Shea expects LSU to sign 27-28 players, and possibly end up getting 8-10 transfers

Posted on the other board, but it's appropriate here.

We need (not in order of priority, just going by position)...

- a tight end who can catch, run and block like Mason Taylor. Having one is great; having two makes you almost impossible to defend. That kid Kyle Morlock from Shorter U. in Georgia who's a DII All-American (he's 6-7 and 250 and runs a 4.7, supposedly), would be a great fit. We've offered.

- a center. Charles Turner can't get us there. He's not big or strong enough and his getting pushed into the quarterback all the time plays a role in Daniels' skittishness in the pocket. Maybe Martinez or Dellinger can solve this without needing to go in the portal, but Jake Renfro from Cincinnati, who was all-AAC last year and opened this season on the Outland watch list before he got hurt, would be a great fit and he already has a connection with Denbrock. We've supposedly offered him.

- a breakaway running back. If the Trevor Etienne rumors are true he would fit perfectly. If not, Jaylin Lucas from Indiana would certainly make sense, especially since Lucas could give us a return man - something that has to be a priority in the portal. Ajay Allen at Nebraska wouldn't be a terrible take either, though I don't know that he changes your depth chart like Etienne would.

- a return man. As said above, Lucas would solve this, but regardless we have to find somebody who's both reliable back there and a threat to break one. Not having that at all is the single worst problem on special teams.

- at least one, and maybe two, defensive tackles. Getting Masson Smith back is big and it'll help offset Jaquelin Roy going pro, if he does, but you can't be stuff with only three guys in your rotation again next year. Most important is a big run-stopping nose guard, but unless Daeshon Womack shows up at 280 or 290 and can play inside I think you need to add another DT as well.

- a Jack linebacker. Ojulari is going pro, and one of the things we saw in the A&M and Georgia games is you really can't just put Perkins on the edge - they'll run right at him and neutralize him. We're going to need an edge player who can rush the QB but also can set the edge in the run game. I don't know that Desmond Little can do that and I don't know that we can count on Harbor to come in and do it as a freshman.

- an inside linebacker. I'm willing to accept the possibility that Penn or Tolan can make a jump and give us a second guy along with Perkins, but I'd be a lot more comfortable having an established SEC starting-quality player in there for those guys to have to beat out for the job.

- two cornerbacks. I feel pretty good about getting Toviano and Ricks, but I don't think it's a good idea to run two true freshmen out there at the corners. And unless Sevyn Banks comes back and he's fully ready to go, we'd be counting on guys like Raydar Jones and LaTerrance Welch there if not the freshmen. No bueno. The good news is the corners in the portal will be beating our doors down - look especially for J.Q. Hathaway from Cincinnati as a possibility, and he's a really nice player. And yes, I'd take Denver Harris if he wants to come, but only as a second portal pickup at corner so if he punks out it doesn't put us in too much of a bind. We're also going to need somebody who can be a slot corner for us. Maybe that's Banks, maybe it's one of the freshmen. We really don't want to go into next season counting on Sage Ryan; he just hasn't shown enough so far to make anybody think he's going to solidify that job next year.

- a safety. Jacoby Matthews would be the obvious take, but there are a few decent safeties already in the portal. It looks like we'll have Greg Brooks and Major Burns both back, and that isn't a bad place to start - and if we get Isaac Smith to go with Kylin Jackson we'll have a couple of solid freshmen for depth. But we need a proven physical box safety, and I don't think we really have one.

So that's somewhere between 9 and 11 specific needs in the portal. Can you fill all of those?

I actually think you can. Kelly has demonstrated he can integrate and develop portal kids and he's brought LSU back into the conversation in only one year. When he can show a kid immediate playing time on an SEC championship contender, they'll absolutely listen.

Great breakdown!

I asked this on tRant the other day, but do we leave Fitz West at DT? Thinking that's gotta be a strong possibility with lack of depth there.

We always need more OL.

CB, LB and DL are also needs

Need a kicker too.

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Need a kicker too

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You don't think Ramos and Dilbert can get the job done next year?

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We have zero DT committed and hardly any depth on the roster we'd need 3/4 DT transfers

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There is no universe where LSU football should not sign a minimum of 3-4 Dlinemen and 3-4 Olinemen in each freshman class. If you can control the line of scrimmage on both sides you're probably already halfway to winning the game.

Sounds like you cut and pasted this post from an article. I think it's OK though, since you probably wrote the article!

DT is a really worrisome position. It’s wild we don’t have a single DT in this class.