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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
In his 4 years at LSU, there are more significant storylines for this 2025 LSU squad than any team under Brian Kelly, threads that could tie together to form a title winning tapestry, or some glaring issues could altogether shred apart the entire patchwork of Brian Kelly's long-term design:
Kelly is under the microscope in Year 4, even as he loses key reliables who had been there since his first days on campus (Will Campbell, Mason Taylor, Josh Williams, Emery Jones, Garrett Dellinger), the Irish Tiger is in a season where there are no excuses available, no Coach Orgeron for fans to blame for roster mismanagement, this is Kelly's team, LSU is his program, and there will be nowhere to hide from criticism if the Tigers fall short in 2025.
Trying to improve his roster and staff any way he can, Brian Kelly was proactive this offseason, not only retaining as many assistants and veteran squad men as possible, he went out into the portal and signed the required amount of players.....more than that, LSU forked over top dollar for the best talent available.
Even throwing in millions of his own dollars to get deals over the line, Kelly bet on these specific incoming players to get LSU over the line in 2025....which is why the Tigers' 2025 portal class has to be a main storyline for this campaign:
Will LSU's 16 transfers elevate key areas like Brad Davis' offensive line (a unit that lost 4 of their 5 2023-2024 starters), Corey Raymond's secondary (a group that has been ranked 76th to dead last against the pass in 4 of their last 5 seasons), Cortez Hankton's receiving corps, and Kevin Peoples' edge men & newly minted defensive line Coach Kyle Williams' interior???
We will delve more into these collective purple & gold storylines, but perhaps the only place to start, as well as the most important individual responsible for LSU title contention, is without question their starting signal caller:
QB Garrett Nussmeier, ahead of Year II as one of & potentially the overall best QB in college football today, returning alongside the same Co- offensive coordinator partnership, will be feeding the ball to many of the same teammates as last fall (Hilton Jr, Durham, Anderson, Parker, Green) while Kelly grabbed two highly coveted receiving weapons out of the transfer portal:
Two of LSU's sixteen transfers are additions to Nussmeier's arsenal of targets, Barion Brown & Nic Anderson, with Brown looking like a superstar in the making, already feeling right at home in Baton Rouge, connecting frequently with Nussmeier for massive gains downfield, while Nic Anderson is a potent wild card, owning both a 10 TD season and an entire year out due to injury on his resume.
We'll see how former Oklahoma Sooner Nic Anderson comes along, but Brown is a definite storyline for this writer, as he stands apart from the rest of a remarkable receiving corps, possibly the deepest of the Cortez Hankton era.
But even with a bevy of weapons for Nussmeier to feed, I wonder how electric, efficient or dictatorial LSU's offense can really become without an offensive line to hang their hat on....perhaps this team's biggest storyline from a personnel change standpoint:
Brad Davis' offensive line is without a doubt an overlooked but glaring issue that must be addressed, losing top round talent at 4 spots, while the center position is still up for grabs. LSU brought in solid portal pieces with center / guard Braelin Moore already standing out during early Spring sessions, and the versatile Josh Thompson will be arriving in the next week.
However, it must be said:
Despite a few veterans added this offseason, this is an incredibly young & inexperienced offensive line room, a group that will be grinding at the pace of their young development...
Will Brad Davis' O-linemen in the spotlight (Tyree Adams, Weston Davis, or Bo Bordelon) deliver the goods??? Or will Davis be forced to cast his lot with poor performing returning starters DJ Chester & Paul Mubenga around new additions Moore and Thompson???
Corey Raymond's secondary is a big piece to the defensive puzzle for coordinator Blake Baker.
Loaded up front with enough pass rushing pedigree via the portal to eclipse LSU's 34 and 31 sacks over the past 2 seasons (Patrick Payton, Jamir Butler, and Jack Pyburn all looking the part of monster pass rushers), a stacked linebacker room led by one of America's best in the position: Whit Weeks, and one of the game's ultimate defensive playmakers when healthy, Harold Perkins Jr, on paper Blake Baker's defense is set for an impressive campaign if Raymond, safeties coach Jake Olson, and DBs analyst Lance Guidry can find the right formula at the backend.
The arrival of the nation's #2 overall rated safety Tamarcus Cooley is a prevailing focus, the former NC State hitman could just be the man to turn LSU's long suffering problems at the safety spot.
Traditionally among the Tigers' most solid positions for decades, since 2020, LSU's safety play has been right at the top of the biggest issues that plagued LSU's poor defensive play in 2020, 2021, segments of 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Now, with Cooley looking to make his name as a future Sunday playmaker, former 5 star / 3rd year Tiger Javien Toviano starting alongside Cooley in the 1st team throughout Spring, while 2024 starter Jardin Gilbert makes a full recovery from an injured shoulder, or the lengthy 2nd year Dashawn Spears tries to play himself above the fray, the safety spots aren't sealed just yet, but due to the thin room at Jake Olsen's disposal, the names may pick themselves soon enough.
At corner, LSU are marginally deeper, thanks to top 5 portal corner Mansoor Delane's signing & former Raymond pupil Jakheem Jackson also transferring to Baton Rouge, the debut of freshman prodigy DJ Pickett (who very well may be a first year starter), the 2024 experience gained by starter Ashton Stamps (led the SEC with 14 PBUs), and rotational man PJ Woodland, plus 2nd year Tiger Michael Turner Jr playing very well in early Spring (2 INTs) as well as the versatility of Javien Toviano able to supply cover at that spot, the corner position has some strong options, yet once again, even though 16 transfers & loads of freshman / walk-on newcomers are taking their place among the roster, LSU's secondary, and in general their entire defense must avoid significant injuries to be successful in 2025.
Already missing a few key starters until June (Weeks, Perkins, and Guillory), LSU simply can't afford another repeat of last season....a campaign where Brian Kelly watched on as his Tigers lost nearly 10 starters to season-ending injuries....simultaneously losing other starters or key contributors for multiple games.
Because big names are already set to miss the entirety of Spring's chemistry-building practices, even more imperative than on-field cohesion, the overall health of the squad will remain a paramount storyline until we finally reach kickoff in South Carolina vs Clemson.
Elsewhere, the potential for offensive firepower in 2025 could be off the charts, with returning rushing & receiving leaders Caden Durham & Aaron Anderson now surrounded by a pair of elite talents from the portal, the return & rejuvenation of Chris Hilton Jr, towering tight end targets Trey'Dez Green & Donovan Green, the speedy Zavion Thomas (also a main return weapon, much like Anderson & Brown), the strong & stout Kyle Parker, freshman sensation RB Harlem Berry, 3rd year RB Kaleb Jackson looking for vengeance after a stuttering sophomore slump.....and we're still leaving names off the list...
Another colossal storyline going into this season?
Will QB Garrett Nussmeier & his playcaller Joe Sloan take full advantage of their bottomless supply of attacking weapons & properly cash in?
Possessing an all purpose running back room of differing profiles, plenty of turbulent pace, and a superstar in Caden Durham, three strong tight end options (with the ground game coordinated by excellent new hire Alex Atkins), a plethora of receiving prowess with varying skill sets, it would be very disappointing, maybe even confounding if Sloan, Nussmeier & Co failed to deliver an electrifying, or at the least efficient offensive attack in 2025.
Many of these individual & collective storylines make up the framework & character of Brian Kelly's 2025 squad, a cold blooded squad who's success will be predicated completely on inner squad competition over the Spring & Fall camps.
With a shedding of the fat this offseason, aka the removal of some players who ate up critical snaps but offered very little, Kelly possesses a squad that may be short on depth at certain spots, however, outside of offensive line which remains a profound question mark, LSU's overall personnel has been upgraded.....in comparison to Kelly's other 3 seasons, there is no mandate to start anyone, no politics, no Major Burns (for example) starting every snap of every game no matter what....this is a squad led by a staff who have zero favorites and one goal: win.
Let's watch how they gel & come together over these weeks ahead this Spring.
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
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