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In three days, LSU begins preseason football practice.
Speaking in Tiger Stadium at the Baton Rouge Rotary Club luncheon Wednesday afternoon, Tigers coach Ed Orgeron revealed that there has been a personnel change on the defensive line.
Breiden Fehoko, the Texas Tech transfer who worked at defensive end during spring practice, is now the No. 1 nose tackle. Sophomore Glen Logan has moved into Fehoko’s old spot at defensive end. Logan received some playing time at the position last season when Rashard Lawrence was injured.
Orgeron didn’t reveal much about the reason for the shift up front. Obviously, Logan is one of LSU’s three best down linemen – ahead of Ed Alexander and Tyler Shelvin.
“Fehoko is the nose tackle,” Orgeron said. “Shelvin came to us at 390 pounds and he is 355 this year. Ed Alexander has not recovered as quickly as possible from a knee injury. I am going to be very involved coaching the defensive line along with Dennis Johnson this year.”
There were really no other major personnel changes from the spring as the Tigers prepare for preseason drills. Orgeron expects Lloyd Cushenberry to be the starting center although he did mention that Garrett Brumfield could play center if guard Damien Lewis deserves to be in the lineup.
According to Orgeron, Austin Deculus is the No. 1 right tackle at this time. Deculus is still in a competition with Adrian Magee. Badara Traore is backing up starting left tackle Saahdiq Charles.
With Jamal Pettigrew out for the season with a knee injury, the Tigers need to find blocking help at tight end. There are different options available for Orgeron. Tory Carter can be an H-Back. Jacory Washington and Aaron Moffitt will compete to be a second hand-in-the-dirt tight end.
Orgeron refused to give a pecking order among his four quarterbacks – Joe Burrow, Justin McMillan, Myles Brennan and Lowell Narcisse. Orgeron does not wish to play multiple quarterbacks.
“We want to play one quarterback,” Orgeron said. “We want the quarterback situation to just play out. I would like to name a starter at the end of fall camp. Justin McMillan is a dual-threat quarterback. Joe Burrow can also both run and throw.
“Myles Brennan is a drop-back guy. Lowell Narcisse is still developing his quarterback skills. We went after Burrow not because the other three guys are not good enough to play, but because the three were not consistent enough.”
Orgeron had no insight on cornerback Kristian Fulton’s appeal with the NCAA. Orgeron simply is hoping for the best when Fulton has his meeting Aug. 9. The Tigers are seeking starters at cornerback – opposite Greedy Williams – and nickel back.
It seems like freshmen will have an opportunity to crack the rotation at wide receiver. Orgeron mentioned that he received glowing reports about Ja’Marr Chase, Kenan Jones and Terrace Marshall. Orgeron also said that he can’t wait to see freshman running back Chris Curry.
Orgeron indicated there was a need to increase the number of analysts on his staff. The Tigers will have five offensive analysts and five defensive analysts in 2018. Orgeron then relayed some information about the group of analysts at Alabama.
“I have a friend of mine who coached at that school two states to the east of us,” Orgeron said. “He sent me their scouting report on us last year. I am embarrassed to see the detail in their report. They had scouted us for a year and knew everything about us.
“After seeing that report, I felt that we were not giving our team a chance to compete. There are times we have been still scouting our opponent on the Wednesday before the game. I went to (Director of Athletics) Joe (Alleva) and said that we need help. Now, we have ten analysts.”
