4 potential solutions to LSU football's passing game woes entering Tennessee showdown

BATON ROUGE - Jayden Daniels needed to talk things over with his receivers.

The LSU football quarterback wasn't on the same page with them last week, when he only completed 8-of-20 passes for 80 yards in the Tigers' 21-17 win over Auburn.

So he set up a meeting on Monday: Just him, the rest of the quarterback's room and the wide receivers.

No coaches.

"We got into that, looked into the film, wrote down some (things) that we could have done better, we should do better," wide receiver Malik Nabers said. "So we came out today (Tuesday) and focused on those things.

"We've got to trust each other better."

It was the first time the position groups had come together for a meeting. But with No. 8 Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 SEC) playing at LSU (4-1, 2-0) on Saturday (11 a.m., ESPN) and because of last week's lackluster performance, it was necessary.

"We need a leader in the offensive room. He showed that (by) stepping up, calling the meeting, making changes (and) telling us how we need to do better," Nabers said. "I feel like that was a big step from an offensive standpoint that we needed."

But what are those adjustments? And how can LSU offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and coach Brian Kelly further enhance those tweaks schematically?

Here are four potential solutions to LSU's passing game problem.

Being more intentional in getting Kayshon Boutte the ball

Against Auburn, Boutte had only two targets and one reception for four yards. He has less than 100 receiving yards in four games and has only caught 11 of his 21 targets this year, according to Pro Football Focus.

The numbers are inexcusably low for LSU's best wide receiver. To get him more involved, the Tigers will need to be intentional in getting him the ball in space with jet sweeps and screens.

Daniels also shouldn't be afraid to force throws into him, even if it's into double coverage – something Boutte has seen constantly this year.

Installing pre-snap motion

Pre-snap motion is a good way to make life easier for a quarterback.

Sending a running back, tight end or wide receiver jogging to a different spot in the formation prior to the snap allows that weapon to get off the line of scrimmage with a running start and ‒ more importantly – helps tip the hand of what a defense is doing in coverage (determining whether its running zone or man-to-man).

LSU has deployed some pre-snap motion this season. But perhaps ratcheting it up could be helpful for Daniels.

Designing more deep shots

LSU has hardly stretched the ball downfield with deep passes. Daniels has only attempted 10 throws of 20-yards or more, completing four of them. And on throws of 10-to-19 yards, he's only hit receivers on 12-of-25 attempts.

Designing a more potent deep passing attack would allow the offense to flow easily. It would force defenses to think twice before placing a safety in the box (therefore opening lanes in the run game), create more cushion between LSU's receivers and their respective cornerback matchups and add make the Tigers' offense more multidimensional and dynamic.

Without a credible deep passing attack, Daniels' passing windows get tighter and the margin for error for the entire offense gets smaller. It's time for LSU's offense to start opening things up.

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Daniels being aggressive as a passer

Daniels said on Tuesday that he hasn't been afraid to launch balls into tight windows or deep down the field, despite Kelly declaring on Monday that the Arizona State transfer has been "way too conservative" as a passer.

It's good that Daniels hasn't been reckless this season. Not having a single interception through five games is a good thing.

But, as Kelly has noted, the stat is also a reminder of how risk-averse Daniels has been this season, turning down potential opportunities to let his talented receivers make plays in traffic and attempting too few passes beyond the sticks.

Perhaps Daniels will need to roll the dice and trust his receivers more for LSU's offense to find the spark that it needs.

"You know how explosive our offense can be," Daniels said. "So we just (need) to go out there and ... give those guys a chance and make those tough contested catches and we will be fine."

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.