Brian Kelly picks LSU football's starting quarterback, declines to name him publicly
BATON ROUGE – LSU football coach Brian Kelly said he has named a starting quarterback for the 2022 season. But he declined to reveal who it was on Monday.
The battle has been between Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels and redshirt freshman Garrett Nussmeier. Freshman Walker Howard will likely redshirt this season.
"I think everyone here wants to know who the quarterback is here, I get that," Kelly said at his opening week press conference on Monday. "But I think it's a tactical advantage for us not to announce it."
Kelly added that he only chose who the starter would be 48 hours ago.
"It's been that close," he said.
Sixth-year senior Myles Brennan also was competing for the job until Aug. 15, when he announced that he was leaving the program and retiring from football.
The Tigers face Florida State at the Superdome in New Orleans for the season opener on Sunday.
Before coming to LSU, Daniels started 29 games in three seasons at Arizona State. He won the job as a freshman and finished his career in Tempe with 6,025 passing yards, 1,288 rushing yards and 45 total touchdowns. He rushed for 710 yards and completed 65.4% of his passes last season.
Nussmeier appeared in four games for LSU last season, completing 50.9% of his passes for 329 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
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Kelly told reporters two weeks ago that freshman Walker Howard has impressed the staff but is expected to redshirt this season. Howard was a four-star recruit and the No. 5 quarterback in the nation coming out of St. Thomas More, according to 247Sports Composite.
Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser and the USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Brian Kelly names LSU football starting quarterback, but not publicly
