Ed Orgeron Excited for a Number of Position Battles to Unfold With LSU Fall Camp Starting August 6

Linebacker, receiver just a few of the positions Orgeron and coaching staff will be following closely this fall

Over the next four weeks, LSU will be focusing on itself. That's what fall camp is all about for football programs across the country. It's a mix of figuring out positions, starting lineups, rotations implementing schemes and most importantly, development of players.

For LSU, a big part of this fall will be predicated on what players at positions of need step into the forefront and become major contributors for this team. We know what the Derek Stingleys and the Elias Ricks of the world will bring to this 2021 roster. 

But for 90% of this team, the real trust with the coaching staff will be earned in camp over the next month, and coach Ed Orgeron couldn't be more excited to get the ball rolling.

"If you love coaching football, you love camp," Orgeron said on Off the Bench. "We coming to work one day at a time and building us a championship team. I'm not worried about who we're playing, I'm worried about fundamentals on offense and defense. I wanna keep it simple for our football team and all 11 knowing what they're doing."

On offense, left tackle and wide receiver are two positions up for grabs as fall camp begins. Orgeron said he expects Cam Wire to be the starter at left tackle but there are plenty of options behind him that could push their way into the rotation.

The running back group, led by Tyrion Davis-Price and John Emery feels primed for a breakout season as the two veterans have received the reps and could be poised for breakout seasons. As for receiver, Kayshon Boutte will be the No. 1 option for the purple and gold but between a mix of freshmen incomers and veteran returners, there are almost too many names to count. 

"Cam's gonna start there but who's going to be the next offensive lineman in? Is it Anthony Bradford? Is it Garrett Dellinger? Which one of these young guys is going to step in?" Orgeron asked. "Then Kayshon Boutte is going to be our first guy but who's next? We've got some great young freshmen, some young guys that are going to play and play some key roles."

On defense, linebacker will be a position to certainly keep an eye on. Damone Clark figures to lock up one of the positions but Clemson transfer Mike Jones and JUCO transfer Navonteque "Bugg" Strong are also heavily praised by the program. 

"Mike came in and he fit in with our team right away," Orgeron said. "I'm looking at this linebacker group right now, Damone Clark has played, Micah Baskerville has played, Jared Small is coming along. We've got some talented, talented linebackers."

The defensive line will carry this unit as the Tigers return all starters from a season ago, including Ali Gaye, Andre Anthony, Neil Farrell and Glen Logan up front. Much is expected out of freshman newcomer Maason Smith as well as returning young stars like BJ Ojulari and Jacquelin Roy.

With so many players on the front line showing potential, the one thing that Orgeron, who has a defensive line background, is looking for is which player will separate himself as the "lead dog."

"I'm going to challenge these guys and I guarantee Maason Smith and Bryce Langston and BJ Ojulari is going to challenge those older guys," Orgeron said. "Ali Gaye should have a tremendous season, Joe Evans coming out of spring was our best interior guy. We are strong in the middle but these guys have to be an attacking defense, we need guys to make plays and rush the quarterback."

If there's one consistent message being relayed to the players it's that the Tigers expect to be pretty versatile with their rotations at a lot of different positions. That should be equal parts exciting and motivating for all players on the depth chart hoping to carve out a role in 2021.