Key returnee

LSU junior outside linebacker Arden Key, who set a school record with 12 sacks last season, is expected to make his 2017 debut Saturday night.

“It’s a big upgrade, just because you’re getting a guy that’s 6-6, 260 coming back and one of the best pass rushers LSU has ever seen, and that’s saying something,” junior center Will Clapp told The

Advocate newspaper. “He’s electric. He’s a big play waiting to happen.”

Key, a junior AllAmerican edge rusher, is cleared to play in the Tigers’ SEC opener Saturday at Mississippi State, Coach Ed Orgeron announced Monday, ending a drama-filled offseason for LSU’s most decorated player.

Key missed spring practice with an excused absence for undisclosed personal reasons, then underwent shoulder surgery in May.

Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen isn’t surprised Key has been cleared to play in time for the SEC opener.

“I assumed that he’d play in our game the whole time,” Mullen said at his weekly news conference. “It seemed like he was setting up to come play in our game through those first couple of games where they were resting him.

“He’s probably one of the most dominant players in our league. It’s a mismatch. He has the speed and physicality to be a run stopper, but he’s extremely disruptive as a pass rusher and can change the game.

“He can make things happen all by himself.”