Once the transfer portal opens and the stretch run for the 2024 recruiting class begins, LSU has a couple positions to address.
One of them, coach Brian Kelly said Monday, will be defensive tackle.
“That position in itself, the defensive line, interior help is where we’re looking to help our football team,” Kelly said. “We think we’re in a pretty good position at the edge of our defense. We need to get bigger. I think the defensive tackle position will probably be the area that you’ll see us move aggressively.”
LSU could lose all its primary defensive tackles during the offseason, leaving it without proven options next season. Junior Mekhi Wingo, redshirt sophomore Maason Smith and redshirt junior Jacobian Guillory are all draft eligible. And senior transfer Jordan Jefferson will have exhausted his college eligibility.
Wingo has the most draft attention at this point. Before he underwent surgery for an unspecified lower body injury, he had made 22 tackles, three tackles for loss and 2 ½ sacks in seven games.
“We’re obviously going to give him a lot of data in terms of what we think is in his best interest, and we’ll let him and his family and those that are helping him make his decision process through that,” Kelly said. “He’s in that boat of trying to make a decision, and we’ll give him all the data that he needs and all the information. Certainly we’d love to have him back.”
After the four main rotational players, no other defensive tackle has played in more than seven games this season. Junior Jalen Lee, redshirt freshman Tygee Hill, redshirt freshman Fitzgerald West and redshirt sophomore Bryce Langston have all made two tackles.
Currently, LSU has one interior defensive lineman committed in the 2024 class in Westgate three-star De’Myrion Johnson.
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