LSU Football: Expectations remain unchanged after key players opt out
By Zach Ragan
LSU football lost a couple of key players this week.
LSU football lost a ton of talent to the NFL after winning the 2019 national championship.
14 Tigers were selected in the 2020 NFL Draft and several others signed as undrafted free agents.
Key players like Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, Cyde Edwards-Helaire, K’Lavon Chaisson, and others are gone.
That amount of talent is nearly impossible to replace. But fortunately for LSU there’s plenty of talent (albeit much of it unproven) still on the roster.
Well, there was.
The Tigers learned this week that wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin will be opting out of the 2020 season (joining defensive lineman Neil Farrell and defensive back Kary Vincent Jr).
Chase and Shelvin are future first-round NFL draft picks. They are players that LSU was going to lean on in 2020.
Despite these losses, though, I think the expectations for the Tigers in 2020 should remain unchanged.
What to expect from LSU football in 2020
Even before we learned that Chase and Shelvin wouldn’t be playing this season, I didn’t necessarily believe that LSU was a favorite to reach the College Football Playoff.
Now, I feel certain that the Tigers won’t be among the final four teams playing in 2020.
But I still believe that LSU will reach the win total I predicted for them, which is eight.
Now, how do the Tigers get to eight wins?
I’m skeptical that it will be by beating Alabama as I had predicted. I’m leaning toward flipping the Auburn and Alabama games. I still think LSU loses to Florida.
Otherwise, though, I don’t see any reason why the Tigers wouldn’t be the favorites in their other games.
Is 7-3 possible for LSU this season?
Sure, the inexperience could cause the Tigers to drop a game they shouldn’t. But even without Chase and Shelvin I still feel confident that Ed Orgeron will get this LSU squad to 8-2.
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Anything better than 8-2 would be a more impressive coaching job than what Coach O accomplished in 2019.