The Five most pleasant surprises through the first five games of LSU's season

While most of the country is playing this weekend, LSU is working through things at practice as the Tigers are on a well timed bye week. Things haven't been perfect this season as LSU has had some struggles defensively while it took the offense a few games to find their rushing attack. Even with LSU struggling at times and taking an early loss, there have been some pleasant surprises on both sides of the football.

Aaron Anderson is becoming a serious threat in the receiving game

When LSU was entering the season everyone expected Kyren Lacy, CJ Daniels, and Chris Hilton leading LSU at receiver. The player that didn't have a ton of buzz entering this season was former Alabama receiver Aaron Anderson. Anderson entered the season behind Hilton and Kyle Parker on the depth chart.

When Chris Hilton couldn't play and Kyle Parker was injured against USC, Anderson was thrust into action and he delivered catching five passes for 64 yards and a touchdown. He has gone from being outside of LSU's starting rotation to leading the team with 371 yards on 27 catches with a touchdown.

Bradyn Swinson could finish with ten or more sacks

Entering the season, LSU's best chance at improving on defense was if the Tigers could get after the passer. Losing Harold Perkins Jr and Jacobian Guillory for the season could've spelled disaster for the Tigers but, the emergence of Bradyn Swinson has been massive.

Against South Carolina, Swinson was massive recording three acks and a forced fumble which directly led to an LSU score. He followed that up with a two sack game against UCLA forcing another fumble. Through five games, Swinson has recorded five sacks and he's starting to look like a true star at edge rusher.

If LSU is going to slow explosive offenses like Alabama and Ole Miss it'll start with Swinson putting pressure on the quarterback. As offenses start to divert more attention to Swinson it'll set Sai'vion Jones and the defensive tackles up with more one on ones.

Caden Durham has become the explosive running back LSU has lacked

As LSU headed into the season, everyone was expecting a breakout season from Kaleb Jackson as he dominated camp and had some exciting moments as a Freshman. LSU's run game struggled the first few games and when John Emery Jr tore his ACL things started to look bleak for LSU's run game.

The run game became explosive against South Carolina when LSU finally inserted Caden Durham into the lineup. Durham took over the South Carolina game running the ball 11 times for 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The UCLA game was a quiet game for Caden Durham yet, he scored on a massive play taking a pass 35 yards for a touchdown. Last game against South Alabama was the peak as Durham touched the ball ten times accounting for 217 yards and a pair of touchdowns with a 86 yard run and a 71 yard catch.

With Durham reaching his peak, LSU now has an offense that can beat teams with the run and the pass. Durham's ability to create explosive plays is massive for this offense and could be the reason why LSU is successful down the end of the season.

Garrett Nussmeier looks more polished than anyone could have hoped for

It was hard to set any expectations for Garrett Nussmeier as he stepped into this offense with little experience while LSU replaced two first round picks at receiver and Logan Diggs who transferred. Even if you set high expectations for what Nussmeier could do, he's outperforming them through five games.

Nussmeier is operating this offense with ease and he's doing it efficiently which has been a massive factor in LSU's success. Through five games, Nussmeier has passed for 1,652 yards with 15 touchdowns to just four interceptions.

The impressive part about Nussmeier's game has been the fact that he's involving everyone rather than just relying on one receiver. Through five games, 14 players have caught a pass from Garrett Nussmeier with five or more players catching ten or more passes.

If Nussmeier can continue to play at the level he's playing at he'll find himself in the Heisman race late into the season and LSU will find itself in playoff contention.

Whit Weeks is a cornerstone player at linebacker

In the preseason, we all thought that Whit Weeks would be a solid piece for LSU as a rotational player but, no one expected he'd be as good as he's been. While Weeks was rotating in alongside Harold Perkins and Greg Penn III, Weeks looked like the best of the trio as his speed jumped off the charts.

LSU has now lost Harold Perkins for the season meaning that LSU will need Weeks to take his game to another level. In his first start in the absence of Perkins, Weeks was electric getting a massive forcing a turnover on downs on a massive play at the goal line while keeping up with running backs and receivers in coverage.

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