LSU will go through at least half of its fall camp without Arden Key, one of the top prospects in college football.
Tigers coach Ed Orgeron said a few weeks ago that Key wouldn't be ready for the start of camp and revealed on Thursday an update on the star edge rusher who's recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. He said the LSU staff won't know if Key will be able to play in the Sept. 2 season opener against BYU until the end of camp in late August.
"We don't know when he's going to be ready, but obviously we expect him to play this year and have a great year. We won't know [his playing status] until the end of camp," Orgeron said, per The Advocate. "I'm going to listen to the doctors. Some days he's able to get into uniform and practice, he's going to do that, but I don't see that happening in the next couple of weeks."
Key, a junior, is rated the No. 1 edge rusher to watch this season by NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein. He broke LSU's single-season sack record in 2016 with 12 in 11 games. Key took a leave of absence from the team in February and returned in June, not long after undergoing surgery. NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah has compared him to Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor.
Key wrote in a tweet earlier this offseason that he has bulked up to 255 pounds, and scouts are interested to see if he has the same burst that he did before adding nearly 20 pounds to his frame. He's one of the top talents in the college game, and one shrouded in uncertainty with a little more than a month to go before the start of the season.
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