LSU Football: The move the Tigers need to make ASAP

LSU football‘s 2021 season took an unexpected turn earlier this week.

The Tigers announced that redshirt senior quarterback Myles Brennan suffered a devastating arm injury that required surgery.

Brennan’s timetable for return is uncertain. It’s possible that he won’t play at all in 2021.

As a result of Brennan’s injury, sophomore Max Johnson was named LSU’s starting quarterback this week by Ed Orgeron.

“Obviously Max is going to be our starter,” said Orgeron during an appearance on 104.5 in Baton Rouge.

“I believe in Max just like I believe in Myles,” added Orgeron. “We’ve got us a great quarterback, a great championship quarterback.”

Johnson started the final two games of the 2020 season for the Tigers, leading LSU to wins against Florida and Ole Miss.

With Brennan out, it means that true freshman Garrett Nussmeier is now the Tigers’ backup quarterback.

So who is the third-string quarterback?

For now, it’s freshman walk-on Matt O’Dowd.

“Matt O’Dowd, I’m glad we got a walk-on quarterback,” said Orgeron. “He becomes the third-string quarterback, but we’ve got to keep Max healthy. That’s going to be the key.”

A few months ago, the Tigers had four scholarship quarterbacks and a three-man battle for the starting job.

Now, with still a month to go before the season starts, LSU has a starting quarterback and only one scholarship backup.

That’s how quickly depth can erode.

LSU Football needs to hit the transfer portal in search of quarterback help

The Tigers would be wise to hit the transfer portal in search of some quarterback help.

I don’t think LSU wants to be in a position where they’re counting on O’Dowd — an unrated recruit who had only one scholarship offer (from Davidson) according to his 247Sports profile.

So who are some of the options for the Tigers?

Well, it’s not like LSU is going to find a future starting SEC quarterback this late in the summer. But they could still find some quality depth.

Keon Howard, a former three-star recruit who played at Southern Mississippi and, most recently, Tulane, could be a quality backup option for the Tigers.

David Baldwin-Griffin, a former three-star recruit who played at Appalachian State, is another potential option. Baldwin-Griffin was recruited to LSU by Corey Raymond during the 2019 recruiting cycle, so there’s some familiarity there.

Both of these quarterbacks would make sense as a preferred walk on.

There are likely other options in the portal as well. The Tigers need to explore those options, otherwise, they could end up in a bad spot this season at the quarterback position if they aren’t careful.