Tiger football spring practice is quickly approaching its end ahead of the 2024 season, and LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy continues to impress in his upgraded role. Earlier this week, offensive coordinator Joe Sloan spoke about the pass catcher and had some excellent things to say.
WATCH: LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy makes fantastic catch during spring practice
With the offseason departures of star pass catchers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr, there’s an abundance of starting snaps yet to be claimed, but we may be approaching some answers after some impressive showings from Kyren Lacy.
Beginning his career with Louisiana Lafayette, the Thibodaux, LA, product elected for a jump in competition ahead of his junior year, transferring to the Tigers after two seasons with the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Notably, the veteran pass catcher is yet to receive more than 30 receptions in a season, but that could be changing in the very near future. All spring, he’s been utilized as the No. 1 target, and in turn, he’s been making some electric plays that fans of the purple and gold have been waiting to see since he first stepped foot on campus.
Recently, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound LSU wide receiver took a deep shot from quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, went up, caught it on a defender’s head and ran the distance to the endzone.
Relatively unsurprisingly, it was one of the highlights of spring thus far.
Offensive coordinator Joe Sloan excited to utilize the senior pass catcher in 2024
Possibly most importantly, his offensive coordinator Joe Sloan is starting to take notice too. When asked about the veteran pass catcher, he immediately referenced the previously mentioned catch.
“The one over the safety was pretty good,” Sloan said with a smile on his face. “That was pretty cool. If we can recreate that a few times, we’ll be okay.”
Lacy is no stranger to making big-time catches, as he particularly started to come into his own this past season as the third wide receiver behind Nabers and Thomas Jr. Even without being a primary target per se, he managed to total 30 receptions for 558 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging an impressive 18.6 yards per catch.
“I knew Kyren when he was like 15 years old,” his newly dubbed offensive coordinator continued. “And watching his level of growth from a consistency standpoint; accountability, maturity, emotional, his growth that way – everybody talks about, ‘Hey, I want to grow. I know these are the things I need to work on.’ It’s not about talking about it. It’s about what you do every single day.”
Since joining the purple and gold, Lacy has made 54 receptions for 826 yards and seven touchdowns. Additionally, entering his third season with the program, he’s one of the more veteran pieces on the roster and can now be relied upon to not only know what’s going on, but teach it to some of the younger guys.
“The level of consistency he’s shown from the bowl game, into how he’s attacked the weight room, to how he’s been a leader in holding other players accountable and teaching young players what we do and how we do things – that is the process that then shows up at practice and shows up on Saturday. Kyren’s gonna make plays, but the maturity, the ability to use your emotion as your strength, and the ability to be consistent and accountable day in and day out, that’s gonna carry over, and now we see his talent show up every single play.”
The LSU wide receiver position battle is likely to continue all the way up to the 2024 college football season, so don’t expect any solid depth charts to be coming out any time soon. Even so, Lacy has quickly surged to the front of the group as far as a potential WR1 goes. If he continues to piece things together, as he has all offseason long, don’t be surprised to see a significant jump in production as we move into his fifth year.
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