LSU has added a quarterback to its roster who started eight games in the SEC in 2024. Freshman Michael Van Buren was pressed into the starting role at Mississippi State when Blake Shapen went down with a season-ending injury. In 10 games, Van Buren threw for 1,886 yards and 11 TDs. David Murray covers the Mississippi State Bulldogs for 247 sports and says Van Buren throws a nice deep ball.
“The kid has one thing that can’t be taught: He has a beautiful touch on the deep ball, on time, on target. His problem simply is, he’s short. They list him at 6’1″. He probably is 5’11”,” Murray said.
Van Buren has three years of eligibility left and Murray says he would have been the Bulldogs backup in 2025 with Shapen returning from his injury. He says LSU’s NIL dollars helped lure him to Baton Rouge.
“They’ve got a guy who can make all the throws. He’s got the arm, he’s got the aggression, and he’s got the recognition, so I think it’s a fine pick up for them. It simply was a state where Mississippi State could not afford investing so much NIL when they’ve really got to get out there and find a bunch of linebackers, defensive linemen, offensive linemen,” Murray explained.
Van Buren threw seven interceptions, and he was also sacked 27 times for a team that went 2-and-10 in 2024. Murray says Van Buren is known to hang on to the ball in the hopes of hitting the deep pass.
“When you have the ability to put the ball down there long, you’re gonna wait longer, and rightly so. You see the potential for the big hit down there, you wait until the last second you have to run, then you take off. I think that’s something that can be refined at the college level certainly,” Murray said.
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