LSU Football: Tigers Get QB Insurance with Former Penn State QB Rob Bolden

Extra runs late in baseball games are called "insurance runs."

Adding an experienced Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) quarterback the week that fall camp starts would make that quarterback an "insurance quarterback."

That's exactly what Rob Bolden will be for LSU Tigers in 2012.

Les Miles confirmed on Wednesday that Rob Bolden is now a member of the LSU football team (via: Shea Dixon of 247Sports.com):

"

Les Miles confirms #LSU has added Penn St QB Robert Bolden to the roster.

— Shea Dixon (@Sheadixon) August 1, 2012"

If you look at his stat line, there's no doubt you cringe. Bolden tossed seven touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 20 games at Penn State from 2010-11. 

Ignore those numbers. What matters is that he has played in 20 games.

Bolden is being brought in as an insurance policy, and nothing more. There is no downside because no team in America truly expects its backup quarterback to set the world on fire when he's thrown into the mix.

Plus, even though LSU failed on college football's biggest stage last season, head coach Les Miles has been able to coach around his quarterback deficiencies for the last four years with relative success.

In a perfect world, however, Les Miles will never know about Bolden's deficiencies, because he will only see the field in specific situations.

That's the beauty of this move. It's low-risk, high-reward.

If Bolden is pressed into considerable action, it means something went seriously wrong at the quarterback position. If that's the case, LSU would probably be in trouble anyway.

Having a former 4-star recruit with substantial playing experience is something that every quarterback on the roster will benefit from.

Including starter Zach Mettenberger.

Follow @BarrettSallee