By now you’re well aware of all the graduates and early departures from LSU’s national championship team. You know LSU lost nine underclassmen to the NFL draft. You know LSU will have to replace 15 starters, two coordinators and the majority of its top leadership.
That can’t all be replaced in a day, but there’s a signing class of 22 new players coming in with a chance to take on roles from Day 1. In 2017 it was Grant Delpit and K’Lavon Chaisson. In 2018 it was Ja’Marr Chase and Damien Lewis. Last year, Derek Stingley Jr. became one of the top defenders in college football.
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Impact will be relative for the players listed below. Some may jump into starting roles right away. Some may provide depth and rotate in as the season goes on, like cornerback Cordale Flott and safety Maurice Hampton in 2019.
Here’s a look at some names to watch in 2020 and how they could be used.
TE Arik Gilbert (Marietta, Ga.): This one is a given. Gilbert is the highest-rated tight end prospect in 247Sports history and the crown jewel of LSU’s 2020 recruiting class. The 6-foot-6, 245-pound early enrollee is a versatile athlete who compiled 1,745 receiving yards in 2019 while becoming the first tight end to win the Gatorade National Player of the Year award. He’s not just a tight end, as Orgeron said he can also play the X and Z receiver spots. It’s all but a forgone conclusion Gilbert will be LSU’s starting tight end in 2020 and will be moved around the field in different ways. Combined with returning stars like Chase and Terrace Marshall at receiver, expected starting quarterback Myles Brennan has plenty of toys to play with to keep LSU’s offensive momentum going. Gilbert will miss the spring after shoulder surgery, but he still has the advantage of being on campus and will be fine for the season.
LB Josh White (Houston): Ask people around LSU for a prospect who will make an impact that people aren’t talking about and White’s name often comes up. White is a speedy sideline-to-sideline linebacker with potential as a blitzer who could thrive in a 4-3 defense, making it interesting to see where defensive coordinator Bo Pelini lines him up. LSU is replacing its entire starting linebacking corps, and aside from rising junior Damone Clark, there are no clear replacements. Don’t be surprised if White fights for a spot and sees the field in 2020.
WR Kayshon Boutte (New Iberia, La.): LSU is losing Justin Jefferson and his record-breaking 111 catches from the slot and Boutte may be a perfect replacement. There will be other players on the roster like Racey McMath and Trey Palmer competing for this spot — and I’m curious if Chase moves around at all — so Boutte jumping into a major role isn’t a given, but the 6-foot, 185-pound five-star has athleticism and playmaking ability. He’ll at least be in the mix.
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S Jordan Toles (Baltimore, Md.): LSU has plenty of depth at safety in 2020, but it remains an ambiguous group. Delpit is off to the NFL, and he’s technically the only player being replaced, but there’s an open feel to the battles. JaCoby Stevens is a returning starter and focal point, but some can’t help but wonder if he’ll move to linebacker in Pelini’s 4-3 scheme. Todd Harris was a 2019 opening day starter and brings plenty of athleticism and experience, but he missed much of the season with a torn ACL. Hampton built a role for himself down the stretch, but it’s unclear where he stands in the pecking order. Also, Marcel Brooks may go back to safety. In all, LSU may have five safeties capable of starting.
Still, Toles deserves to be on this list because of his talent level. LSU sources often speculate that if Toles didn’t also focus on basketball — which he’ll also play at LSU — he’d be a consensus five-star. So this is less of a prediction that Toles will win a starting job or that LSU needs a safety. It’s more a statement that he’s too good of a player to not at least be a depth piece at a position that often moves around and rotates.
DE BJ Ojulari (Marietta, Ga.): Few positions will be more interesting to follow in the change to the 4-3 than defensive end. Which outside linebackers become hand-on-the-ground ends and which remain linebackers? Which 3-4 defensive ends can play the edge and which are more like defensive tackles? Names like reformed tight end TK McLendon have come up as top candidates at the weak-side edge-rushing spot. I’m interested to see where Ojulari comes in. He’s a standout athlete at 6-foot-3, 218 pounds, and if he adds weight he could be in the mix for one of those end spots. Being an early enrollee should help with both adding weight and adjusting to the position.
DT Jaquelin Roy (Baton Rouge, La.): Don’t expect Roy to start or be a star in Year 1, but the top-50 prospect should find a role on the defensive line where LSU rotated all three starters at times in 2019. LSU has depth here, too, with Tyler Shelvin, Glen Logan and Neil Farrell all returning as starters, in addition to nose Apu Ika and defensive end Justin Thomas. But as LSU moves to the 4-3, Roy feels like a perfect 3-technique defensive tackle who can rush the passer with the athleticism but still hold down the run. The Baton Rouge native reformed his body going into his senior year and is now a 6-foot-4, 293-pound athlete. I could see him being in the first rotation off the sideline in 2020.
CB Elias Ricks (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.): I projected in my depth chart first look that Flott, a rising sophom*ore, will win the second starting cornerback job across from Stingley, but it would be foolish if I didn’t list Ricks as a contender to play a role in 2020. We profiled Ricks last week, and the five-star early enrollee should be competing directly with Flott and fellow rising sophom*ore Jay Ward for that starting spot. Ricks needs to gain weight, but he’s an intelligent and speedy 6-foot-3 talent that may have the most upside. Even if he doesn’t win the job, he should see the field like Flott and Ward did last year.
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Other names to watch: While Gilbert is the big name at tight end, three-star tight end Kole Taylor is a less-discussed name the staff is high on. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 6-foot-7 freshman from Colorado is the No. 2 tight end. Jacobian Guillory is a rising star nose tackle type who may not be in the rotation right away but could be the third nose tackle on the depth chart. LSU is really high on three-star offensive guard Xavier Hill, so I’m interested if he can compete for an interior opening. Lastly, since linebacker is wide open, fellow freshman Antoine Sampah is actually the higher-rated linebacker between he and White.
Redshirt freshman to watch
G Anthony Bradford: LSU brought in a large group of offensive linemen in the 2019 class much like it did with the defensive line in 2020. Kardell Thomas was the five-star name, but Bradford is the one LSU is the highest on. Weight is the major concern with Bradford, even though he remains a nimble athlete in spite of it. Bradford, a versatile option who spent time at both guard and tackle last fall, is my pick to win the right guard spot in 2020. He’s clearly going to be a key piece up front the next few years.
LS Quentin Skinner: LSU has been using a Ferguson (Reid and Blake) at long snapper for the past eight years. Though that streak will end in 2020, the streak of long snappers from Buford, Ga., continues. Skinner transferred to the same high school as the Fergusons, primarily to learn and improve at the position. He was the top-ranked long snapper in the country coming in last year, and if all goes well, he’ll hold down the job for the next four years.
G Kardell Thomas: As we said earlier, Thomas was the notable signee up front in 2019, but weight has been a concern with him, too. Thomas snapped his ankle in a gruesome injury in August, ending his first season, but he made an impressive recovery and was practicing by the end of the year. Teammates like Adrian Magee and Damien Lewis raved about his potential. He and Bradford will likely compete for the open guard spot.
(Top photo of Arik Gilbert: Tim Heitman / USA TODAY Sports)
Brody Miller covers golf and the LSU Tigers for The Athletic. He came to The Athletic from the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A South Jersey native, Miller graduated from Indiana University before going on to stops at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Indianapolis Star, the Clarion Ledger and NOLA.com. Follow Brody on Twitter @BrodyAMiller
