Going into the 2023 football season, LSU Wire will be looking at each player listed on the Tigers’ roster.
Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for Brian Kelly this season.
This is a defense that has been largely remade over the last two seasons, but we’re looking at a returning starter who has been around for both. [autotag]Greg Penn III[/autotag] came on at the end of his true freshman season in 2021, and he became a full-time starter last season.
Greg Penn III Preseason Player Profile
Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland
Ht: 6-2
Wt: 235
247Sports Composite Ranking
Four Stars | No. 10 in Maryland | No. 23 Linebacker
Class in 2022: Sophomore
Career Stats
| Year | G | Total | Solo | TFL | Sacks | FF | PD | INT |
| 2021 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 14 | 78 | 42 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Depth Chart Overview
Penn certainly arrived at LSU as a true freshman with some expectations as a top-250 recruit, but he wasn’t expected to see the field a ton in his first season on the bayou.
In fact, he played in 10 games, though he was mostly a rotational player in all but one of them. He got the start for LSU’s loss to Kansas State in the Texas Bowl, where he notched seven of his 11 total tackles for the season.
His real breakout came as a sophomore in 2022, when he started all 14 games and finished second on the team in tackles. He has a chance to retain that starting job this fall, but it will likely depend on a few factors.
The Tigers added an All-Pac-12 inside linebacker in [autotag]Omar Speights[/autotag], and depending on how much work [autotag]Harold Perkins[/autotag] sees inside, Penn could see more of a rotational role alongside players like brothers [autotag]West Weeks[/autotag] and [autotag]Whit Weeks[/autotag].
This will certainly be a position battle worth watching in fall camp.