LSU Adds Three Power 5 Transfers To Football Roster

BATON ROUGE – Three highly-touted transfers from Power 5 programs have joined the LSU football team, head coach Brian Kelly announced on Thursday.

The three recent additions to the Tiger roster include cornerback JK Johnson from Ohio State, cornerback Duce Chestnut from Syracuse and edge rusher Ovie Oghoufo from Texas.

All three players will enroll at LSU for the spring semester. LSU’s 2023 roster now features 10 transfers along with its freshman signing class of 25 players.

Johnson joins the Tigers after two seasons at Ohio State where he appeared in 15 games, starting five times in 2022. Johnson played high school football for LSU cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples at De Smet in St. Louis, Missouri.

In two years with the Buckeyes, Johnson recorded 22 tackles, including a career-high five in a win over Northwestern in 2022. Johnson was ranked a top 50 player nationally coming out of high school and the consensus No. 1 prep player in Missouri for the Class of 2021.

Chestnut, a Freshman All-America at Syracuse in 2021, joins the Tigers after starting at cornerback for all 24 games of his Syracuse career. He earned third team All-ACC as well as being runner-up for ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year.

In two years with the Orange, he tallied 83 tackles, 13 passes defended and four interceptions, one of which he returned 28 yards for a touchdown against Wagner in 2022.

Oghoufo played two years at Texas after beginning his career playing for Brian Kelly at Notre Dame. He started 20 games at Texas and was twice named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. In two years with the Longhorns, Oghoufo was credited with 96 tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl./Exp. Hometown (High School/Previous School)

Duce Chestnut CB 6-0 198 Jr./Trf. Camden, N.J. (Camden HS/Syracuse)

JK Johnson CB 6-0 179 So./Trf. St. Louis, Mo. (De Smet HS/Ohio State)

Ovie Oghoufo DE 6-3 239 Sr./Trf. Lathrup Village, Mich. (Harrison HS/Texas)

(Release via LSU Athletics)