LSU Football: Max Johnson won’t be running the ball a lot in 2021
By Zach Ragan
LSU football‘s quarterback situation got sorted out a lot sooner than head coach Ed Orgeron was anticipating.
But that’s only because of the broken arm that redshirt senior Myles Brennan suffered earlier this week (which required surgery).
Brennan is out indefinitely with the injury (though early estimates suggest he could return in eight weeks).
With Brennan out, sophomore Max Johnson was officially named the Tigers’ starting quarterback for the season opener against UCLA on September 4.
Max Johnson brings a different element to LSU football’s offense
Johnson is a more mobile quarterback than Brennan, which could bring a different element to LSU’s offense.
“We know Max is a little bit more mobile than Myles was and there’s some things he can do,” said Orgeron on Friday.
But just because Johnson is more mobile than Brennan, doesn’t mean the Tigers plan on installing a bunch of running plays for the sophomore quarterback.
“I think you have to do the things you have to do to win,” said Orgeron when asked about Johnson using his legs in the offense. “Just like we did with Joe, we ran QB draws with Joe.”
Orgeron, however, views Johnson primarily as a dropback quarterback.
“Max wants to be a dropback quarterback, we’ve talked about that,” explained Coach O. “I don’t think we’re going to have 15 different quarterback runs or him be a primary runner.”
“He’s a passer, but there are things he has to do to challenge the defense to win the game and hey there are some things in football you have to do, but we’re going to be smart,” added Orgeron.
It certainly sounds like Orgeron would prefer to keep Johnson in the pocket as often as possible (especially since the Tigers’ don’t have much quarterback depth right now).
But at the same time, Coach O recognizes that there will likely be times when Johnson using his legs will be necessary to win games.
Next. Coach O compares Max Johnson to Joe Burrow. dark
In other words, running Johnson probably won’t be at the top of offensive coordinator Jake Peetz’s play list, but it will be an option available when LSU is in a tough spot.