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Ohio St. QB chooses LSU

He is expected to compete for the starting quarterback job when practice begins in August as he has more experience than the three returning LSU quarterbacks combined — sophomore Myles Brennan, junior Justin McMillan and red-shirt freshman Lowell Narcisse.

BATON ROUGE — Joe Burrow (BUR-oh) is headed to the Bayou (BYE-yew)!

LSU has landed a big, new quarterback who has already been under development for three years at a major brand name in college football by an offensive coach who has won three national championships.

Burrow, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound graduate transfer from Ohio State and coach Urban Meyer, will be eligible to play at LSU this season as a red-shirt junior after he graduated this spring from Ohio State. And he is expected to compete for the starting quarterback job when practice begins in August as he has more experience than the three returning LSU quarterbacks combined — sophomore Myles Brennan, junior Justin McMillan and red-shirt freshman Lowell Narcisse.

LSU coach Ed Orgeron said at national signing day in February that he may sign a graduate transfer quarterback as he failed to sign targeted high school quarterback James Foster of Sidney Lanier High in Montgomery, Alabama. Foster (6-3, 188) was a three-star prospect by Rivals.com, which listed him as the No. 18 dual-threat quarterback in the nation. He signed with Texas A&M.

"Joe Burrow is a difference maker," LSU recruiting expert Michael Scarborough of TigerBait.com (Rivals.com affiliate) said Friday. "My long-time Ohio State contact says he has the 'it' factor."

Burrow could make a difference in number of wins this season, Scarborough said. The Tigers have been picked to win as few as six or seven games in 2018, which is significantly lower than at any time since before Nick Saban coached a game at LSU starting in 2000.

"I've thought LSU was heading towards 6-6 or 7-5," Scarborough said. "But with Burrow, I think eight wins with that brutal schedule (Miami, Georgia, Alabama) is attainable."

Burrow, a native of The Plains, Ohio, who red-shirted at Ohio State in 2015, visited LSU last weekend and had also visited the University of Cincinnati. He had scheduled a visit to North Carolina for this week, but canceled it. It came down to Cincinnati and LSU. He grew close to an announcement Thursday night and made his decision Friday.

Burrow, who was a three-star prospect out of Athens High in The Plains by Rivals.com, completed 22 of 28 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions as a backup to starter J.T. Barrett in six games in 2016 as a red-shirt freshman. He completed 7 of 11 passes for 61 yards in four games as a backup again in 2017. After the 2018 spring game, Burrow decided to transfer as he did not feel he would be the starter over sophomore Dwayne Haskins, who is considered a better runner while Burrow is considered to be a very accurate passer.

"Good luck to you brother. Appreciate you making me better. See you at the top," Haskins tweeted to Burrow when Burrow decided to leave Ohio State early this month.

"I didn't come here to sit on the bench for four years," Burrow told reporters at the time. "And I know I'm a pretty darn good quarterback. I want to play somewhere."

Meyer had not named Haskins the starter following spring football, but Burrow wanted to know where he stood.

"I love Joe Burrow," Meyer told ESPN at the time. "He's a loyal soldier, and I think I owe him and answer. Our staff owes him an answer."

Burrow was set to be the backup for Barrett entering the 2017 season, but Burrow broke his hand shortly before the season. And Haskins passed him up, completing 40 of 57 passes for 565 yards and four touchdowns with an interception while rushing 24 times for 86 yards.

MORE: Myles Brennan Speaks!

Brennan is the only one of LSU's three quarterbacks to attempt a pass in his college career. He was 14 of 24 for 178 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions last season in relief of senior starter Danny Etling, himself a transfer from Purdue.

Burrow is the third veteran transfer quarterback LSU has signed after Etling in 2015 and Zach Mettenberger in 2011. Both became starters for parts of two seasons and were significantly more successful than any quarterbacks signed out of high school and developed by LSU since Matt Flynn was developed by former LSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher from 2003-06.

Burrow, a Mr. Football in Ohio at Athens High, was the No. 24 dual-threat quarterback in the nation by Rivals.com in 2015 and No. 29 in the state. He was not ranked nationally. He committed to Ohio State on May 28, 2014 — before his senior high school season. Among the major schools offering him a scholarship were Boston College, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina State, West Virginia, Illinois, Michigan State and Notre Dame.

Brennan was a four-star prospect by Rivals.com and the No. 12 pro-style quarterback in 2017 out of St. Stanislaus High in Long Beach, Mississippi. He was ranked No. 212 nationally and was the No. 4 prospect in Mississippi, but the only SEC schools to offer him a scholarship other than LSU were Ole Miss, Tennessee, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

In six games as a backup last season, Brennan at times displayed a quick release, but he is still considered thin at 6-4 and 193 pounds and has been working under an extensive weight- and muscle-gaining program at LSU.

Narcisse and McMillan have each considered transfers over the last several months.

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