LSU football news: 3 observations from preseason practice, scrimmage – Daily Advertiser

BATON ROUGE — LSU football held its first scrimmage in front of the media at preseason practices Wednesday.
More questions than answers emerged, but there were some notable performances from the quarterbacks, and updates on the offensive line and cornerback rooms.
Here are three observations from Wednesday’s practice.
Leading up to the scrimmage portion of practice, Garrett Nussmeier and Jayden Daniels split time with the first- and second-team offenses.
But once the scrimmage began, Daniels had the majority of the first-team reps. He took advantage of it with another strong day that included one notable three-play sequence where he made a first-down throw to Jaray Jenkins, ran for about 15 yards on a read-option design and then found Kayshon Boutte for roughly a 15-yard gain.
“I thought the ball came out of Daniels’ hand really well today, especially with the RPOs,” Kelly said. “It was accurate.”
Nussmeier had some good moments, including a touchdown throw to the back of the endzone to Jenkins toward the end of practice.
But he also wasn’t perfect.
Earlier in the scrimmage on a third-down play inside the red zone, Nussmeier was flushed out of the pocket by two pass rushers and backpedaled due to the pressure. But instead of throwing the ball away or taking a sack, he threw the ball up for grabs off of one foot to the end zone that, fortunately for him, wasn’t intercepted.
MYLES BRENNAN RETIRES: LSU football QB Myles Brennan leaves program, retires from football
EVALUATING LSU’S QB BATTLE: Making sense of LSU football’s QB battle after Myles Brennan’s retirement
LSU QB JAYDEN DANIELS ADJUSTING TO THE SOUTH: How LSU football QB Jayden Daniels, a West Coast transplant, is getting comfortable in Louisiana
The first-team offensive line on Wednesday was the same as it has been for most of the month, with freshman Will Campbell at left tackle, fifth-year senior Tre’Mond Shorts at left guard, sophomore Garrett Dellinger at center, sophomore Miles Frazier at right guard and junior Anthony Bradford at right tackle.
The unit held its own during the scrimmage with the only major concern stemming from Dellinger’s performance. At one point, the offensive guard-turned-center had errant snaps on three consecutive plays inside the red zone.
“What we’re asking him to do is a lot more now other than snapping,” Kelly said. “If he was just snapping the ball, he would be fine. But we’re asking him to call the front, he’s making the checks, and he’s gone from playing guard to center.
“We’ll get it worked out. I’m not concerned about it.”
The second-team unit rotated more players in and out of the lineup but junior Charles Turner was at center, senior Cam Wire at right tackle and sophomore Marcus Dumervil at left tackle.
Kelly said after practice that the trio is among LSU’s top eight offensive linemen with freshman guard Emery Jones as the ninth man. He also mentioned that Turner, Dumervil and Wire still have a chance to start.
“There’s still opportunities,” Kelly said. “(On) Saturday we’ll move that group around a little bit. We’re going to move Bradford inside. We’ll kick Cam Wire out to tackle. So there’s still some moving around on that offensive line to see what the best five guys are.”
When Richardson — a transfer from McNeese State — first arrived at LSU, Kelly saw a talented cornerback who wasn’t physically ready to handle the SEC.
But over the summer Richardson transformed his body, going from 167 pounds to 190 pounds. And he’s continued to impress during preseason practices as he worked with the first-team defense during the scrimmage.
“He certainly has now developed himself into a guy that’s going to play football for us,” Kelly said.
Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser and the USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley.

source