LSU Lands QB Transfer Danny Etling
By Scotty Nola
LSU fans frustrated with Anthony Jennings lack of production and Brandon Harris’ inability to seize the opportunity got their wish Monday–sort of.
The LSU Tigers have a new QB in the fold, and by all accounts he’s a dandy.
He won’t compete for a starters job this year though, he will have to sit out a year per NCAA rules and will have 2 remaining years of eligibility starting in 2016.
Etling was rated as one of the top 10 pro style QB’s coming out of high school by the major recruiting services, but he wasn’t rated very high early in the process.
He blew up recruiting boards after attending a pair of Elite 11 regional QB camps, one in Dallas and one in Ohio the spring before his senior year.
He went into these camps a relative unknown and walked out considered one of the best players in attendance. He gained kudos for having a strong arm, great footwork and an ability to rise to the moment under pressure.
LSU Transfer QB Danny Etling
Etling wasn’t expected to play early at Purdue but the head coach who recruited him was fired and the new coach shook up the QB picture, benching a 5th year senior and promoting Etling to starter during his freshman season.
Etling kept the job that year and won a QB competition before his second season but was himself benched after 5 starts during his sophomore campaign. Seeing the door closed, and probably a little frustrated at the handling of the situation he asked for a release from his scholarship.
Live Feed
Ole Hotty Toddy
Etling didn’t pick LSU completely out of the blue, he has a Cam Cameron connection–sort of. He graduated from the same high school in Terre Haute, Indiana, that Coach Cameron graduated from in the late 70’s.
Danny Etling also has a Drew Brees connection–sort of. The coach who recruited him to Purdue was the offensive line coach at Purdue when Brees was a starter there.
Of course people will want to look at Danny Etling’s college production pretty carefully.
His career stats in 13 starts over 2 seasons: completed 238 of 429 passes for 2490 yards 16 TD’s and 12 Interceptions. This compares to Anthony Jennings stats over the same 2 year stretch: in 22 starts over 2 years Jennings completed 124 of 256 passes for 1792 yards 12 TD’s and 8 Interceptions.
Now, outside of the irony that Etling was benched after putting up better numbers than LSU’s starting QB over the same period these stats don’t really tell the entire tale here.
Jennings supporters will note he didn’t get all of his production in the air, running for 310 yards and 2 TD’s on 127 attempts. Jennings has made a lot of big plays with his feet over the last 2 years at LSU.
More from LSU Tigers
- LSU Football: We’ve been saying it all along, LSU deserves to be No. 1
- LSU Football: Betting guide for the SEC Championship vs. Georgia
- LSU Football: It’s outrageous if LSU isn’t ranked first after beating Georgia
- LSU Football: Who gets in the playoff if LSU beats Georgia?
- LSU Football: A loss to Georgia shouldn’t stop College Football Playoff bid
Danny Etling’s rushing numbers look a little different than Anthony Jennings. Etling has run the ball 88 times for -104 yards and 4 TD’s in his college career. That is negative 104 yards, on quite a few plays listed as carries.
That running stat tells us a couple of things about Danny Etling. First off, he is not a running QB. He is a pure pocket passer in the Zach Mettenberger mold. The other thing that statl-ine tells us is that Danny Etling played behind a terrible offensive line at Purdue.
Sep 13, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers quarterback Danny Etling (5) reacts after being tackled by Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Max Redfield (10) in the second quarter at Lucas Oil Stadium. Redfield was called for targeting and a helmet to helmet hit and was ejected from the game. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Danny Etling got sacked a lot at Purdue. He got pressured, hurried and hit a lot too. It would be fair to say he was running for his life most of the time he was dropping back to throw the football over his short Purdue football career.
The fact he was able to put up the stats he did playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in the country is a near miracle. This also tells us a third thing about Danny Etling: LSU fans have no idea what they are getting here.
At LSU, Danny Etling will have a chance to compete for a starting role on an offense that is loaded with NFL talent on the line and at the skill positions. If he didn’t get ingrained bad habits playing behind that bad line at Purdue, he will have every opportunity to show that NFL-level arm talent off.
LSU has taken a transfer QB who came out of a bad situation and found himself in a good one as a Tiger before, in Zach Mettenberger.
If the Danny Etling experiment works out as well for all concerned, then this could be a great pickup.
If not, hold your breath Tigers fans — the Feleipe Franks Era is only one season away………