GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU may be close to adding its highest ranked transfer yet.
The Tigers are considered the favorite for No. 2 overall portal prospect Patrick Payton, who is the No. 1 edge rusher in the nation, according to 247sports.com, and is visiting LSU this weekend. The website’s transfer crystal ball lists LSU as having a 100 percent chance of getting Payton.
LSU STOCKING STUFFERS ON STEROIDS
Payton (6-foot-5, 250 pounds) had 35 tackles and four sacks for 2-10 Florida State as a redshirt junior in the 2024 season. He has 109 tackles with 32 for loss and 16 sacks in his career. Payton was the No. 15 linebacker in the country in and No. 18 prospect in Florida in 2021 out of Northwestern High in Miami.
There is one spot left on LSU coach Brian Kelly’s original Christmas wish list of 12 portal players as he secured No. 11 on Friday. Kelly added Texas reserve defensive lineman and redshirt freshman Sydir Mitchell to his 2025 NCAA Transfer Portal collection. But he could exceed 12 in the portal as he and the Tigers are in the running for additional and much higher ranked players.
Mitchell (6-foot-6, 350 pounds) is only a three-star portal prospect and the No. 307 overall transfer and No. 25 defensive tackle, but LSU defensive line coach Bo Davis sees something in him. Davis recruited Mitchell out of Bergen Catholic High in Oradell, New Jersey, for Texas’ 2023 class when Davis was the defensive line coach for the Longhorns (2021-23) and coached him in his last season there.
LSU GETS INTO DOUBLE DIGITS FROM PORTAL
A three-star high school prospect as well, Mitchell signed with Texas as the No. 51 defensive tackle in the nation and No. 5 prospect in New Jersey before the 2023 season. He made two tackles in five games (Colorado State, Texas-San Antonio, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia) in the 2024 regular season, according to EPSN, for Texas (11-2), which is the No. 5 seed in the College Football Playoff and plays No. 12 seed Clemson (8-4) on Saturday (3 p.m., TNT).
Mitchell played in three games as a true freshman in 2023 (Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma State) and made three tackles.
Meanwhile, LSU is recruiting two other top portal players. Those are No. 21 Fa’alili Fa’amoe (6-5, 314), a redshirt junior who is the No. 2 offensive tackle transfer out of Washington State, and No. 53 Braelin Moore (6-3, 303), the No. 4 interior offensive lineman from Virginia Tech. He started at center in the 2024 season as a redshirt sophomore. Fa’amoe is visiting Michigan this weekend. Moore has already visited LSU or will.
LSU is also recruiting unranked South Florida redshirt freshman safety Tawfiq Byard (6-1, 200).
Nine of LSU’s 11 portal signees have started a significant number of games either in 2024 or 2023. Mitchell and Florida State wide receiver Destyn Hill are the only non-starters. Eight of the 11 are ranked by 247sports.com in its top 130:
LSU’S NCAA TRANSFER PORTAL CLASS OF 2024-25 (11 COMMITMENTS)
-No. 10 Overall and No. 5 WR Nic Anderson, Oklahoma.
-No. 18 Overall and No. 8 WR-RET Barion Brown, Kentucky.
-No. 36 Overall and No. 2 CB Mansoor Delane, Virginia Tech.
-No. 43 Overall and No. 6 DE Jake Pyburn, Florida.
-No. 71 Overall and No. 8 CB Ja’Keem Jackson, Florida.
-No. 92 Overall and No. 13 QB Michael Van Buren, Mississippi State.
-No. 125 Overall and No. 14 DE Jimari Butler, Nebraska.
-No. 128 Overall and No. 8 TE Bauer Sharp, Oklahoma.
-No. 307 Overall and No. 25 DT Sydir Mitchell, Texas.
-Unranked WR Destyn Hill, Florida State.
-Unranked P Grant Chadwick, Middle Tennessee State.
LSU PORTAL LOSSES (17) AND NEW SCHOOL, IF COMMITTED
– Rickie Collins: Quarterback
– Landon Ibieta: Wide Receiver.
– CJ Daniels: Wide Receiver … Miami.
– Dashawn Womack: Edge … Ole Miss.
– Jordan Allen: Safety … Houston.
– Shelton Sampson: Wide Receiver.
– Kylin Jackson: Defensive Back … TCU.
– Xavier Atkins: Linebacker … Auburn.
– Jyaire Brown: Cornerback.
– Bernard Causey: Cornerback.
– Nathan Dibert: Kicker … Eastern Michigan.
– De’Myrion Johnson: Defensive Tackle
– JK Johnson: Cornerback
– Ka’Morreun Pimpton: Tight End
– Jay’viar Suggs: Defensive Tackle
– Sage Ryan: Defensive Back … Ole Miss.
– AJ Swann: Quarterback
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