Ja'Marr Chase, Joe Burrow, Justin McMillan among Orgeron's Day 1 standouts

LSU coach Ed Orgeron provided positive reviews of several players following the team's first fall practice Saturday.

But none were more glowing than freshman wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase.

The Rummel product entered camp with some buzz around him, most recently including Orgeron's own praise Friday of the 6-foot-1, 203-pound pass-catcher's physical build.

And the compliments only seemed to amplify as the Tigers finally kicked off team activities.

"A guy that keeps on coming up is Ja'Marr Chase, out of Rummel High School," the coach said. "The name keeps on coming up. In the team period today, he caught a long pass on a touchdown. (Passing game coordinator) Jerry (Sullivan) is really pleased with him and the young receivers."

Added Orgeron: "Ja'Marr is physical. He has big hands. He has 10 1/2-inch hands. He can catch the ball well. He's very strong, fast, runs great routes and mature. He just has a natural knack for catching that football."

Chase seems to continue positioning himself for immediate playing time, with the season opener against Miami just four weeks away.

Graduate transfer Joe Burrow, from Ohio State, appeared as confident and commanding as any of LSU's quarterbacks during the brief portion of practice open to the media Saturday.

And Orgeron indicated that that characteristic remained strong throughout the evening — although redshirt junior Justin McMillan took the snaps with the first-team offense during the private team portion.

"He's really confident," the coach said. "He's a leader out there. When he steps in, he's cool, he's calm, he's smart. When we give guys time off, he's in there watching film on his own. He's really a student of the game. He's mature. He's ready to go. He's competing. Just what we wanted.

Orgeron said that sophomore Myles Brennan and redshirt freshman Lowell Narcisse took reps second and third, respectively, behind McMillan, followed by Burrow, but that the Tigers would flip that order Sunday.as they continue to evaluate all four quarterbacks.

"Joe looked good," the coach said. "He's practicing with the fourth team. He made some good decision. Justin looked really good and made some plays with his feet. I thought Lowell threw the ball better today. I thought Myles Brennan probably had his best day since we've been having this competition. So all of them did some good things. Joe looked steady out there. I was very pleased to watch him. That's the first time I've seen him."

A shift for Garrett Brumfield from guard to center remains a possibility, even in the wake of an indefinite suspension for sophomore guard Ed Ingram.

Ingram's name was absent entirely from the updated roster Saturday following Friday's announcement.

"It was a kind of tough situation. I don't think anybody was happy that they moved up, because they were sad for their teammate. I mean, it was a tough day for those guys yesterday. But Garrett Brumfield showed some leadership. (Damien Lewis) shook it off. That's not the way he wanted to end up being the right guard, but it happened that way, and he has to develop."

LSU inserted Lewis into Ingram's position at right guard, and Brumfield and sophomore Lloyd Cushenberry continued to work primarily at left guard and center, respectively.

But Brumfield will still see snaps at center during camp, and the combination remains a work in progress moving forward, with Orgeron mentioning the potential of moving one of the team's right tackles inside if necessary to find the best overall unit up front.

"We have to see," Orgeron said. "We have to see who's the best available. You've got Austin Deculus and Adrian Magee playing tackle. If Lloyd Cushenberry is not the best choice, then we move Brumfield inside and we've got room to move Magee or Deculus to guard. That could happen. I'm not saying that's gonna happen. We've got to see when the pads come on."

Freshman tackle Cameron Wire practiced Saturday after being one of very few names Orgeron mentioned Friday as being expected unavailable to open camp.

The coach went on to praise the freshman from East Ascension, but said whether he is ready to participate once the team puts on pads remains to be seen.

"We tried him a little bit, and he was very athletic," Orgeron said. "He showed out today a little bit."

Another name of note Saturday was Kary Vincent Jr., who lost some positioning on the depth chart as a true freshman in 2017 after starting three of his first four college games.

The sophomore from Port Arthur, Texas, garnered notable praise from his head coach on the first day of practice.

"His speed," Orgeron said. "He came off the edge and blocked a field goal, his rushes, good coverage, break to the ball. He came up and made a couple of good tackles and showed some physicality, an understanding of the defense, making calls out there and communicating."

Vincent will be an important player to watch as the Tigers continue to seek cornerback answers beyond redshirt sophomore star Andraez "Greedy" Williams.

A positive ruling to reinstate junior Kristian Fulton this week would provide a major boost in that department.

But LSU would still need to be able to rely on some combination of Vincent, Stanford graduate transfer Terrence Alexander and true freshman Kelvin Joseph for nickel and dime packages and overall depth.

"(Alexander) looked good," Orgeron said. "He did some good things. He's mature... Making checks and moving around just not making mistakes his first time in. Had him playing some corner, had him playing some nickel. We're glad we had him."

Orgeron mentioned some positive pass rush on the first day of practice — one of the area's our Jimmy Smith said to watch during camp.

And, unsurprisingly, sophomore K'Lavon Chaisson was praised as heavily as any player in that regard.

"I thought K'Lavon Chaisson had an excellent practice," Orgeron said. "He really stood out. And another guy that's coming along is Damone Clark, a young linebacker from Southern Lab. He's pushing (inside), and so is (sophomore) Jacob Phillips."

Additionally, the coach credited Michael Divinity Jr. for his veteran presence on the other side of the defense.

The John Ehret product enters camp battling with sophomore Ray Thornton for the starting role.

"Mike had a good day today," Orgeron said. "Mike was hustling, had a good day, was coming off the edge, excellent in pass rush. Mike's mature, trying to be a leader."

Andre Anthony also looked good as he continued to rebound from a broken foot suffered last season.

The sophomore from Edna Karr is competing with junior college transfer Travez Moore, from Bastrop by way of Copiah-Lincoln Community College for positioning behind Chaisson.

"He's in good shape," Orgeron said. "He was a little gimpy on that foot, but he's ready to go, man. He's competing. He's right behind K'Lavon. It's him an Travez Moore competing for that second spot. They know they're gonna get reps, but he had a good day."

Orgeron and his staff have been increasingly excited about the potential of new kicker Cole Tracy.

And the senior transfer from Assumption College was the first player mentioned following Saturday's opening practice.

"Cole Tracy was 5-of-5 for field goals, with a longest of 42," Orgeron said. "Avery Atkins, a walk-on from Auburn, Ala., had a great day of kicking the ball off and had a lot of touchbacks. So we're very proud to see our kicking game make some improvement. Obviously we're gonna have to do it in games, but we had a great start today."

On Friday, Orgeron mentioned Destrehan product Glen Logan as the leader for the starting position at left defensive end opposite junior Rashard Lawrence.

And the sophomore and his primary competition, Texas Tech transfer Breiden Fehoko, each started camp on a positive note Saturday.

"(Logan) looked good," the coach said. "He looked good, really good. Glen's in good shape, had a solid practice. Nothing outstanding, but had a solid practice."

On Fehoko: "I'm gonna tell you another guy that was in better shape today and looked better was Breiden Fehoko. We addressed this with Breiden in the spring. He had a good spring, but had to improve in our condition. And he was going today. He could've went 50 more plays today. I was very pleased to see the conditioning of Breiden Fehoko."