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LSU football: How will the Tigers fare in 2017 season?

By Crissy Froyd

Dec 31, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; LSU Tigers safeties Jamal Adams (33) and John Battle (29) celebrate a stop against the Louisville Cardinals during the second half of the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium. The LSU Tigers defeated the Louisville Cardinals 29-9. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; LSU Tigers safeties Jamal Adams (33) and John Battle (29) celebrate a stop against the Louisville Cardinals during the second half of the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium. The LSU Tigers defeated the Louisville Cardinals 29-9. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports /
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The 2016 season a bittersweet one for the LSU Football Tigers, with many ups and downs along the way.  A number of vital changes were made, and the season ended on a high note with a Citrus Bowl win.

How will the Tigers fare in the 2017 season? Without a doubt, much better than they did in their 2016 run.

Perhaps the biggest thing we have to look forward to this season is a much-improved offense.

The Tigers began to see improvements on the offensive front when former Purdue quarterback Danny Etling saw the field, and it was upwards from that point when head coach Ed Orgeron joined the program late this season.

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Etling brought a more effective passing game to the Tigers than his predecessor Brandon Harris did, and Orgeron focused in more on offense than many of those before him did.  The team topped off their efforts to improve the offense overall by adding the highly successful Matt Canada at the offensive coordinator position from the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Combine all of this with the Tigers’ solid run game and O-line, and you’ve got an offense ready to put a high number of points on the board next season.  And it’s been a long time since the Tigers have been considered even remotely powerful on offense.

Despite this, the Tigers do need to add more depth at the wide receiver position, as their only truly exceptional WR in Malachi Dupre may be departing for the NFL Draft very soon.

On the defensive front, we can expect the Tigers to rank at No. 1 in 2017.  The Tigers maintained one of the best defenses in the country all year, and made it even better when they hired defensive mastermind Dave Aranda.

In 2016, LSU finished right behind Alabama in the SEC overall rankings. In 2017, look for the LSU Tigers in the college football championship game.

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