LSU Football: Will Myles Brennan be in Baton Rouge in 2021?

LSU football will likely be without Myles Brennan this weekend against South Carolina.

There’s an extremely high probability that LSU football won’t have Myles Brennan this weekend against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron told reporters on Wednesday morning during his appearance on the weekly SEC coaches teleconference that he doesn’t think Brennan will play on Saturday.

Brennan suffered a torn abdomen in LSU’s recent loss to the Missouri Tigers. The redshirt junior quarterback was able to finish the game, but the injury is going to take a bit to heal. As a result, the Tigers will likely be forced to start a true freshman against South Carolina — either TJ Finley or Max Johnson.

For now, it’s unclear which quarterback will get the starting nod. Orgeron said both should receive an opportunity to play this week. The Tigers will roll with the hot hand, whoever that proves to be.

This is essentially an audition to be LSU’s future starting quarterback, which could end up being sooner than we expected.

Could LSU football need a new starting quarterback in 2021?

The expectation entering the 2020 season for Brennan was that he’d do some learning/growing this season, before taking a major step forward in 2021 (and hopefully leading the Tigers to a College Football Playoff appearance).

But after the first weeks of the season, I’m not so sure that Brennan will be back in Baton Rouge in 2021.

The former four-star recruit is already proving to be one of the top quarterbacks in the nation.

Brennan’s pace through the first three games of the season is similar to Joe Burrow’s historic 2019 season.

And according to Pro Football Focus, Brennan has the fourth-best passing grade among Power-5 quarterbacks.

Here’s another impressive note from Pro Football Focus:

"Against Mizzou, he actually posted a higher grade on pressured dropbacks than any SEC quarterback did when kept clean in Week 6. He completed 11 of 16 passes under pressure for 248 yards, two touchdowns and a near-perfect 151.0 passer rating."

If NFL teams are looking for a quarterback that isn’t named Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields, then Brennan should be their guy. He’s already close to being a top 10-15 pick.

Now, obviously LSU is hoping that Brennan returns in 2021 — the Tigers could make a lot of noise if the defensive issues get fixed.

But it would be hard to blame Brennan if he declares for the draft (especially after suffering a torn abdomen, which could put things in a different perspective).

Brennan is elite. The numbers prove it. And if I can see that from behind a computer screen, I’m sure NFL teams see it as well.

NFL caliber quarterbacks are rare. That’s why I wouldn’t be shocked if this is Brennan’s last season at LSU.