LSU Football: Elite 2022 Tigers signee will be limited in spring practice

One of LSU football‘s highest-rated signees in their 2022 recruiting class was four-star quarterback Walker Howard.

Howard, 6-foot-1/195 lbs from Lafayette, LA (St. Thomas More), was ranked in 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 4 player in Louisiana and the No. 5 quarterback in the country.

The feeling is that Howard is the “quarterback of the future” for LSU.

Howard is obviously talented, but he’ll be behind sophomore Garett Nussmeier and redshirt senior Myles Brennan on the depth chart in 2022.

LSU Football’s Walker Howard will be limited in spring practice

One reason we think Howard will be behind Nussmeier and Howard on the depth chart is because he’s a true freshman. He’d have to really show out in spring practice and fall practice to win the job.

This leads us to the second reason we think Howard will be No. 3 on the depth chart.

Howard will reportedly be limited in spring practice thanks to a thumb injury he suffered in high school that required surgery this past week.

247Sports’ Sonny Shipp reported that Howard won’t be able to throw for six to eight weeks. That means he should miss about half of spring practice.

This is obviously unfortunate for Howard — I’m sure he was ready to compete.

But it’s not a big deal for the team.

LSU may end up needing Howard this season — quarterback depth erodes quickly — but they won’t need him to start the season. He should have plenty of time to get healthy and be a full go during fall camp.

And as long as that happens, he should be available if needed in 2022.