BATON ROUGE — Thanks to the mass exodus following the end of the 2023 season, the microscope has been squarely placed on the defensive line for LSU football since spring practice.
That magnifying glass remains fixed on the unit as it was a rough offseason for the coaching staff in its attempt to bolster the defensive line back up through the transfer portal. LSU’s top three targets all committed elsewhere, leaving questions unanswered for the Tigers heading into the 2024 season.
Eight players are back for the Tigers that saw playing time last season but only a pair of those, seniors Jacobian Guillory and Sai’vion Jones, had snaps in all 13 games in 2023.
Seniors Bradyn Swinson, who played in 12 games last year, Paris Shand, Jalen Lee return and will be guys counted on plenty. Junior Prince Malbrue and sophomores Da’ Shawn Womack and Dylan Carpenter also played in 2023.
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Projected starters: Sai’vion Jones, Sr.; Jacobian Guillory, Sr.; Gio Paez, Sr.; Brayden Swinson, Sr.
Reserves: Jalen Lee, Sr.; Paris Shand, Sr.; Shone Washington, Soph.; Da’Shawn Womack, Soph.; Gabriel Reliford, Fr.; Dylan Carpenter, Soph.; Kimo Makane’ole, Jr.; Dominick McKinley, Fr.; Joey August, Fr.; Preston Hickey, Soph.; Jay’viar Suggs, Jr.; Ahmad Breaux, Fr.; De’Myrion Johnson, Fr.; Kolaj Cobbins, Fr.; C.J. Jackson, Fr.
Kelly said as spring drills came to a close that LSU needed to find “help” along the defensive line. Before the spring was up, LSU did land Wisconsin graduate transfer defensive tackle Gio Paez. After striking out on some guys, Kelly and his staff dipped into the Division II ranks to land Jay’viar Suggs from Grand Vally State.
Paez has done a nice job since joining the team, so much so he’s factoring a starting spot. With his experience playing major college football, the 6-foot-3, 305-pounder could start for the Tigers Game 1.
Jones, Guillory and Swinson are all names people know but they’ll need to play better for new defensive coordinator Blake Baker.
But behind them are guys like Lee, Suggs, Kimo Makane’ole, who changed positions from offensive line to defensive line in the spring to help with depth, Womack and Shone Washington, who flashed at times.
Two defensive linemen to watch are Reliford, who ended spring practice with a bang, and Dominick McKinley.
The upside
The upside for LSU’s defensive linemen is that they’re playing in a new scheme under Baker, one that’s designed for the guys up front to be major factors in stopping the run while eating up gaps and playing as big as possible.
As this group that is collectively unproven and young overall grow within the new defense, the expectation is that they’ll perform better as the season rolls on. Several players should see the field and that’ll build depth.
Guillory looks to be the leader of the defensive line and, if he has a good year, could help the unit maintain a level of performance from the past couple of years and that will assist the entire defense in playing better than it did in 2023.
One question or concern
This is one of the least talented, least proven LSU defensive lines it’s had in some time and because of that, how much can the defense improve?
Whether the defensive line can get a consistent pass rush, how effective it can be in slowing down the opponent’s rushing attack are going to be important benchmarks in LSU getting at least some of its groove back on that side of the ball.
Is this defensive line equipped to jumpstart LSU’s drive for improvement?
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: What LSU football’s DL room looks like heading into preseason practice
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