Tag: LSU Transfers

Jarrick Bernard-Converse confirms NFL draft entry

Bernard-Converse joins fellow corner Mekhi Garner in the NFL draft

Cornerback [autotag]Jarrick Bernard-Converse[/autotag] confirmed his intention to enter the 2023 NFL draft on Sunday.

The announcement was nothing more than a formality for Bernard-Converse, who played his final year of eligibility in 2022. Bernard-Converse, who spent his first four years at Oklahoma State, was a sought-after transfer last cycle. Coming of an All-Big-12 season in 2021, he was a critical piece of Brian Kelly’s secondary rebuild.

He was one of the SEC’s best corners in man coverage. According to PFF, Bernard-Converse ranked third in man coverage grade among SEC corners.

Early in the contest against Alabama, Bernard-Converse intercepted Bryce Young in the end zone. The turnover prevented Alabama from striking first and gave LSU early momentum in the Tigers’ biggest win of the year.

At 6-foot-1 and 205 lbs, with his man coverage skills, the veteran corner should get a solid NFL opportunity.

Bernard-Converse joins [autotag]Mekhi Garner[/autotag] in heading to the draft, another transfer corner that played a key role on LSU’s backend. LSU’s staff has already hit the portal hard again, bringing in several high-profile transfers at the corner spot.

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Former LSU linebacker DeMario Tolan signs with SEC foe

The linebacker is heading to Auburn after a promising true freshman season.

Former Tigers linebacker [autotag]DeMario Tolan[/autotag] is sticking in the conference as the transfer announced his commitment to Auburn after entering the portal last week. Tolan signed with the new group of Tigers on Sunday morning.

Tolan took a visit to Auburn late last week.

A four-star recruit who ranked as the No. 204 overall player in the country in the 2022 class, per the 247Sports Composite, Tolan saw quite a bit of action in the linebacker rotation as a true freshman. The Orlando native appeared in 12 games and notched 10 solo tackles, and he was expected by many to play a significant role in the rotation next season.

His decision to enter the portal came as a surprise and leaves LSU a bit thin at linebacker heading into 2023 as he was vying for increased playing time by the end of the season.

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Former LSU linebacker commits to Campbell

Sampah has finally found a home after entering the portal in August.

Former LSU linebacker [autotag]Antoine Sampah[/autotag] is dropping down to the FCS level, as he announced his commitment to the Campbell Camels on his Twitter account Thursday.

A former four-star recruit and top-100 player nationally out of Woolbridge, Virginia, Sampah gives Campbell one of the highest-rated prospects the program has ever landed. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound player has two remaining years of eligibility.

Despite being one of LSU’s top prospects in the 2020 class, things never worked out for Sampah in Baton Rouge. After seeing action in four games as a true freshman, he played in just two in 2021. He never registered any stats during his time in Baton Rouge.

Sampah joins a Camels team coming off a 5-6 season in the Big South in 2022.

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Promising LSU linebacker enters the transfer portal

DeMario Tolan’s decision came as a surprise to many.

This week started with a big win for [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] and the LSU Tigers as they dominated the Purdue Boilermakers in the Citrus Bowl to finish Kelly’s first season on the Bayou with 10 wins.

However, the Tigers received a bit of bad news recently as freshman linebacker [autotag]DeMario Tolan[/autotag] has entered his name into the transfer portal. Tolan was a four-star recruit from Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando and was an early enrollee for the 2022 recruiting class.

Tolan was projected to garner playing time in 2022, and he did just that. He played in 10 games and finished the season with nine tackles. That is why this decision came as a shock to a lot of people. He came to the bayou and played early but he still entered the transfer portal.

He may choose to take his name out of the portal and return to LSU, but for now, he will explore his options with other top teams in the country.

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Former LSU tight end Kole Taylor announces transfer to the Big 12

Taylor is heading to Morgantown to play for West Virginia in 2023.

Former Tigers tight end Kole Taylor announced his next stop on Sunday. He’ll be heading to the new-look Big 12 to join the West Virginia Mountaineers

The junior from Grand Junction, Colorado, heads to Morgantown after appearing in 32 games in three years with seven starts. He was a role player and made a minor contribution in the passing game, totaling 159 yards and a touchdown on 17 catches during his team in Baton Rouge.

Taylor entered the transfer portal on Dec. 8, a decision that didn’t come as much of a surprise following the emergence of Mason Taylor, the true freshman who emerged onto the scene this fall and led LSU’s tight ends in receiving yards.

Taylor’s time with LSU will likely be best remembered by his role in the upset win over Florida in 2020 when his cleat was thrown by Gators cornerback Marco Wilson, resulting in a 15-yard penalty that set up the game-winning field goal.

LSU will have Mason Taylor back next fall and signed a pair of tight ends in the 2023 class in [autotag]Mac Markway[/autotag] and [autotag]Ka’Morreun Pimpton[/autotag].

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Tigers announce the addition of 7 transfers

The Tigers brought in an impressive group of transfers on Friday.

LSU coach Brian Kelly said he didn’t want to take away from high school early signing day by formally announcing transfer portal additions, but several had already been made public, and we knew that the Tigers would be looking to add several players.

On Friday, seven of those transfer decisions were made public.

The haul is highlighted by a pair of former five-stars in receiver [autotag]Aaron Anderson[/autotag] and cornerback [autotag]Denver Harris[/autotag], 2022 prospects who come in after one season at Alabama and Texas A&M, respectively. Otherwise, the Tigers filled a major need by adding several defensive lineman.

Here’s the full group of players that were formally announced by LSU on Friday.

LSU lands former 5-star defensive back transfer

The Tigers landed one of the transfer portal’s most coveted prospects on Thursday.

The bad news, LSU missed out on [autotag]Desmond Ricks[/autotag]. The good news, the Tigers picked up 2022 five-star cornerback [autotag]Denver Harris[/autotag] from Texas A&M.

The freshman played in five games for the Aggies this season making 10 tackles and three pass breakups. Coming out of high school, Harris was the No. 23 player overall and the No. 3 cornerback in the 2022 class. Now, Harris gets a chance to come to DBU and train with some of the best of all time.

What a huge win this is for Brian Kelly and his coaching staff in this recruiting class. Kelly said he will release the list of transfers tomorrow. The 2023 class ranks as the No. 7 class overall and the only recruit LSU is still in on is a five-star athlete [autotag]Nyckoles Harbor[/autotag].

Harbor has received a crystal ball to South Carolina, but Michigan is a 37% favorite to land her per On3. Harbor is not going to announce until February.

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Oregon transfer Bradyn Swinson gives LSU needed veteran pass rusher

LSU needed an edge rusher in the portal. It got one in Bradyn Swinson.

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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Former LSU offensive lineman announces transfer destination

Cameron Wire will be staying in the state of Louisiana for his next stop.

Former LSU offensive lineman Cameron Wire is staying in the state of Louisiana, as he announced his transfer to Tulane on Tuesday.

In four years with the Tigers, Wire started 11 games along the offensive line. He started four at left tackle in 2021 and began the season as the starter at right tackle in 2022, but he was supplanted by true freshman Emery Jones and only appeared in four games.

He’ll have multiple remaining years of eligibility at his next stop. The Green Wave are coming off one of the best seasons in school history and will face USC in the Cotton Bowl. They will return both coach Willie Fritz and quarterback Michael Pratt in 2023, and Wire could be a part of one of the top programs in the Group of Five.

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LSU lands three transfer defensive linemen in the portal

The Tigers had a need along the defensive line, and they’re aggressively addressing it.

LSU just landed a litany of major additions in the transfer portal in the form of three defensive linemen.

[autotag]Bradyn Swinson[/autotag] transferred from Oregon, [autotag]Paris Shand[/autotag] transferred from Arizona, and [autotag]Jalen Lee[/autotag] transferred from Florida.

The Tigers just filled some big needs depth-wise as all three of these guys are likely to see playing time on the defensive line next season. LSU just lost a couple of high school defensive line recruits last week so [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] came out swinging in the transfer portal just a day before the early signing period starts.

LSU now has four transfer commitments for the 2023 class with these three guys joining Aaron Anderson. Here’s the rundown on each.