Brian Kelly said LSU will be signing 8-10 transfers this cycle.
The Tigers are off to a good start, earning three commitments from front seven players on the eve of early signing day. Among that group is [autotag]Bradyn Swinson[/autotag] — a veteran edge defender who spent the first three years of his career with Oregon.
Swinson, originally a three-star from Georgia, was recruited by LSU defensive line coach [autotag]Jamar Cain[/autotag] out of high school. Swinson was never a full-time player with the Ducks. He played just 542 defensive snaps in his three years there, with 334 of those coming in 2021.
In his career, he has 21 pressures and three sacks to his name. He’s batted a couple of passes and forced a fumble.
LSU will be losing [autotag]BJ Ojulari[/autotag] and [autotag]Ali Gaye[/autotag], two guys who have been solid contributors for several years now. In Ojuarli’s case, he blossomed into one of the nation’s best pass rushers in 2022.
The odds of finding another Ojulari on the transfer portal aren’t great. LSU likely won’t have another player of that caliber at that spot until five-star [autotag]DaShawn Womack[/autotag] lives up to his potential.
In Swinson, LSU doesn’t need a star. It just needs a veteran presence who can rotate in and stabilize the room. And despite the limited sack numbers, there’s reason to believe Swinsin is capable of more.
Among Pac-12 edge rushers with at least 70 pass rush snaps, Swinson ranked third in the conference in pass rush win rate per PFF. His overall pass-rush grade ranked ninth among the same group.
[autotag]Sai’Vion Jones[/autotag] is the lone returner who saw significant time at Ojulari’s JACK LB position in 2022 and relying on Womack to excel as a true freshman can’t be the only plan.
Swinson’s arrival removes some of the burden from the younger guys. It’ll also allow for more creative formations in obvious passing situations when LSU wants to overload the field with pass rushers.
Depth is critical on the defensive line. If you don’t have a true gamebreaker coming off the edge, the next best thing a staff can do is make sure the front seven players are staying fresh.
Getting Swinson addressed a critical need for LSU and it wouldn’t be surprising to see LSU continue to recruit pass rushers from the portal.
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