Pressure can make or break a player in any sport at any level of competition. And there perhaps may not be a tandem at LSU that is under more pressure than true freshman wide receivers Malachi Dupre and Trey Quinn, who are tasked with replacing Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry.
Dupre and Quinn both come in with high praise to begin their LSU careers.
Quinn was rated the No. 3 overall receiver by ESPN in the 2014 recruiting class due to his impressive high school career. He broke the national all-time receiving yards record, finishing with 6,566 yards on top of catching 357 balls, a Louisiana state record.
Dupre came in as the No. 1 overall receiver largely in part due to his raw talent and ability at the receiving position. His explosiveness off the line of scrimmage along with his size and leaping ability vaulted him to the top of recruiting classes.
Both Dupre and Quinn have the resumes to warrant high expectations, but after a highly successful passing game from the Tigers in 2013, the expectations will be even higher.
LSU statistically had a record breaking year in the passing game last season, and that was largely in part due to the receiving corps of Beckham and Landry.
The departed duo combined to catch 2,345 of the Tigers 3,263 total passing yards on the year on top of hauling in 18 of LSU’s 23 passing touchdowns on the year, statistics that now seemingly fall to the two freshmen.
But one thing about both Quinn and Dupre is that they’re grounded, hardworking individuals. They understand the hype and the pressure, but they won’t let it get to them.
“I don’t feel any pressure,” Dupre said. “I just need to do what I do to make plays, and just try to be the best I can be and not worry about what they did in the past. But also, definitely try and pick up where they left off at because [Beckham and Landry] were definitely two great receivers.”
While the two won’t say they’re focused on the pressure of becoming better than Landry and Beckham, it’s clear that they’re doing whatever they can to take their games to a new level.
Dupre spent countless hours and days over the spring and summer working with players including LSU freshman quarterback Brandon Harris and New Orleans Saints defensive back Keenan Lewis trying to perfect his craft before the season begins.
Dupre has also spent a lot of time with Quinn, spending late nights in each other’s dorm rooms studying the playbook and talking about football trying to help each other out any way they can.
“It’s awesome that you can have somebody come in like that, and we can just get together and learn together,” Quinn said. “Being that we started blank compared to some of the people that have already been here… it’s good to have somebody that’s a motivator as much as you are.”
The two have motivated each other to get to this point in their careers, getting the best out of each other at every opportunity and while the pressure may be sitting in the back of their mind, their eyes are only looking forward.
“I don’t think there will ever be pressure,” Quinn said. “I know that Tiger nation is probably going to expect a lot out of the receivers now being that they had that one big year… but we’re just going to try and step in and never look back.”