Development of LSU offense stems from the emergence of its WR

BATON ROUGE, La. — If you owned an LSU wide receiver on your fantasy team, you’d be hard-pressed to set a lineup each week.

Through the first five weeks of the season, a different wideout has jumped to the forefront. Justin Jefferson was Joe Burrow’s go-to target in the opener against Miami, but Stephen Sullivan’s Hail Mary in the closing seconds of the first half drew headlines the next week. Derrick Dillon caught the most significant pass in LSU’s comeback effort at Auburn, then Dee Anderson starred in the victory against Louisiana Tech. After a full cycle, Jefferson again pushed the limits on a 100-yard receiving game in the offensive breakout performance against Ole Miss on Saturday.

LSU’s offense has consistently made strides each week, leading to a 573-yard, 45-point explosion against the Rebels at home last weekend. In doing so, the offense has unveiled new wrinkles seemingly every Saturday — the introduction of move-tight end Racey McMath for Ole Miss or the emergence of 6-foot-6 mismatches Sullivan and Anderson, who have been anxiously waiting to break loose in the offense for years.

The fifth-ranked Tigers travel to The Swamp on Saturday with a new-look offense and a basketball team of wide receivers to throw to. There’s the Twin Towers of Sullivan and Anderson, McMath storming out of the backfield and speedsters such as Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase out wide. For all those who doubted the talent on that side of the ball, the orchestrator of this unit has always seen the undoubtable upside.

“Coming from Ohio State, I know what talent is,” Burrow said. “Coming in, they told me we didn’t have talent on offense. I came in this summer and saw big, strong, fast guys, and I knew we had the capability to do something special. I’ve seen Coach (Steve) Ensminger’s offense and I knew we could do it. We took a big step this weekend and moving forward, we’ll do the best to build on this.”

That size and speed that Burrow is referring to is obvious. Anderson and Sullivan each stand 6-foot-6, emerging as big-time targets in the passing game, particularly on downfield throws and pivotal third- and fourth-down situations. McMath (6-foot-3, 221 pounds) has inherited a new role as a move-tight end, blocking linebackers and defensive backs while also finding holes in the defense in the intermediate passing game.

Jefferson, the Rivals 2-star receiver who signed with the Tigers late in the 2017 class, leads the pack with 18 receptions for 294 yards. He racked up 97 yards in the win at Auburn and another 99 yards against Ole Miss, including his first two touchdowns in an LSU uniform. He’s been complimented by Chase, a freshman who shares the team-lead with Jefferson with two touchdowns already on the season.

As the playbook is slowly unveiled each Saturday, LSU’s offense is quickly finding its stride. The team flirted with 300 yards of total offense in the opener and nearly doubled that production last week in a decisive 45-16 romping of Ole Miss, which by all means was labeled as a breakout game.

“I knew we had this game in us,” Burrow admitted. “We’re so talented and I’ve seen it in practice all summer and all camp, and we hadn’t done it in a game yet because we were feeling each other out … chemistry-wise, up front, the receivers, me, Coach Ensminger … and when you have a game like that, it really boosts your confidence going forward.”

LSU has opened the game in three-wide receiver sets routinely since the start of the season, often bringing a fourth onto the field depending on the situation.

Overall, eight different wide receivers have cracked the rotation — from Jefferson, Sullivan, Anderson and Chase, who have a combined 46 catches so far, to Terrace Marshall Jr., Jonathan Giles, McMath and Dillon, who have 11 under their belts.

Sullivan and Anderson have become reliable targets for Burrow, particularly on third-downs when the football equivalents to a small forward can easily haul in receptions over smaller defensive backs.

“When you have two 6-foot-6 guys and they play a lot of man on third-down, you throw it up to those guys and they make plays for us,” Burrow laughed. “They’re really good at boxing you out basketball style and making plays.”

In particular, Anderson, has reeled in 10 of 18 passes thrown his direction this season. Anderson has accounted for seven first-down receptions this season, three of which came on third downs. His counterpart, Sullivan,

has caught 11 of 15 passes his way. Sullivan also has seven catches that have gone for first downs, including three on third-down conversions and the infamous fourth-down play in the victory at Auburn.

“He’s been a real big target for us,” the quarterback said of Sullivan. “I always know where he is on third-down and where I can find him.”

If Anderson and Sullivan are LSU’s forwards, then Jefferson is the favorite at guard.

Jefferson, known more affectionately as “Jets,” clocked a 4.88 40 time when he was a senior at Destrehan in 2016. However, he’s become Burrow’s most targeted receiver with 26 balls thrown his way this season.

LSU passing game coordinator Jerry Sullivan has spent much of his time molding Jefferson into the team’s top target in the passing game. As the veteran coach points out, it takes three steps to get the jet in motion.

“Coach Jerry Sullivan always tells me that he (Jefferson) gets to full speed in about three steps,” Burrow said. “That’s what him special. He changes direction quickly, makes plays on contested balls with guys all over him. It’s just something about it. We have good chemistry. He’s always open, it seems, to make plays in the big situations.”

Ensminger waited until Week 5 to unleash McMath in a newly created move-tight end position. The former Rivals 3-star wide receiver had not cracked LSU’s receiver rotation despite generating quite a bit of buzz during the spring.

Hungry for a role in the offense. Ensminger, the team’s longtime tight ends coach, inserted the 6-foot-3, 221-pounder as a tight end, rotating left to right in the formation, laying out opposing linebackers and defensive backs as a designated blocker in the running game before finding a seam and catching 2 passes for 42 yards against Ole Miss.

Just as he did against Auburn with the Wild Clyde, Ensminger waited patiently to show off another nuance in the Tigers offense.

“Joe has confidence in different receivers,” Orgeron said. “The ability to move Racey McMath as a receiver, move-tight end. He wasn’t playing at wide receiver, so we moved him to a different position and we think he can be a great player. He has speed, the ability to catch the ball and be a mismatch. Racey, at 220 (pounds), he can block, be physical and he’s tough. Here’s a young man who’s hungry and wants to play. Now, he’s got that chance to play.”

Through five weeks, LSU has had an array of different receivers take the lead each Saturday — from Jefferson to Sullivan and Anderson. Now, McMath is embedded in the offensive blueprint.

Different personnel groupings and the emphasis on generating mismatches have been the play-caller's forte thus far, and with a wide array of different skill-sets at his disposal, the biggest mystery is what’s on deck for this Saturday?