LSU Senior Right Tackle Austin Deculus "Out for a Little Bit" Ed Orgeron Says
LSU will be missing one of its only veteran offensive lineman for the start of fall camp. During his weekly Tuesday appearance on Baton Rouge radio show Off the Bench, coach Ed Orgeron said that senior right tackle Austin Deculus didn't practice on Monday and that he'd be out "a little bit."
Deculus has shown steady improvement since taking over as a starter in 2018 for the final 11 games of the season. In 2019, he started in 13 of the 15 games for the Tigers en route to a national championship. Returning for a senior season, Deculus is now the leader of a unit that's had to replace four of the five members from last year's starting rotation.
Orgeron said the snaps at right tackle are currently being divvied up between freshman Marcus Dumervil and redshirt freshman Charles Turner. Orgeron went on to say that Deculus will still be the starter and that him being out for a bit will help those younger guys get more comfortable.
"Those guys, they're doing good," Orgeron said. "Young guys that are doing well, filling in. Again, Austin's going to be our starter. But those guys gotta be able to provide depth in the rotation. So this is good for us."
That wasn't the only bit of offensive line news Orgeron revealed on Tuesday. The team has also decided to slide Joseph Evans from center to guard. Evans was originally recruited as a defensive lineman but made the switch to offense in the offseason, where he had focused on center until recently.
With Chasen Hines also moving to right guard this offseason, Orgeron's "ideal scenario" seems to be taking form. The ideal scenario is for Harvard transfer Liam Shanahan to take over at center which would allow Hines to play his more traditional position of right guard.
From the beginning, Orgeron has said the team needs to wait for the pads to come on for that plan to become a reality, something that will happen in the next few days of fall practice.
"Very impressed with the offensive line, but look, we've got to put on the pads, we've got to find out if Liam can block that nose tackle," Orgeron said on 104.5 ESPN. "I think he can, but we've got to find it out."
Orgeron is scheduled to meet with the media at noon on Tuesday for the first time. Check back for updates and more stories throughout the day.
