Looking at the Immediate and Long Term Future of the LSU Quarterback Room
LSU's quarterback room is in a much different place than it was 12 hours ago. The future, both immediate and long term, appears to still be extremely bright for this group but the departure of Max Johnson from the program leaves this group with a lot less room for error moving forward.
From Johnson's perspective while the initial timing of the move caught many by surprise, it does make sense from a family standpoint. His brother Jake, a 2022 recruit who also decommitted from the program Tuesday, needs to make a decision and it's been a dream for the two brothers to play college ball together.
Johnson wasn't given the greatest circumstances as a first year starter with struggles up front, injuries to key weapons and questionable play calls all played into some of his struggles. But the sophomore did put up some good numbers in a clunky offense, tossing 27 touchdowns to just six interceptions as the full time starter.
What Johnson's departure really does now is put the team in a tricky situation with how it'll approach the bowl game next month.
The Tigers are now down to just one scholarship quarterback in true freshman Garrett Nussmeier, who faces an immediate decision of his own with the Jan. 4 bowl game now less than a month away. LSU had carefully woven Nussmeier's play down the stretch in order for him to preserve a redshirt freshman season.
But with him now being the only scholarship quarterback available and clear cut starter with highly touted 2022 commit Walker Howard still not signed, Nussmeier has a decision to make. Does he want to preserve that redshirt year, allowing a walk on to potentially start a meaningless bowl game or does he view this as a first opportunity to assume control as the starting quarterback heading into the spring?
When he finally got his chance to play significantly against Arkansas and the Tigers came up just short in the end, it was easy to tell how much the loss affected the freshman. An opportunity to get one win and start to make a case for the starting job would make a ton of sense. But so would sitting out.
It's still unknown just who will elect to sit out of the Texas Bowl against Kansas State, particularly among the more veteran groups like the offensive line and defensive line. Talent exists everywhere on LSU's roster but if Nussmeier is going to be thrown into a less than ideal situation, it doesn't make much sense to subject the only scholarship quarterback to that game.
Looking ahead to the long term future of the position, there does seem to be more of a vision for the quarterback room. With two highly regarded talents in Nussmeier and Howard set to compete next spring, there's lots of room for optimism that either under center will be a tremendous look for LSU's offense.
Of course with six transfer players already out the door, including two quarterbacks, if coach Brian Kelly feels neither one is ready to be a full time starter, hitting the transfer portal could be an option. LSU was in a similar situation a few years back with a bunch of young, inexperienced quarterbacks when it brought Joe Burrow in from Ohio State.
New NCAA rule allows LSU to match up to seven transfers who leave so there are still plenty of spots and areas the Tigers need to fill. Being down to 11 commits as well, there is some wiggle room with signing as many as 14 more players before the end of the recruiting cycle.
This is a room that over the last year has gone through a lot of change and one that has seen a long streak of quarterbacks not being able to finish their careers at LSU when they start. But Nussmeier and Howard's hearts are in Louisiana and have goals of getting this program back to where it was two years ago.
