BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 05: The Alabama Crimson Tide offense lines up against the LSU Tigers defense at Tiger Stadium on November 5, 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

One national title hopeful gets it best player back after successful surgery

He's going to be key.

LSU only got 11 games out of its best defender and possibly its best overall player in Arden Key because he left in the middle of the season for "personal reasons." At the time he left he was perfectly healthy, but it seems he needed surgery in between now and then as coach Ed Orgeron announced on Sunday.

"Arden had shoulder surgery and everything went as planned," Orgeron said. "We are looking forward to having Arden rejoin the team tomorrow (Monday)."

RELATED: LSU announces Arden Key to take leave of absence from football

Key played in 11 games in 2016, accumulating 12 sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss, and 56 total tackles in what was a monster campaign for the LSU defense. He is expected to be a top prospect in 2018's NFL Draft and should be an All-SEC performer if not All-American.