Tag: LSU Depth Chart

Early projection for LSU football’s wide receiver depth chart in 2025

LSU will have a new-look wide receiver room in 2025. Here’s what we expect the depth chart to look like.

LSU football has a reputation when it comes to the wide receiver position. If you look at the NFL receiving leaderboard, it’s filled with former Tigers near the top.

LSU expects to have some of the most talented receivers in the country year in and year out.

Today, we’ll preview what the group may look like in 2025. It’s early, but we have a pretty good idea of personnel.

LSU is losing a couple of veterans. Kyren Lacy is out of eligibility, and CJ Daniels hit the transfer portal. Both were among LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier’s top targets in 2024.

LSU was forced to hit the transfer portal. Brian Kelly and staff were aggressive in adding pass catchers, signing Kentucky WR Barion Brown and Oklahoma WR Nic Anderson.

In-house, LSU is set to return Aaron Anderson and Chris Hilton Jr. LSU expects big impacts from both players.

Here’s a look at what the receiver depth chart may look like in 2025.

WR1: Aaron Anderson

Anderson is back after leading LSU with 61 receptions and 874 yards in 2024. The five-star recruit began his career with Alabama in 2022 before transferring to his home state.

Anderson didn’t see much action in 2023, but 2024 was a breakout year. He’ll look to build on that in 2025.

WR2: Barion Brown

Brown was one of LSU’s top transfer portal additions. The former Kentucky wide receiver is dynamic with the ball in his hands and is a threat to take it to the house on any play.

According to 247Sports, Brown is the No. 8 ranked wide receiver in this year’s portal class.

WR3: Chris Hilton and Nic Anderson

LSU likes to spend most of its time in 11 personnel — which means three wide receivers on the field.

Aaron Anderson and Barion Brown are similar players. They’re on the smaller side and work from the slot. That leaves space for a bigger receiver on the outside. Hilton and Oklahoma transfer Nic Anderson will battle it out.

Hilton will be a fifth-year senior and had a strong finish in 2024. Anderson broke out with Oklahoma in 2023, but injuries riddled his 2024 campaign.

WR4: Zavion Thomas and Kyle Parker

Zavion Thomas joined LSU in 2024 after transferring from Mississippi State. He caught 23 passes for 218 yards and two scores. LSU gave Thomas the occasional handoff and he was a threat on special teams, returning a kick for a touchdown in the bowl game. He likely won’t have a featured role, but LSU will find ways to involve Thomas.

Parker is one of the intriguing young names on the roster. He was beginning to emerge in 2024 before an injury ended his season. He’s talented and if he’s back healthy, he has a chance to compete for a role.

Depth

Further down the depth chart, there’s talent, but it’s unproven. Speedster Jelani Watkins will be a redshirt freshman.

LSU signed two blue-chip receivers out of high school in its 2025 class — TaRon Francis and Phillip Wright. Francis has an exciting combo of size and speed and Wright was one of the fastest players in this class.

Projecting LSU football’s offensive line depth chart in the Texas Bowl

Who will LSU start on the offensive line when it faces Baylor in the Texas Bowl?

LSU football will meet Baylor in the Texas Bowl in just over a week. As usual, LSU’s roster will look different than it did in the regular season. That’s the norm for bowl games in this era.

LSU’s dealt with NFL draft opt-outs and players hitting the transfer portal. The most notable draft opt-outs are on the offensive line, where LSU will be without both tackles, [autotag]Will Campbell[/autotag] and [autotag]Emery Jones. [/autotag]

The status of guard [autotag]Garrett Dellinger[/autotag] remains unclear, too, who has not played since leaving the Texas A&M loss with an ankle injury.

The opt-outs and injuries put LSU’s offensive line in a precarious spot entering the bowl game. The Tigers will be relying on inexperienced options to protect QB Garrett Nussmeier and pave the way for RBs [autotag]Caden Durham[/autotag] and [autotag]Josh Williams.[/autotag]

But despite the inexperience, the group remains talented. This will be a good chance for LSU to see where its young offensive linemen stand entering the offseason.

With the bowl game fast approaching, here’s what we expect the offensive line to look like when LSU takes on Baylor.

Left tackle Tyree Adams

https://www.instagram.com/ttyree7/p/C-TzSgFNnmU/

Adams was a four-star recruit in LSU’s 2023 class. According to On3 and Rivals, he was a top-12 tackle in the class.

Adams played just three snaps in 2023 but saw more action in 2024. He missed a portion of the season with an injury before returning vs. Florida.

Adams is versatile and appeared at four different positions this season. Most of Adams’ action came at guard, but he played 11 snaps at left tackle in LSU’s blowout win over South Alabama.

With his 6’7′ frame, his future is likely at tackle. This is a chance for Adams to stake his claim on that role entering 2024.

Left guard Paul Mubenga

Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images.

LSU fans are familiar with Mubenga by now. Mubenga stepped in after Dellinger went down vs. Texas A&M and served as LSU’s primary left guard down the stretch.

Mubenga’s initial impression was rough. He allowed a combined 15 pressures against Alabama and Florida and struggled to get any push in the run game.

LSU saw steady improvement from Mubenga down the stretch and will hope that continues in the postseason.

Center DJ Chester

Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Chester started at center for LSU all year. The redshirt freshman was inconsistent for much of the season but played his best football in LSU’s two wins to close out the regular season.

If LSU gets a similar performance against Baylor, the interior offensive line is in good shape.

Right guard Bo Bordelon

Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Bordelon wore No. 89 for much of 2024, so LSU could use him as an extra blocker at tight end. With LSU needing depth on the offensive line, expect Bordelon to shift back to a big man’s jersey vs. Baylor.

Bordelon has more experience than some of the guys here, having signed with LSU in 2022. He’s sparingly seen action in his three years, but this is a chance to carve out a bigger role.

According to PFF, Bordelon posted an admirable grade of 70.4 in 46 snaps this season.

Right tackle Miles Frazier

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Frazier was one of Brian Kelly’s first recruits at LSU. He transferred to LSU for the 2022 season, giving experience and talent to an offensive line room that needed it.

He’s played all over the offensive line in three seasons at LSU but settled into guard in 2023 and 2024. Now, with LSU needing help, that versatility is coming in handy.

Frazier has the tools to bump out to tackle, and that’s where we expect him to play when LSU takes on Baylor.

Depth

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

That five is not set in stone. If LSU begins to struggle, it wouldn’t be surprising to see LSU try something different.

If LSU wants to make a change at tackle, or needs to slide Frazier back to guard, Weston Davis would be the next man up. LSU likes the progress the true freshman made throughout the fall.

At center, Chester is backed up by another youngster in true freshman Coen Echols.

But LSU’s options are thin. Outside of the starting five listed here, LSU’s left with true freshmen.

LSU running back Armoni Goodwin doubtful for Florida State game

LSU will likely be without RB Armoni Goodwin on Sunday night.

LSU will be doing something different this fall.

[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] will be releasing official injury reports similar to those seen at the NFL level.

At his press conference on Monday, he revealed running back [autotag]Armoni Goodwin[/autotag] is doubtful for LSU’s opener against Florida State.

Goodwin dealt with injuries in 2021 and 2022. He was out for the entirety of spring practice.

Prior to his injury last year, Goodwin looked to be emerging as LSU’s top back after leading LSU backs in rushing in weeks two and three. Goodwin has practiced this fall, but this could be LSU being careful with a player who’s dealt with his fair share of injuries while in Baton Rouge.

When healthy, Goodwin ranked second in yards after contact per rush among SEC running backs with at least 45 carries.

LSU has better depth at running back this year so it should be able to deal with the loss. Goodwin can bring much needed explosiveness to LSU’s offense upon his return.

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Brian Kelly explains why he’s not releasing a depth chart yet

Brian Kelly may know which direction he’s leaning in for several position battles, but he’s keeping it to himself for now.

As fall camp continues and we’re just a couple weeks away from football being played, teams’ depth charts are beginning to take shape.

Coaches are beginning to have a feel for what they have at each position, and starters are beginning to emerge.

While LSU coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] may know how things will ultimately shake out, he’s keeping things quiet. The Tigers haven’t released a depth chart publicly, and Kelly told the media on Wednesday that they haven’t announced one privately, either.

“We’ve purposely not put out one, like if you went into our locker room we don’t have a depth chart,” Kelly said, per On3. “My experience is once you put up a depth chart, you can go one of two ways. You can become really selfish or really upset. I just kind of stay away from them and we just kind of let them go out and compete every day.”

While Kelly may know who will ultimately earn starting jobs, it seems he doesn’t want to negatively impact his players’ motivation.

It seems Tigers fans will have to wait to figure out how the depth chart breaks down at positions with key battles, namely running back and cornerback.

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Brian Kelly breaks down LSU’s defensive line depth in 2023

Here’s how the depth is shaping up on the defensive line as spring comes to a close.

With [autotag]Dashawn Womack[/autotag] and [autotag]Maason Smith[/autotag] getting back to the practice field, LSU’s defensive line is looking healthier.

However, don’t expect to see them out there on Saturday.

“It’s just not something that is worth the risk,” Kelly said when discussing potentially playing Smith, who is coming off a torn ACL, in the spring game.

With LSU thin all spring on the defensive line, several players got more reps this spring. Kelly believes that’s helped LSU improves its depth. On four-star freshman [autotag]Jaxon Howard[/autotag], Kelly said he benefited from extra work that wouldn’t have been there if LSU was fully healthy.

On the interior, [autotag]Jacobian Guillory[/autotag] also impressed Kelly, getting plenty of reps at several spots up front. [autotag]Paris Shand[/autotag], the Arizona transfer with a chance to take over for [autotag]Ali Gaye[/autotag], has also made strides.

“You could see his progress and his grit kind of grow throughout the spring to the point where we were like, that was a really good spring for him,” Kelly said.

Kelly also cited [autotag]Tygee Hill[/autotag] and [autotag]Fitzgerald West[/autotag] as two guys who benefitted from the available work.

The main takeaway: Kelly likes the depth LSU has up front.

Smith and [autotag]Mekhi Wingo[/autotag] are surefire starters up the middle, but it’s wide open outside of that.

It’s also worth noting this group has been working under interim defensive line coach [autotag]Gerald Chatman[/autotag] as LSU looks to replace [autotag]Jamar Cain[/autotag].

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Projecting the stats for LSU receivers in 2023

Here’s what to expect from LSU’s receivers in 2023.

Despite losing [autotag]Kayshon Boutte[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaray Jenkins[/autotag], LSU returns a talented wide receiver room in 2023.

[autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag] enters his junior year after leading the SEC in catches last year. Behind Nabers, there’s [autotag]Brian Thomas Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Kyren Lacy[/autotag], both of which earned praise from offensive coordinator [autotag]Mike Denbrock[/autotag] this spring.

There’s also [autotag]Mason Taylor[/autotag], one of the sport’s most impressive freshmen in 2022.

When I did this last year, I got a bit too eager with the projections. This year, I’ve taken more of a conservative approach. With that out of the way, lets jump right in and take a look at what we might see from LSU’s receivers this fall.

Recapping biggest news out of LSU’s spring practice

Here’s everything you might have missed from LSU’s ongoing spring practices.

LSU’s spring practice has been going on for over a month now. It’s set to conclude next week with a final event in Tiger Stadium. It won’t be a traditional spring game, and coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] still hasn’t announced all of the details for what that practice might look like.

Every program views spring practice in a different way. It can be hard to make any conclusions this time of year. Another transfer window awaits, some freshmen have yet to arrive and fall practice will bring its own narratives.

That being said, there’s still a good bit to get caught up on. Here’s all the news you might have missed from LSU’s spring practice so far.

Sage Ryan seeing time as LSU’s starting nickel in spring practice

Matt House likes the growth he’s seeing from Ryan

[autotag]Sage Ryan[/autotag] is one just a few returning defensive backs that saw significant playing time in 2022.

According to defensive coordinator [autotag]Matt House[/autotag], he could be in line for more in 2023. Ryan has been running with the first-teamers as LSU’s nickel back in spring practice.

Ryan, a five-star recruit in 2021, is entering his third year with the program.

Ryan made plays here and there but struggled to establish consistency. His playing time varied last year. He had four games with 10 snaps or less but also crossed the 40-play mark a couple of times.

He saw a lot of action against Purdue where he arguably had his best coverage game. He allowed just 6.2 yards per target against the Boilermakers and broke up a pass.

According to PFF, Ryan missed just one tackle the entire year.

Despite the flashes of talent, there were some not-so-good moments. Ryan had a 119.7 passer rating when targeted.

In the slot, that number went up to 124.3, which ranked last in the SEC among corners with at least 70 snaps in the slot.

Ryan’s athleticism and versatility offer a lot. If he can take another jump in pass coverage, he could become a solid contributor for this defense. It sounds like House is pleased with the progress he’s seeing from Ryan.

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LSU State of the Program: Secondary looks to build a foundation

Here’s what to expect from LSU’s secondary this year and moving forward.

Thinking about the lead-up to last season, I think I wrote more about LSU’s new-look secondary than anything else. [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] rebuilding the room from scratch was a major storyline.

A year later, I’m getting deja vu. LSU, once again, has taken to the portal to fill out the secondary.

Several of last year’s additions were on the older side, approaching the end of their eligibility or in the case of [autotag]Mekhi Garner[/autotag] and [autotag]Jay Ward[/autotag], ready to declare for the draft.

[autotag]Jarrick Bernard-Converse[/autotag], [autotag]Joe Foucha[/autotag] and [autotag]Colby Richardson[/autotag] are gone, too.

A few younger players choose to exit through the portal. [autotag]Raydarious Jones[/autotag], [autotag]Jaelyn Davis-Robinson[/autotag] and [autotag]Damarius McGhee[/autotag] will all be playing elsewhere.

There’s no cause for concern yet with some of the portal’s best corners set to wear purple and gold. Here’s what the group looks like in 2023 and beyond.

LSU State of the Program: Linebackers an intriguing group in 2023

Here’s how LSU’s linebacker room shakes out entering 2023.

Spring practice is underway at LSU.

The Tigers got a couple of sessions in before heading to spring break. When they return, the action will ramp up and eventually conclude with a final event in Tiger Stadium.

Throughout the spring, we’re taking a position-by-position look at the state of LSU’s program.

With just a couple of groups to go, we’re focusing on the linebackers today. This is one of the more intriguing spots on the roster given the star power of [autotag]Harold Perkins[/autotag]. However, there are some questions when it comes to depth.

Let’s jump right in, starting with the immediate future.

(Check out the previous posts in our State of the Program series on LSU’s quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends, offensive line and defensive line.)