LSU Football: WR Malachi Dupre Is Real Key to Tigers' Success in 2015

It's safe to say that last season's offense for the LSU Tigers left plenty to be desired. 

Head coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron's crew produced just 387.5 yards per game and 5.62 yards per play—ninth in both categories in the SEC. 

If that's going to change in 2015, somebody is going to have to step up and become a reliable deep threat opposite of junior wide receiver Travin Dural.

Enter: Malachi Dupre.

The former superstar prospect caught just 14 passes as a true freshman in 2014 but finished with 318 receiving yards—the second-most on the Tigers. Think about that for a second. LSU's second-best receiver had just 318 receiving yards. If that doesn't exemplify just how putrid the passing game was in Baton Rouge last year, nothing does.

Player	Rec.	Yds.	YPC	TDs
Travin Dural	37	758	20.49	7
Malachi Dupre	14	318	22.71	5
John Diarse	15	275	18.33	3
Trey Quinn	17	193	11.35	0

The 6'3", 187-pound Dupre has stepped it up this offseason—his first full offseason with the program.

He caught four passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the spring game last month, according to stats released by LSU, and the comfort he's gained with nearly a year in the system is something that has helped the New Orleans native.

"The difference is I have a year under my belt, and it’s not going to be a big surprise to me," Dupre said in quotes released by LSU. "Just moving forward, I know what I have to do to dominate and make plays to help with the run game and the passing game."

SportingNews.com's Bill Bender recently named Dupre as one of the candidates to break out in 2015:

That's exactly what the LSU offense needs. 

Dural is a known commodity and an established deep threat who can also be dangerous as a runner on jet sweeps. But if you're looking for downfield threats, he's really all Miles and Cameron have. Without anybody else to draw attention, it makes the job of the quarterback—either Anthony Jennings or Brandon Harris—incredibly difficult.

Dupre knows just how important the role of the wide receivers is to the development of the offense as a whole.

"The coaches that we have and the quarterbacks that we have and the improvement that they’ve made, I feel like they are going to be very dominant in the passing game and so will the other receivers," Dupre said in quotes released by LSU.

Derick E.Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

If that translates to the fall, will LSU become a contender in the SEC West?

It might.

The Tigers certainly have the offensive line in place and a stable running game led by Leonard Fournette, and that has created a situation where the quarterback simply has to be adequate in order for the offense to click.

That's easier said than done, though.

Jennings completed just 48.9 percent of his passes last year and lost his job briefly to Harris—who promptly completed just three of 14 passes in his lone start at Auburn. Dupre's emergence will help change that, though. Both quarterbacks knew they had to improve this spring, and by stretching the field, Dupre has opened up the passing windows a little more for his quarterbacks.

The spring game gave LSU fans hope, and Dupre's emergence is the biggest reason why. If he can emerge as a solid No. 2 and others behind him, like D.J. Chark and John Diarse, can step up as well, it could be all the quarterbacks need to be "adequate."

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.