GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU football fans are still beaming from the No. 1-ranked Transfer Portal class that coach Brian Kelly brought in last January. It has fallen to No. 2 behind Texas Tech by 247sports.com and is No. 3 behind Tech and Ole Miss by On3.com.
But it remains the best ranked portal class at LSU since the portal began in 2021. But more than a few of those highest ranked transfer players found themselves closing spring practice last week not with the first team.
True, Kelly didn’t use spring to find his starters. That happens in August. And depth charts during spring practice are particularly fluid. But the point is that LSU’s returning players didn’t just move to the backup portal, so to speak.
ALL QUIET ON TRANSFER PORTAL FRONT
For example, defensive end Gabriel Reliford, a freshman last season from Evangel in Shreveport who played in 13 games as a backup with one start, ran with the first team through most of spring drills next to No. 14-ranked senior transfer Jack Pyburn of Florida.
Often behind Reliford were No. 2 senior transfer defensive end Patrick Payton of Florida State and No. 17 senior transfer defensive end Jimari Butler of Nebraska.
“Just like anybody else, initially, I was like, ‘Dang, are they trying to replace me?’” Reliford said on Thursday as spring practice ended. “I’m not going to just back down from it.”
The same is true at receiver, where returning seniors Aaron Anderson and Chris Hilton Jr. haven’t budged on their No. 1 positions despite the additions of No. 3 junior transfer receiver Nic Anderson of Oklahoma and No. 10 senior transfer receiver Barion Brown of Kentucky.
At tight end, returning sophomore Trey’Dez Green remains No. 1 after the addition of No. 11 senior transfer tight end Bauer Sharp of Oklahoma.
And returning starting sophomore center DJ Chester stayed at No. 1 there after Kelly brought in junior starting center Braelin Moore from Virginia Tech via the portal. When Moore signed with LSU as the No. 4 interior offensive lineman transfer, the word was he would move to center with Chester moving to a guard spot. That may still happen in August, but it didn’t happen during the spring.
And No. 2 interior offensive lineman transfer senior Josh Thompson of Northwestern has not taken left guard from sophomore Paul Mubenga, who played 10 games there last season with five starts. And Thompson had a fight on his hands at right guard with redshirt freshman Coen Echols. Thompson did arrive at LSU after spring drills had already started as Northwestern is on a quarter system. He’ll get a better chance in August.
This is a good sign for Kelly.
“Well, we’ve developed our players,” he said when asked about his returnees holding strong. “If everybody you bring in from the portal has to come in and play for you, that’s not a great place to be.”
But if highly ranked portal players end up backing up players already at LSU and other transfers become stars, that is the best of both worlds.
“You want to be in a position where you bring in portal players to build off of what you already have,” Kelly said. “And that’s why this roster is the best roster we’ve had, because we’re building depth, and we’re bringing in veteran players. So that mix is the best mix that we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Few positions are set, particularly on the offensive line.
“It’s been moving guys around and finding where the right fits are,” Kelly said. “And then we’ll go into camp, and the first eight, nine practices will give us some time to make the decision on what that unit is. And then we’ll build continuity through the back end of preseason camp with the starting five.”
LSU’S 2024-25 TRANSFER PORTAL CLASS
-No. 7 Overall and No. 2 DE Patrick Payton, Florida State.
-No. 9 Overall and No. 3 WR Nic Anderson, Oklahoma.
-No. 16 Overall and No. 2 INTERIOR-OL Josh Thompson, Northwestern.
-No. 36 Overall and No. 10 WR-RET Barion Brown, Kentucky.
-No. 38 Overall and No. 4 INTERIOR-OL Braelin Moore, Virginia Tech.
-No. 88 Overall and No. 14 DE Jack Pyburn, Florida.
-No. 103 Overall and No. 14 CB Mansoor Delane, Virginia Tech.
-No. 112 Overall and No. 15 CB Ja’Keem Jackson, Florida.
-No. 141 Overall and No. 3 S Tamarcus Cooley, North Carolina State
-No. 146 Overall and No. 17 DE Jimari Butler, Nebraska.
-No. 186 Overall and No. 16 QB Michael Van Buren, Mississippi State.
-No. 211 Overall and No. 11 TE Bauer Sharp, Oklahoma.
-No. 498 Overall and No. 50 DT Sydir Mitchell, Texas.
-No. 665 Overall and No. 34 TE Donovan Green, Texas A&M
-No. 1,152 Overall and No. 201 WR Destyn Hill, Florida State.
-Unranked P Grant Chadwick, Middle Tennessee State.
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