2019 National L Club Spring Game -- 1PM SEC Network

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What to watch from LSU in 2019

1. That daunting schedule

Life in the SEC West is never easy: You have to play Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, all teams ranked in SN's pre-preseason top 25. LSU, though, also has to play resurgent teams in Florida. LSU, to its credit, also scheduled a marquee game with Texas in Austin. It is one of the toughest schedules in the nation. Sporting News predicted the winner of the LSU-Texas game would finish the season with one loss. If the Tigers can grab an early win in Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, they'll be well on their way to showing the belong among the elite College Football Playoff contenders.

2. Joe Burrow's development

Burrow had a solid first season under center in 2018, completing just under 60 percent of his passes for 2,894 yards and 16 touchdowns to five interceptions. The highlight of his season was the four-touchdown, one-interception game against UCF, against whom he threw a career-high 394 yards. LSU hopes that will serve as a springboard into 2019: It likely won't ask Burrow to sling the ball all over the field this season, but the Tigers should expect higher output in yards and touchdowns, along with increased efficiency, under new passing game coordinator Joe Brady. Burrow gets back his five top-leading receivers from last year. There's no reason to expect he won't be improved in his second year in Baton Rouge.

3. How to replace top-end talent

White, Williams and 1000-yard rusher Nick Brossette have all concluded their LSU careers. Who does LSU use to replace them? In the case of Brossette, at least, the case may be simple: Second-leading rusher Clyde Edwards-Helaire is back, and he can rotate with Emory in the rushing game. With Williams, it could be as simple as plugging in Stingley, an early enrollee who has drawn rave reviews from Orgeron on special teams so far. At linebacker, look for K’Lavon Chaisson to step into a big role after he was injured for pretty much the entirety of 2018. Patrick Queen is also a strong candidate to take over at linebacker as well.

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