Let’s dive into the 2022 campaign and the new roster under Brian Kelly. He joined the Tigers after a decade-long run at Notre Dame where he won a total of 92 games with the Fighting Irish.
Kelly brings in a whole new staff plus the return of interim head coach Brad Davis that will resume his duties as the offensive line coach. There will be competition all over the roster as Kelly looks to revive LSU football after the two-season letdown. The Tigers won just 11 combined games in that stretch. As a head coach of Notre Dame, Kelly won 11 games three times over the last four seasons.
With the spirit of competition on the roster, there are several fresh faces who could make an impact in their freshman season. These players were among those signed in Kelly’s first class that finished ranked No. 12 overall. The members of the All-Impact team don’t include five-star quarterback, Walker Howard. Instead, we have some new faces in the trenches that want to improve a unit that underperformed under the watch of the previous regime.
We’ve established that it’s rare for freshmen offensive linemen to play and succeed immediately. There’s a chance neither Campbell nor Jones plays next season. But with the Tigers losing four starters along the offensive front, it’s a decent bet that at least once of them will be forced to play significant snaps. There’s more need along the interior of the line for LSU, but Campbell, a tackle, still probably has the best chance to start as an early enrollee.
Starting on the offensive side of the ball, you have an offensive line duo that can jump in immediately.
We start with one right out of the Tigers’ backyard.