Mike Denbrock adresses biggest questions for LSU's offense in 2023

Mike Denbrock enters his second season as the offensive coordinator at LSU with a much better feel for what he has at his disposal entering 2023. The experienced playcaller was able to maximize what he had last year, resulting in one of the more consistent rushing attacks in the country, paired with an 1,000 yard receiver in Malik Nabers.

This year, he returns several key pieces and a quarterback with extremely high expectations. On Thursday, he took the podium to field questions about his offense through one week of fall camp. Here’s what he said and my thoughts on the answer/topic.

Jayden Daniels

Mike Denbrock: “Year two allows him a comfort level from a knowledge standpoint and personnel standpoint where he feels like he can let it rip more. We continue to encourage him to do that more and more and he’s taken it upon himself to be more aggressive and play that way and make sure he’s giving guys opportunities, but also being smart at the same time. It’s also understanding he has some dynamic people around him that need the football and he’s done a good job of continuing to do that.”

My thoughts: It wasn’t Daniels’ best day on Thursday, but in the big picture of fall camp so far, there’s been a noticeable improvement in his overall aggression and accuracy as a passer. You can see the coaching staff still imploring him to make certain throws that he was reluctant to make last year, but the defense has been pretty good at tightening up the windows for him to throw into. As Denbrock, Joe Sloan, and Brian Kelly continue to work with him, there’s hope Daniels puts the finishing touches on a productive offseason heading into game one.

Tight ends

Denbrock: “The completeness of Mason Taylor’s game is going to come through this year that you guys are going to see. Connor Gilbreath is a big body in-line tight end and I’ve liked what I’ve seen from him from an aggression standpoint. Jackson McGohan is an unbelievable route runner, understanding of the passing game, how to create space for himself, how to break down people in man coverage, and can definitely help us in the passing game. Mac Markway has had the best camp so far as far as moving himself in position to contribute to the team. Pimpton is an unbelievable physical talent and a raw piece of clay that any coach would love to have on their team.” 

My thoughts: We’ve seen a lot of Mac Markway rotating in either for Mason Taylor or alongside him. At 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, he’s immediately able to hold his own as a blocker, but hearing Denbrock’s praise for his versatility is important. We know how talented Pimpton and McGohan are, but it remains to be seen just how much they’re involved in the offense this year. It sounds like Denbrock is trying to figure that out as well in these early practices.

Being more explosive

Denbrock: “We caught a lot of footballs with our backs to where we were trying to score last year. We caught a lot of stops and comebacks and we were good at it, so it’s easy to call. There weren’t as many catch and run opportunities, which can contribute to our explosiveness. We’ve tried to correct that with our scheme to allow those guys to be dangerous with the ball in their hands. Just subtle tweaks to what we did last year and it’s led to more explosiveness.”

My thoughts: I loved his insightful answer here. The vertical passing game gets a lot of talk, but there are a lot more ways for an offense to be more explosive than just throwing the ball 30 yards down the field. With Aaron Anderson, Malik Nabers, and other talented receivers, if Denbrock can scheme ways for them to get the ball on the move or running across a defense, it opens up the field for them as playmakers. The YAC numbers for players like Kayshon Boutte and Nabers last year were minimal, but in year two, it’s perhaps more important to give them more dynamic/versatile routes than for Daniels to chuck the ball down the field.

Offensive line

Denbrock: “It’s a work in progress, especially when you have some freshmen dipping their toe in the two-deep. That’s going to be a minute. We’ve seen things from each one of them that makes you think they have a chance. Mason Lunsford made some good contributions as well and adds some good depth to the position.”

My thoughts: He echoes what Brian Kelly said earlier this week in the sense that there’s a lot of work to be done in sorting out the offensive line depth before Sept. 3. Balance Heard, Mason Lunsford, Marlon Martinez, and others all have the potential to help this team up front, but with five returning starters it’s more about figuring out the rest of the depth chart right now as they go through practices. Lunsford was a really important pickup for this offensive line as they wait to see how much Heard, Bo Bordelon, DJ Chester, and other young players can help them this year.

Running backs

Denbrock: “It’s exciting that there are so many running backs that can come in and play. Does that allow you to do more of a two-back system? What it allows us is a lot of different options we can explore, not only early in the season but as the season goes along. If someone gets banged up, we have the athleticism and depth necessary to be versatile in what we do. It’s a day-to-day deal and one day one looks really good, then another guy looks good. This is going to take some time to sort out. The more they all understand what we’re doing, the more versatile it’s going to make us.” 

My thoughts: This coaching staff is having a tough time figuring out what’s going on at running back. With so many players and so many question marks, plus Josh Williams missing some time, there’s been a heavy rotation of players, making it hard for anyone other than Frank Wilson to get a good feel for what they have. Yes, there are eight capable running backs to work with, but at some point, Kelly and Denbrock want to sort out a pecking order. It’s a room without a lot of top-tier talent and while it’s nice having eight guys who can play, you really only need three or four. Logan Diggs has gotten more and more first team reps, and I maintain that he’s RB1 this year, but that’s still a guess at this point. Running backs won’t make or break this year’s team, but it would be a huge boost if Denbrock and this staff can make the most out of  the hand they’ve dealt themselves.