LSU Football Coach Ed Orgeron Impressed With Jabril Cox, Development of Freshmen QB's

Brennan the unquestioned starter but Orgeron says Finley, Johnson throw “a great ball.”

LSU coach Ed Orgeron turned heads Tuesday morning when he said on Off the Bench that walking out of practice a few days ago, he thought linebacker Jabril Cox was best the player on the field. It immediately became the center of conversation centered throughout the day.

Cox, of course comes to Baton Rouge after a four-year stint at North Dakota State, where he became a three-time champion and three-time All-American with the Bison program. 

Orgeron went further into detail on Cox during his weekly press conference with the media, calling the senior transfer a quiet but hard worker.

"He came out with a great attitude and I said this morning I haven't heard him say a word. He's focused, razor sharp, he's always studying, very smart, he knows the defense and obviously has a lot of experience playing the position," Orgeron said. "He's a physical tackler, he can key and diagnose, he can shed blocks well and rush the passer. He's the complete linebacker."

Though he went relatively unnoticed as a high school recruit, Orgeron says its his determination to be the best that ultimately drove him to Baton Rouge. A few months back when Cox first committed to the program, Orgeron revealed that Cox was receiving some first-round NFL draft buzz but elected to go to LSU and continue perfecting his craft.

"He's a great character young man, speaking to him on the phone, guys knew him so he came highly recommended,” Orgeron said. “The thing I saw on film was a big linebacker that can run and hit and key diagnose. I didn't know he was gonna be that good. I think this guy is gonna have an excellent year at LSU, he definitely is an SEC linebacker. Obviously he was overlooked in recruiting but here's his shot. I think the thing I like most about Jabril is his maturity."

While the sentiments on Cox are certainly warranted with his long resume, there has been some noticeable development in the freshman quarterbacks as well, according to Orgeron. Max Johnson and TJ Finley signed with the Tigers as early enrollees and were able to practice a few days before the team's national championship meeting with Clemson.

While Myles Brennan is certainly the man moving forward this season, Orgeron said he's impressed by the development of both Finley and Johnson since fall practice kicked off last week. 

"They're really fighting really hard, they're here on their own studying. I couldn't have asked for two better young men as far as character, smarts and talent," Orgeron said. "TJ Finley is throwing a great ball right now, he has improved in his throwing. Coach [Steve] Ensminger has done a phenomenal job with him and actually he's having an outstanding camp.

"Max Johnson is doing a fantastic job, can run, he's a lot faster then I thought he was. He's left handed, throws a nice ball, very accurate, calm in the pocket."

Again, Brennan is the starter and don't expect that to change unless something wildly unpredictable happens. The fact is with only three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, one of Finley or Johnson is going to need to be ready at all times.

"Right now Myles is our starting quarterback, none of them have beat him out but that doesn't mean that can't happen. We haven't had any scrimmages or preseason games but things are looking good at quarterback," Orgeron said. "We've got to stay healthy because we've only got three scholarship quarterbacks."

As for Brennan, the LSU junior is carrying himself the right way, being a vocal leader and making the right reads in fall practice. It will be interesting to see how he performs in the scrimmages and any kind of internal preseason games LSU sets up.  

"He's leading, everybody believes in Myles, he's very vocal out there and a totally different kid from when he got here," Orgeron said. "He knows the offense and has a very strong arm. The only thing I cannot simulate is a hostile crowd. With the COVID I don't know how hostile it will be but we're going to have to practice very hard and put him in some situations in some scrimmages so he's used to it."