re: What player are most excited to see take the next step for next football season?

Entire Defense

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Chris Hilton. Every single person who has observed him at practice over the past 2 springs has said the same thing: he is unguardable. His routes are crisp and he has a gear that we have not seen here at the WR position. I honestly believe the kid has just been injured and is actually a prodigiously talented WR.

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I honestly believe we make the playoffs last season with a healthy Hilton. He changes the way teams defend against LSU and opens up the offense.

I think Hilton is going to ball out.

There are too many other young talents for me to list, but maybe the two new T on the offensive line is where I'm hoping takes the next big steps.

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Same here, I want to see the combination of Perkins and Weeks at LB

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If Perkins takes “the next step” we should be fully in contention for a Natty. If Weeks does as well then I feel the same. Either of these guys taking the next step would be insane

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Im excited too, but don’t be shocked when he doesn’t start unless Gooden ends up not being good enough at the SEC level.

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I would be shocked. Gooden is a good player but still a tad undersized to be a full time SEC defensive tackle starter. I know wingo was too but wingo as a proven good player at Mizzou before coming here. I think he’ll fill the javier Suggs role. Dom is an ultra talent heading into year 2 time to take the training wheels off

I want a whole bunch of players to "take the next step". Hell, we want the entire secondary to return to the levels we expect, it hasn't been there since 2019.

But if you force me to single 1 player out, it has to be Nussmeier. He's currently considered a 1st round prospect, if he makes a big step forward he's likely Heisman/top overall pick.

DJ PIckett and Harold Perkins.
Very different situations but both are hugely talented and in positions to make a jump to the next level.

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I honestly believe we make the playoffs last season with a healthy Hilton. He changes the way teams defend against LSU and opens up the offense.

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Exactly. He's a double coverage bracketed threat. I just don't think people understand the speed we are talking about here. Faster than Jamarr. Faster than Malik. Faster than JJ. Faster than OBJ. Faster than BTJ. Faster than Jarvis Landry. Legit high end track speed. I'm not saying he'll be a better receiver than any of them, but wtf do you do against a weapon like that?

Peyton Todd because we all know he will hit one over 45 yards...just once.

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Easy answer is Nuss. He needs to take a leap like Burrow and Daniels did in his last year. Hopefully he's committed himself to doing that.

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That's probably a bit of an unreasonable expectation because one could argue Nuss had a more productive first year as a starter than either of those guys.

Burrow was probably a slightly above average QB in his first year starting (though a HUGE reason for that was having to play in an antiquated offensive approach). Daniels was better in year 1 than a LOT of people gave him credit for that season (there were more than a few offseason threads with fans advocating that Nuss be the starter in 2023). His biggest problem was his hesitancy as a passer. The running ability was always there.

Last season in just one more game than Daniels played in 2022 Nuss has almost 200 more pass attempts. He averaged 100 more yards per game than Daniels. The point is there is probably not as much room for a massive improvement like Burrow and Daniels had. Hell, Nuss's 4,000 yards last season is second only to Burrow's 2019 season. He was tied for 10th in nation in TD passes. He was 6th in passing yards per game.

If Nuss has an equivalent level of increase that Burrow and Daniels had from years 1 to 2 then we'll be talking about Nussmeier having one of the greatest seasons in the history of CFB. He's doesn't need to take anywhere close to that kind of leap. If he can just be a little bit more efficient and cut down on the turnovers by 30% - 40%, the LSU should be more than good enough offensively