We hear a lot on TR, talk shows, twitter posts of how LSU should be great this year. I'd like to break it down exactly why. I'll start with defense as that has been the sore spot recently for LSU. Feel free to add why you think this year may be the year in the comments:

DBs: I think this is the biggest improvement that should happen, by a lot. Pass defense has been the biggest problem last 2 years. LSU defense finished in SEC 13th of 14 in ppg in 2023 and 14th of 16 in ppg in 2024. LSU brings in 3 transfers to DB that HAD 18 TURNOVERS LAST SEASON ALONE. 12 INTs, and 6 FFs, between Haulcy, Delane, and Cooley. Once you add in 5 star DJ Pickett, that is supposed to be the next Derek Stingley, it's hard not to imagine a vast upgrade from 2023 & 2024.

DL: LSU picks up Patrick Payton from Florida St who has 16 sacks over his career. He is mocked at 1st round by most mock drafts. Dominick McKinley, a 5 star by all 4 recruiting services, only had stats for 3 games last year due to injury. He however put up 3 sacks in those 3 games. He was sidelined 1st half of season from an injury. Why he didn't play more with 3 sacks in 3 games of recorded stats, I don't know, but he should be a big presence this year.

LBs: Whit Weeks will come in seasoned after an already dominant 2024. I expect Harold Perkins to have a big senior year for 2 reasons. 1st, he didn't put up the same stats in 2023 and 2024, in my opinion, because he had to drop back into coverage so much due to the poor DB play. Now with 18 turnovers by 3 players, and the next Stingley on DB, he shouldn't have to drop back so much and can rush the QB more. BK has already said that the MLB experiment is over, and Perkins will be used for QB pressure in 2025, which is what he is meant to do.

Offense:

WRs: Will be absolutely dominant this year. So much speed. My opinion on starting 3 WRs are Aaron Anderson, Nic Anderson, and Chris Hilton. Aaron Anderson put up 900 yards last year. He has 4.3 speed. Should only improve. Nic Anderson 6'4, 220 lb, 4.3 speed 21.0 YPC. 21 YPC is insane. That's almost 1/3 the field from starting afer a kickoff touchback. He's only played 1 season at OU, and had 800 yards, 10 TDs on 38 catches which is great. Chris Hilton. He showed what he can do in final 2 games when finally healthy. Had 200+ yards and 3 TDs in final 2 games. Most importantly they were all deep balls from Nuss, and by the time Chris caught the ball, the DBs of Baylor and OU were 10 to 15 yards behind him, that's how fast he is. 4.3 speed. A burner. I expect big things from him as he showed what he can do when healthy.

This doesn't even consider Barion Brown or Zavion Thomas who both run 4.3 40s. Barion Brown may take a step up and be in the top 3. There will, however, be no shortage of talent and speed at WR.

QB: Nuss entering his 2nd full season as starter. Kind of crazy he was playing Fall of 2021 starter snaps. I think there is an assumption that Nuss will make the same leap that Burrow and Jayden made year 1 to year 2 at LSU. He's already mocked as a top 5 to top 10 pick in most NFL mock drafts

RB: Caden Durham is obviously special. We had almost no run holes/gaps last year, but Durham would still somehow pull of a 30 yard run. I think he should get 80%+ of snaps at RB, and if we have an OL who can run block better than last year, which isn't asking much, he should have a 1,000+ yard season. We have 5 star, Harlem Berry, come in at RB as well. He should be extremely talented too.

OL: We lost 4 starters to the NFL draft. We picked up 2 elite transfers, rated as a 94.0 and 93.0 by 247, for Oline. Josh Thompson (16th highest rated transfer regardless of position) and Braelin Moore. I imagine DJ Chester will start. Carius Curne, true freshman, rated as On3 #1 IOL recruit, may start. Soloman Thomas, rated as the #2 IOL, incoming true freshman may start. However, that's at least the top 2 IOL in the country for class of 2025 going to play in a couple months. Weston Davis may start as well. Someone with more knowledge of OL please correct me if wrong. I feel better about OL compared to some on here have voiced. DJ Chester may start again at Center. I'm not sure. Hopefully he works out some of the kinks he had as there were more than average false starts last year, and Nose Guards get through on run plays to Kaleb Jackson.

Overall, we have very highly rated offensive lineman across each position. All top 100 recruits at each of the 5 spots.

TE: Trey Dez Green should be a threat in the red zone. He started to show glimpses towards end of season. He will play more like a WR honestly, and Baeur Sharp come in for TE run block plays I imagine. TreyDez should turn some drives that should end in 3 points into 7 points in the red zone with his height.

Special Teams: Barion Brown pick up is big. He has returned 8 or so kickoffs for touchdowns in his career. Him returning kicks should set up Nuss and co. in great field position if they are returnable kicks. Ramos will be back as a 5th year senior as kicker.

Sleeper: Gabriel Reliford. He put up 3.5 TFL and 2 sacks in '24 spring game. He had 100 TFL in 3 years at Evangel. Averaging over 3 TFL in his sophomore-senior year in HS. I think he is someone that didn't get a lot of playing time but should this year.

Weakness: Patrick Payton and Dominick McKinley will be studs, but I'm unsure who the other 2 DLmen that will step up be.

Instead of just blind optimism, I wanted to give an in depth breakdown as to why people think LSU should be a Nati contender this year. The talent is definitely here.

This post was edited on 7/15/25 at 12:04 am