LSU Tigers came fresh off their open spring practice, offering a glimpse of their big off-season modus operandi. The Tigers worked their bone through the red zone offense, seven-on-seven drills, special team periods, and so on. Expectations from Brian Kelly are already touching the ceiling as they are set to return QB Garrett Nussmeier and some other crown jewels on both sides of the ball. Also, the newbies of the portal transfers ramped up the hype for a productive off-season. But the spring games are exposing the cracks in the LSU squad…
Kelly has had three whole years in the Tigers camp, leading them from the front line. Not being able to earn a playoff appearance till now marked him a ne’er-do-well among the elite of college football. Can 2025 turn the page? Too early to hang on. But the early spring observations didn’t dampen the hype at all. Take it slow! It didn’t offer any reason to float on the air, either. If you do a comparative analysis, it seems the concern weighs higher than the glimmers.
The Tigers ‘ defense looked far from perfect in a wasted 2024 season. In the compelling breathing time, they get to fix a lot. Remember when the LSU defense precariously gave up to Jalen Milroe’s explosive run game during that Alabama game? That’s what they look to improve. Reading the current standing of each player on the defense, insider Taylor Sharp said, “Mansour Delane is all over the field. There is a spot for him on this team. I think he’s going to be a starter on this team somewhere. Look, Perkins is supposed to play nickel. Can you move Mansour Delane to safety? Is he going to grab one of those outside corner spots?” Virginia Tech transfer Mansoor Delane turned the heads in the first week of practices, as expected. Among a bunch of freshman guys, he is the veteran in the corner back room who can hold them together and offer a long-term vision.
Going deeper into the LSU DC Blake Baker’s defensive revamp, Taylor added, “Delane has been really good on this team so far in the spring. And then Ashton Stamps, kind of the forgotten guy, the guy that’s started pretty much every game for you a year ago, and I get it, all the hype was around Zy Alexander because he was that dominant shutdown corner.”
LSU has always been a safety-deficient team. The story remains the same. In the winter portal, they have lost a couple of veterans in the positions. Although there are guys like Jardin Gilbert, CJ Jimcoily, etc, representing a unique blend of experiences and freshness, doubts in the safety room still linger. But Gilbert will be unavailable for the entire spring due to his persistent shoulder injury. “Safeties were okay. For the safeties, it was like it was one of those situations where they didn’t flash, but they didn’t look disastrous either,” the analyst dropped a subtle concern. With a nucleus of Tamarcus Cooley, Javien Tovianom, and Joel Rogers, there’s no doubt that they lack depth.
If Kelly doesn’t become a wide-eyed watchdog, it might turn out nasty by the fall. However, this is not the only concern the Tigers are dealing with right now.
Brian Kelly receives a massive past brutality warning amidst the spring buzz
The NIL has been making it tougher day by day for the coaches to retain their rosters. Nico Iamaleava‘s latest move carries the strongest testament of what a better paycheck can do to your loyalty and ethics. The Tigers are in a red zone, too. All it takes is a little push from the outside staff to get all your talents drenched in the money.
LSU and Kelly did a decent job of adding more than 16 players in the winter portal window. Heading into the spring window from April 25, they can look to add some more, especially to solidify the safety concerns. But Kelly first needs to make sure it won’t turn out like last year.
LSU insider Matt Moscona didn’t mince his words while raising a legitimate red flag for Kelly. “I want to remind you, last year in the spring portal window—so after spring practice, when the spring portal window opened in 2024—LSU had eight players go into the portal in that spring window. So, after spring practice: Jaxon Howard, Khai Prean, Connor Gilbreath, Joseph Cryer, Ryan Yaites, Jeremiah Hughes, Christian Brathwaite, and John Emery…And you added two—you added Jay’viar Suggs and then Blake Ochsendorf, the punter from Louisiana Tech. You added him late.”
That’s huge, that’s dreadful. But with Kelly, as fully aware of the current portal conundrum, he will hopefully be a bit extra careful looking out for the headspace of his talents and acting accordingly.
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