Players only have until Wednesday to enter the transfer portal before the 45-day winter window closes. Once a player has entered the portal, there’s no timetable to decide on a new school, but with that being said, many players are starting to come to decisions in order to be on campus for spring ball.
There was a rush of commitments in the transfer portal this week, including several for the Tigers. Arguably the most impactful of these was [autotag]Duce Chestnut[/autotag], a cornerback that started for Syracuse the last two years and was named a Freshman All-American in 2021.
Chestnut was named the second-best transfer commitment from the past week by On3’s Mike Huguenin.
The skinny: Five transfers played big roles in LSU’s secondary this season, and Duce Chestnut (6-0, 198) should do the same in 2023. He might be the Tigers’ best corner. Regardless, he’ll be a key part of a secondary that – given all the new pieces – was much better than expected in 2022. Chestnut was one of the best true freshman corners in the nation in 2021 – earning some freshman All-America honors – and also played well this season for Syracuse. He started all 24 games in which he played in his two seasons with the Orange and had 83 tackles, four picks and nine pass breakups.
His addition is huge for LSU, which loses [autotag]Mekhi Garner[/autotag], [autotag]Jarrick Bernard-Converse[/autotag] and [autotag]Colby Richardson[/autotag] at cornerback. Chestnut should come in and start, and as Huguenin mentioned, he could be the Tigers’ top corner right off the bat.
LSU brought in a huge transfer class in Brian Kelly’s first offseason, and though it’s a smaller haul this time around, it should be a very impactful one thanks to players like Chestnut.
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