Detailing why LSU could be a team that regresses in 2024

2023’s LSU team showcased one of the most high-powered offenses in the country.

Led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels and wide receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas — they’ve all left campus and are expected to be first-round draft choices in next month’s 2024 NFL Draft.

So, where does that leave Brian Kelly’s squad this fall? Joining On3’s Andy Staples, Ralph Russo of the Associated Press explained where he believes the Tigers stack up as they look to find a new identity on offense before the start of the 2024 college football season.

“The defense will get better because it can get much worse,” Russo explained to Staples. “But the offense will almost certainly regress because there’s no way it’s getting better without a quarterback who had one of the great years we’ve seen in recent college football history and two first round draft pick wide receivers. … I was skeptical about the sunshine were were throwing at LSU last year. I was not in on the LSU was a national championship contender last year.”

Since LSU didn’t meet its ultimate goal of the College Football Playoff, Russo believes the Tigers a bit of a disappointment relative to those lofty expectations. They landed right around where he thought Russo though they would.

“One of the things I was skeptical about last year was that it was simply year two for Brian Kelly,” Russo continued. “Simply being year two and hadn’t had a chance to build up the roster through recruiting. Remember, he took over a roster that had I think 38 scholarship players left from that [previous year’s] bowl game. Now, I know they had a recruiting class coming in on top of that. … That recruiting class and the last couple of recruiting classes — that’s what you need to be a contender at a high level in the SEC.”

Russo theorized the fact that Kelly now has three full recruiting classes under his vision in Baton Rouge, mixed with transfer portal additions should be enough to offset the loss of Daniels, Nabers and Thomas.

That remains to be seen, but we do know that the Tigers will kick off its 2024 college football season on Sunday, Sept. 1 against USC — another team that just lost its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback to the pros.

The biggest question mark entering that matchup will be figuring out which offense can click first after an entire offseason of preparation.