How the LSU football offense has adjusted to life after Joe Burrow

The 2019 LSU Tigers were truly a team for the ages in college football lore. Quarterback Joe Burrow led an extremely talented set of coaches and playmakers to an extraordinary level. Their 15-0 season and national championship had them make a legitimate claim as one of the best teams of all time.

Burrow’s ascension with the best season of any college quarterback ever certainly attributed to that. He amassed an insane 76.3 completion percentage with 5,671 yards, 60 touchdowns and six interceptions. He added another 368 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

He was surrounded by an amazing cast too. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady built an unstoppable scheme and is currently enjoying success with Teddy Bridgewater and the Carolina Panthers. Clyde Edwards-Helaire is doing good things in Kansas City as a first-round pick and receiver Justin Jefferson looks like a massive steal for Minnesota already.

This roster also had the top receiver in the nation in Ja’Marr Chase, and a star who has emerged this year in Terrace Marshall Jr. They were loaded with depth and high-end names that’ll be around a long time at the next level too. Only Marshall is back in 2020 though.

Life after Joe Burrow has been a difficult adjustment for LSU football

Four games into 2020 and the Tigers are a much different bunch. They lost a ton of talent on their staff and roster, but are barely treading water as the defending champions. We’re going to focus on how the offense is performing after the loss of Burrow and the changes they’ve had to make.

A lot of this will focus on how the Tigers have used Myles Brennan and this passing game. The rushing attack is similarly effective thanks to the depth the program always seems to have and a good run-blocking offensive line.

No one expected Brennan to be comparable to Burrow, but how each player spread the field is fascinating and indicative of design, experience, comfort and skill sets. The passing spread might surprise you as much as it did me considering how much better Burrow was than any of his peers in any given season.

Of Burrow’s 495 passes I charted (this eliminated throwaways), 13 percent were behind the line of scrimmage, 53 percent were between 0-10 air yards, 19 percent between 11-19 yards and 15 percent over 20 yards. He dominated with supreme accuracy to every level in a way no one has ever seen.

It made sense for Burrow to be almost reckless with his incredible guts to attempt as many tight-window passes as he did because he could hit them better than anyone. I expected the drop off on deeper attempts to be severe with a new starter in Brennan and coordinator.

Instead, it’s been almost the status quo from last year. The offense is similarly designed with the exception of play-action usage. Burrow used play-action on 24 percent of his attempts, whereas Brennan is at 20.5 percent. Burrow rolled out on 10.5 percent of attempts and Brennan is at 11 percent.

Of course, the numbers and film show a drastically different outcome though. The LSU offense is averaging 38 points per game but completing only 63 percent of their passes. Their rushing yards per attempt is down to a measly 3.9 yards. Though they remain explosive, the drive-to-drive issues are a product of Brennan’s inexperience and lack of stud pass-blockers.

Making things more digestible for Brennan is a critical element but tough to make effective against top-tier opponents. He throws a beautiful deep ball, and they have the speedsters to get downfield and finish plays. He’s been accurate on 26-of-33 passes down the middle of the field, including on six-of-seven deep balls with three touchdowns.

This is a good strength to have since so many young quarterbacks avoid the middle of the field. But Brennan and the offense show weakness going outside. There’s a lot of slants that get called and lead to lost opportunities because of his poor placement, slow eyes and processing issues.

Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan hasn’t dealt with it extremely well. Brennan is more Zach Mettenberger with his short accuracy than Burrow, yet the playcalling seems built for a precise quarterback. Brennan is far from that and it’s shown on conversion downs and quick throws.

The above play is a good example of bailing and getting tunnel vision. With trips to the top of the screen and short marker, Brennan, even on the run from pressure, should have patience and continue to wait for his receivers to cross the face of their defenders over the middle. Instead, he panics and holds onto the ball for a run.

He had more time than he thought and could’ve converted this first down had he stayed square with his eyes up. These missed reads are consistently showing themselves on film. The one below can be tallied as a lost deep ball read.

The slot receiver to the left is lined up against the deep safety, and once Brennan has to move within the pocket, comes open. He’s not being held by anyone, as the right-side safety has responsibilities on his side, and the left safety is too slow to keep up on the deep crosser.

Some of these plays happen as experience sets in and confidence is there in a quick reset outside of the pocket, but those are the big plays that Burrow seemingly always saw and made. Almost as always with young guys, this comes down to composure and awareness.

The concepts and philosophy from Linehan have been impressively similar to Brady. Unfortunately, that’s not the best thing for Brennan’s preferred style and capability right now. It’s overloaded the youngster and his confidence has to be shaken.

He often stands like a statue in the pocket and fails to see where the pressure could come from, let alone that it is coming. This is a massive weakness for the offense. They’re falling deeper into long-yardage situations too often.

He’s not incompetent though and there’s a balance between easing the burden on him and pushing him to grow. He can extend plays thanks to his athleticism and still deliver a dart, an encouraging sign that he will develop over time.

The LSU offense is still one of the better ones in the nation but it certainly looks different even if Linehan is keeping it functionally similar. It wasn’t possible to continue the magic without Burrow, but their discount version has significant room to grow. Good games from Brennan or this offensive line are enough to beat anyone not named Alabama in the SEC.

It’s just whether the defense is, or how realistic it is that Brennan can handle such a heavy-passing offense. He looks at least one-year away, or a better surrounding cast is needed to take some of the pressure off his young shoulders.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.