in large an inexperienced group."
A week ago in Tiger Stadium he threw multiple on the money throws, including this deep shot to Jaray Jenkins that was as perfectly placed as can be. What has impressed Kelly the most about Brennan in his few short months as coach is his ability to recognize what he does well, make the right reads and make defenses pay for their mistakes.
"He knows what he does well and he knows his limitations so I think he's a smart, experienced quarterback that plays to his strengths, " Kelly said. "He throws the ball extremely well down the field, pushes the ball vertically, is always going to get us in the right play, protects himself and protects the ball. He's just a smart player."
Of course the other quarterbacks have had their moments as well this spring. There was a stretch during the second week of camp where Daniels strung together really impressive practices and with over 30 games of starter's experience under his belt, that's not something to just turn a blind eye to.
The coaching staff loves his dual threat ability but there have been some misses from him throughout the camp throwing the ball. The redshirt freshman Nussmeier has also looked like a more poised and confident player in year two as he learns how to better manage an offense.
Nussmeier told the media he's really focused on getting back to what makes him a successful quarterback and he's been far more consistent with the game slowing down for him a bit more in year two.
"I think I've learned a lot from last year, getting to play in some real SEC time. I think the biggest thing for me was kind of being more of a manager of an offense," Nussmeier said. "For some reason I got this gunslinger approach. I take some shots but I can't look to do that every play so that's what I've learned, just move the sticks."
The competition that all of the quarterbacks have embraced the last several weeks has really made this an intriguing battle, particularly for a true freshman like Howard who's trying to soak up as much information as possible. Howard is no doubt viewed as the future of the position but it's uncertain how early in his career to expect to see him on the field.
"From day one, I've improved so much and that's how the coaches have told me. I'm gonna hit a wall and it's just about how you pick up and work through it," Howard said. "I feel like I'm finally working past that wall and I'm really excited for Saturday and ready to go out and compete.
Regardless of who shows out on Saturday, there's no question of the importance of this game, more so than in past years. This is a crucial baseline for the coaching staff to go on heading into a summer where tweaks to the offense to best fit these quarterbacks will be made.
