The belief is that LSU's passing game will be better next season with Zach Mettenberger as the starting quarterback. But who will Mettenberger throw the football too?

Junior wide receiver Russell Shepard might leave early and enter the NFL draft, after a disappointing season, where he caught just 14 passes in eleven games and rushed the ball seven times. Shepard scored four touchdowns, but used twitter to express his frustration that that he was on the field for just three snaps in the BCS National Championship game.

Shepard came out of high-school as the top dual-threat quarterback in the country for the Class of 2009. He was one of the first verbal commitments and helped recruit several other players to be a part of that class.

Shepard played three positions his freshman season; quarterback, running back and wide receiver. He never threw a pass, but ran the ball 45 times. He was exclusively a wide receiver his sophomore season and caught 33 passes.

But his junior season got off to a bad start, when he was suspended the first three games for not following protocol, while the NCAA was investigating LSU for possible recruiting violations.

Shepard is 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, with good speed. He's shown flashes, but has lacked consistency. LSU's erratic passing game the last three seasons hasn't helped.

Shepard has until Sunday to decide if he wants to enter the NFL draft and then he'll have until January 18th to back out. The same goes for Rueben Randle, who is coming off a 53-catch campaign. Draft analysts say Randle lacks the burst of speed and explosion to be a first round pick, but several NFL teams could see Randle as a solid pro for several years.

Another wide receiver that has signaled he could be leaving is Kadron Boone. The sophomore from Florida announced on twitter that he's made his mind up and he's sticking to his decision. Boone caught seven passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns last season.

If Shepard, Randle and Boone go the pros that would leave Odell Beckham Jr. as the only established wide receiver on the roster. Jarvis Landry looks like a good prospect. Landry caught only four passes, but made several big plays on special teams.

There's also former Belle Chasse star James Wright, but after that there's no other receiver on the roster that caught a pass in 2011. The incoming recruiting class features Avery Johnson, the younger brother of former LSU star Patrick Peterson and two standouts from Breaux Bridge, Travin Dural and speedster Kavahra Holmes.

Even though a better passing quarterback will be at the helm next season, this offense will remain a run-first attack. Which could be one reason why Boone might want to look elsewhere? Another reason why Boone might leave is because his position coach and the man who recruited him is leaving.

Wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator Billy Gonzales has accepted the offensive coordinator position at the University of Illinois. Gonzales has been at LSU the last two seasons and before that he spent five years as the wide receivers coach at Florida. The 41-year-old has been a wide receivers coach his entire career and he'll finally get a chance to call plays.

The former Gators assistant was passed over for offensive coordinator at Florida three years ago, when Dan Mullen took the Mississippi State job. He was passed over again in August, when Miles decided to promote offensive line coach Greg Studrawa to offensive coordinator, when Steve Kragthorpe was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.