LSU quarterback Danny Etling thinks he’s NFL caliber

LSU quarterback Danny Etling doesn’t have eye-popping numbers, but he also doesn’t lack confidence he can play at the next level.

The LSU Tigers have long had plenty of talent all over the field, but finding a suitable quarterback has been elusive. Danny Etling has provided some stability and efficiency over the last two seasons, with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions since coming in as a transfer from Purdue.

Etling has been benched at times this year, but freshman backup Myles Brennan has just 23 pass attempts thus far. Being a game manager is just fine, but finding Etling on any list of 2018 NFL Draft prospects is a task that’s destined to go without being completed. A potentially loaded class of quarterbacks, led by Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield, assuming any or all of the first four leave school early, leaves a low-tier senior like Etling far off the radar of NFL scouts.

But he talked to reporters on Monday and expressed great optimism about being able to play in the NFL when asked about it.

In the interest of full disclosure, Etling really barely played in the Big Ten over two seasons. Over 13 games at Purdue, he threw for 2,490 yards with 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He started eight games as a freshman in 2013 before losing the job to Austin Appleby five games into the following season. Not that he couldn’t play in the Big Ten, literally, but he couldn’t keep the starting job for a Boilermakers’ team that finished 3-9 in 2014.

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Based on what is put out there around the league each season on the whole, especially when injuries hit, the definition of an NFL-caliber quarterback can be stretched. So Etling could be “NFL caliber,” in the sense he could stick around as a backup/practice squad guy and be employed by teams far longer than anyone expects.