BATON ROUGE, La. -- With injured junior Quentin Thomas out for an indeterminate amount of time, LSU coach Les Miles didn't wait long to name a potential replacement at defensive tackle.
"I think we're really pretty good at defensive tackle," Miles said at Sunday's media day press conference. "[Christian] LaCouture and Frank Herron are our starters. We think that Quentin Thomas, we're hopeful to get him back here soon. And then I think we're talented behind that, so I think we're good there."
Thomas tore a bicep muscle during the Tigers' first week of preseason practice -- an injury that often requires a months-long recovery -- robbing an inexperienced group of defensive tackles of its eldest veteran since 2013 starters Ego Ferguson and Anthony Johnson both opted to become early entries in the 2014 NFL draft.
Herron was already making noise early in camp, but with Thomas out for at least the foreseeable future, the redshirt freshman could be in line for serious playing time.
"Coach Miles always says we play young guys, we play freshmen. So I'm ready to play and show the world what I've got," Herron said. "Playing next to Christian and Greg [Gilmore] and [Maquedius] Bain, it's been a blessing. Those guys show me new things each day and they're just telling me to keep pushing myself, keep going. And Q [Thomas], he just stays on me about the little things because we don't know how serious his injury is. He may not be out there the first game."
LaCouture, Herron, Bain and Gilmore all joined the Tigers as part of the same 2013 signing class, and the entire group should make an impression this fall. LaCouture is the only member of the bunch who played last fall, but each of the redshirt freshmen said they benefited from their time on the sideline last season.
Herron worked at both defensive end and tackle last season and dealt with a knee injury for a time before shifting to tackle during the spring. He still has some things to work on -- Herron mentioned his recent focus on fighting off double teams -- but Herron said he's pleased with the progress he has made of late.
"He's getting there," defensive line coach Brick Haley said. "I think he's slowly maturing to being that guy we thought he could be. He's had a good camp so far. We'll see where it winds up. I'm not ready to stamp him officially ready to go do whatever, but I know he is a good kid and he's working at it and he's making the progress that we thought he would all the time."
Herron weighed 270 pounds when he arrived at LSU last year and has bulked up to 285 over the last several months. He said he wants to be at 290 by the time the Tigers open the season against Wisconsin on Aug. 30.
Even though he realizes he's not close to being a finished product, Herron said playing hard makes up for many of the areas he still must refine.
"My effort, me running to the ball, the little things," Herron said when asked what has caught the coaches' attention thus far in camp. "It's going together. I'm molding into the player they know I can be. I'm kind of seeing the progress and I'm happy with what I'm seeing."
They seem to be happy, as well, judging by Miles' recent comments to the media. After calling Herron "a beast" in an interview session earlier in the week, Miles mentioned the redshirt freshman multiple times at media day.
"I think some of those young defensive linemen -- Frank Herron and some of those guys -- whose names you don't know are going to be very, very good players," Miles said.