In Lee we trust

The QB question

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By John Colby Roessler

As the LSU football program enters the 2008 season looking to defend its 2007 BCS National Championship, many questions are left unanswered. The most important and intriguing is who will be the man to be taking the snaps?

Since the Tigers lost fifth-year senior Matt Flynn to the NFL Draft and redshirt junior Ryan Perrilloux to his many, many legal issues, the Tigers were left with two unproven quarterbacks; redshirt freshman Jarrett Lee and redshirt sophomore and Harvard transfer Andrew Hatch. Fans have been debating all summer who should be the starter out of the two.

Although Hatch is tapped to be the starter against Appalachian State on August 30, Lee is the future even with quarterback Jordan Jefferson waiting in the wings. Lee has a powerful arm and has already begun to get a handle on the Tiger offense. Lee, in many respects, is much akin to former Tiger and current Green Bay Packer Matt Flynn who led us to the National Championship only one season ago, only Lee’s arm is stronger to make deeper passes.

Hatch is a more of a ground game type quarterback with an adequate arm. Lee has the capacity to be able to open up the offense for coordinator Gary Crowton and head coach Les Miles. In the past, LSU has been a solid run team that would rely on play action passing with short-to-intermediate routes by its receivers; an offense Jarrett Lee is accustomed to.

Like Flynn, Lee played his high school ball in a tough Texas system in a tough Texas district. At Brenham High School in his junior and senior seasons, he was a combined 370-of-614 passing for 5,809 yards and 68 touchdowns. That is a completion percentage of 60 percent. Most of that came in his junior season as he went 250-of-350 for 3,425 yards and 40 touchdowns.

Lee’s arm strength and ability to have a high completion percentage goes hand-in-hand with the influx of receivers LSU possesses. It is a dynamic group that includes senior and squad leader Demetrius Byrd, sophomore Terrence Toliver and juniors Chris and Jared Mitchell. Gary Crowton used to run the spread offense at BYU and at Louisiana Tech, and with Lee, he could show the flashes of high scoring he showed at those two programs.

The 6’2”, 219-pound Lee has shown poise and moxy in the three scrimmages the Tigers have had this year. In the Spring Game, Lee went 7-for-13 passing for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

Coach Miles said of Lee in the Spring Game, “Both guys came in to play … I felt Lee got it started a little bit differently … I felt Lee came back and started making plays and got into a groove.”

Miles also said of Lee after the second fall scrimmage, “Jarrett Lee threw the ball extremely well in his ‘go.’”

The Tigers may have lost the talented duo of Flynn and Perrilloux, but Tigers fan need not worry too much for if the young Jarrett Lee is given the opportunity, he shall not prove to disappoint. Once he learns the offense completely and gets a good working relationship with his receivers, his talent and powerful arm could help the Tigers appear in yet another BCS bowl game come the New Year. The future could be and is now for Jarrett Lee and the Fighting Tigers of LSU.

Originally Published: Issue 701 - August 19, 2008

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