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Like many spread systems, this LSU offense asks a number of different things from Burrow. Auburn plays a safety deep over the three-WR side, so Burrow works the whip-dig combination, throwing the dig for a first down. It’s a typical drop-back menu, with the receivers running a stick route and slot fade to the three-WR side and then a whip/dig combination to the boundary. Take this third-and-12 conversion against Auburn: The passing game Burrow leads is heavy on play action and RPOs designed to help or benefit from the threat of the run game, although it also has some other drop-back plays mixed in to offer options on passing downs. LSU spends some time under center and often employs spread sets to create space for the run game.

Heading into the season, the perception was that LSU’s talent was really clustered here, rather than at RB, where the program has been absurdly loaded the last few years. They’re fairly deep at receiver, with Texas Tech transfer Jonathan Giles, big targets Dee Anderson (6’5, 220 pounds) and Stephen Sullivan (6’6, 235), and emerging star Justin Jefferson. The 2018 Tigers spend a lot of time in the shotgun with three receivers, stretching the defense to the hash marks and beyond. The Tigers are much more spread-oriented now than they ever were under Les Miles, or even last year under Matt Canada, who geared the offense around running the jet sweep from under center.

Is he? LSU has a diverse offense that demands a lot of Burrow. Whether or not Burrow is good figures to have a substantial impact on whether the Tigers keep finding wins. LSU still has a bunch of difficult dates on its schedule.

The LSU defense is playing at a high level (predictably), and thus far the Tigers have been able to get the offense they need. On the other hand, the Tigers reached 3-0 with wins over Miami and at Auburn, the latter of which snapped a 13-game home winning streak. Burrow didn’t complete 50 percent of his passes in any of the three games, and LSU’s offense finished them ranked 76th in S&P+. Adjusted for sacks, he chipped in 17 carries for 71 rushing yards and another score. In his first three games of 2018, new LSU QB Joe Burrow completed just 36 of 78 passes for 540 yards at 6.9 yards per throw, with three TDs and no interceptions. The numbers and the team results say two different things.