re: How far has Joe come? What were your first impressions?

The first thing I noticed about him was his understanding of how to play the position at a high level mentally. In the Miami game with very little time at LSU it was a running play that showed this. After surveying a look from Miami’s D he made a check to run that resulted in a long Broussette TD to take the lead for good in that game. Even though we didn’t have an explosive plan and his numbers weren’t great he kept us in good to workable situations all night and it told me regardless of physical talent he was so good between the ears that he would be an asset and upgrade from what we’d seen at LSU recently. Then moving ahead to this season, aside from the new offense, he made great strides to correct accuracy issues and velocity. Last year he had a habit of standing flat footed in the pocket, especially on shorter drops, which led to accuracy issues. This year from the first game you could see his foot work was much better. He was up on his toes from the start which not only changed his ball placement and accuracy but also allowed him to navigate the pocket much easier. Instead of bailing and running, which he did so well last season, he’s been able to step and slide seamlessly resulting in tons of explosive plays downfield. That’s just one example of his progression but it’s the one that sticks out most to me. He’s been an absolute dream to watch at LSU.