{"id":70179,"date":"2024-12-13T10:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T15:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=70179"},"modified":"2024-12-12T23:48:11","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T04:48:11","slug":"lsu-transfer-portal-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/12\/13\/lsu-transfer-portal-update\/","title":{"rendered":"LSU Transfer Portal Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roster management is more challenging than ever<\/a> in college football, but opportunistic programs can benefit from the changes within the sport. Brian Kelly now faces the task of making the transfer portal work in LSU\u2019s favor. Now that the high school early signing period<\/a> has come and gone, the attention has shifted to who\u2019s coming and going from the transfer portal to LSU.<\/p>\n

The first window for players to enter the portal is from December 9th<\/sup> to December 28th<\/sup>. LSU currently has 16 players in the portal, which isn\u2019t ideal but a far cry from Mississippi State\u2019s 28 players. The production of the former Tigers who\u2019ve entered varies, so let\u2019s take a closer look at the losses.<\/p>\n

Offensive Departures<\/strong><\/p>\n

The wide receiver position has been hit the hardest at this point with three players leaving from that position group. CJ Daniels<\/a> was quietly one of the most consistent players on the offense with 42 catches, good for third among the wideouts. Daniels was a prime candidate for an even bigger role in 2025 with Kyren Lacy moving on to the NFL.<\/p>\n

Shelton Sampson<\/a> was a top 100 player out of Catholic High of Baton Rouge in 2023 but hasn\u2019t been able to climb the depth chart. Sampson is physically gifted, having been clocked at 4.3 in high school at 6-4. He\u2019ll need to refine the more technical aspects of his game to consistently gain separation at this level. Mandeville native and reserve receiver Landon Ibieta also entered the portal.<\/p>\n

Quarterback Rickie Collins<\/a> was a four-star high school recruit and nationally ranked in the top 250 overall in 2023. Considering Garrett Nussmeier<\/a>\u2019s decision to return, Collins\u2019 decision does not come as a surprise. Ka\u2019Morreun Pimpton, a 6-6 giant of a tight end, is the only other offensive player to enter the portal so far.<\/p>\n

Defensive Departures<\/strong><\/p>\n

The safety position has seen the most losses defensively. Sage Ryan<\/a> has been a versatile contributor for the Tigers, having started at both cornerback and safety. Ryan decided to enter the portal for the second consecutive year; the staff was able to talk him into returning last year. Jordan Allen also logged starts at safety in 2024 before an injury pushed him off the field. Kylin Jackson<\/a> is yet another four-star 2023 recruit who has decided to enter the portal. Jackson is an intriguing player who quite possibly has a higher ceiling than the upperclassmen who played ahead of him.<\/p>\n

LSU is losing as many cornerbacks as safeties, but the impact isn\u2019t as significant. JK Johnson<\/a> and Jyaire Brown<\/a> are both former Ohio State transfers who haven\u2019t been able to break into the rotation. Bernard Causey is a 2024 signee and New Orleans native who was once committed to Ole Miss.<\/p>\n

Although Jay\u2019viar Suggs<\/a> wasn\u2019t the most celebrated defensive line transfer coming from Grand Valley State, he was the most disruptive. Suggs is now moving on, and so is freshman lineman De\u2019Myrion Johnson. Johnson came in the same class with Ahmad Breaux<\/a> and Dominick McKinley<\/a> but did not have the playing time or impact that they did.<\/p>\n

Da’shawn Womack<\/a> is a former five-star edge defender who got limited snaps behind Bradyn Swinson and Sai\u2019vion Jones. Womack has already committed to Ole Miss. Xavier Atkins<\/a> is a freshman linebacker originally from Jonesboro, LA who also has decided to move on.<\/p>\n

Potential Targets<\/strong><\/p>\n

LSU is heavily involved with some of the premier receiver prospects in the portal like Kentucky\u2019s Barion Brown<\/a> and Oklahoma\u2019s Nic Anderson. Brown is an explosive downfield threat. Anderson had roughly 800 receiving yards as a freshman before an injury kept him out of action his entire sophomore season. Former five-star Micah Hudson<\/a> of Texas Tech is another one to watch, though he could be leaning to Texas A&M.<\/p>\n

The Tigers will look to add a tight end from the portal after losing Mason Taylor and Pimpton. Fortunately, there is no shortage of options. Purdue\u2019s Max Klare is the most productive tight end in the portal, but Luke Hasz<\/a> of Arkansas has shown interest in LSU.<\/p>\n

LSU lost some talented edge players defensively, so the staff must address the position with proven talent. Nebraska\u2019s Princewill Umanmielen<\/a> is one of the most highly sought-after transfers regardless of position. Will Heldt of Purdue has a prototypical size at 6-6 with production to go with it. Both have confirmed interest in LSU.<\/p>\n

Corey Raymond recruited cornerback Ja\u2019Keem Jackson<\/a> while still at Florida, and their relationship could pay dividends for LSU. Most consider the Tigers to be the favorite in the recruitment of the former top-100 prospect. Nyland Green of Georgia has not lived up to his lofty ranking as a high school recruit but is another name to know at cornerback.<\/p>\n

More players are entering the portal every day. Playoff teams like Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas will likely provide even more high-end talent once their seasons have concluded. Other than the potential targets previously mentioned, we expect LSU to also add depth at quarterback, offensive line, and safety. Kelly recently expressed confidence in adding from the portal. We\u2019ll soon see how much LSU\u2019s NIL money talks.<\/p>\n

\"LSU
Photo courtesy: SCOTT CLAUSE\/USA TODAY Network \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roster management is more challenging than ever in college football, but opportunistic programs can benefit from the changes within the sport. Brian Kelly now faces the task of making the transfer portal work in LSU\u2019s favor. Now that the high school early signing period has come and gone, the attention has shifted to who\u2019s coming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4690,"featured_media":70184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7316,3],"tags":[32973,10530,729,8399,32964,20737,10383,8758,34522,86,32604,34523,34293,7235,9411,20,34524],"class_list":["post-70179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recruiting","category-sec","tag-bernard-causey","tag-bradyn-swinson","tag-brian-kelly","tag-corey-raymond","tag-demyrion-johnson","tag-jordan-allen","tag-kamorreun-pimpton","tag-kyren-lacy","tag-landon-ibieta","tag-lsu-tigers","tag-mason-taylor","tag-max-klare","tag-nic-anderson","tag-nyland-green","tag-saivion-jones","tag-sec","tag-will-heldt"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4690"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70179"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70185,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70179\/revisions\/70185"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}