Tigers Spring Practice Report: LSU Hits Field For First Time Under Brian Kelly
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A new era of LSU football began Thursday afternoon as the Tigers officially took the field for the first time under new football coach Brian Kelly. Let's dive in.
Of course the first bit of news everyone is curious about is the quarterback competition. Myles Brennan, Jayden Daniels, Garrett Nussmeier and Walker Howard were all out throwing on the first day in individual drills, working primarily with a very enthusiastic quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan.
When meeting with the media on Wednesday Brian Kelly hinted that the quarterback reps would be divvied up by seniority and on Thursday we got to learn what that meant. "Seniority" was referring to how long each quarterback has been on the team, meaning the rotations primarily went Brennan, Nussmeier, Howard and Daniels on the first day.
There were several interesting notes to take away from opening day, not the least of which was the intensity on the field. But some of the more obvious was the shape of running back John Emery, who really looks to have added muscle to his already strong frame. Emery is one of those guys Kelly mentioned has exceeded the expectations laid out for him in the last several weeks and how he progresses will be very interesting to follow.
Another interesting note on the offensive side of the ball is sophomore Jack Bech working primarily with the receivers during individual drills. Bech spent time as a hybrid tight end for most of his freshman season and with Kole Taylor and Jack Mashburn as the only scholarship tight ends on the roster, it's an area this group will really need to address.
In terms of notable absences there weren't many that weren't already expected missing the field. Star wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was in a walking boot while safety Major Burns was also not participating, instead watching off to the side.
Kelly's comments on Boutte were some of the more interesting in his spring intro, as he's just now starting to be around the team following a second surgery on his injured ankle. He's not expected to play much, if at all during the spring while he recovers but the fact he was out there and engaged in practice is note worthy.
"We're in the process of building a relationship," Kelly said. "He's re-engaging, he's been injured but we're getting more acquainted. He's a great player, good kid but it's been a rough situation for him. What happens is you to tend to get distracted because you're not involved in everything. But he's learning you have to be involved in everything and that's a process he's going through. He's making good progress."
Speaking of Kelly, the Tigers new coach was walking around to a number of position groups listening in on the individual drills on the offensive side of the ball. That goes hand in hand with what we heard about Kelly as more of the CEO type who will dip his toes into everything around the team.
LSU will have more practice availability Saturday, when media will also get the first chance to speak with a few of the players on the roster about the spring.
