A Deep Dive Into the 2024 LSU Tigers

Intro it's a year of new beginnings for the LSU Tigers and Brian Kelly that being said there's a lot of things that should stay the same and expectations uh probably just as high as they've ever been today we take a deep dive into the LSU Tigers and see what should we expect from this team in 20124 before we do that though make sure you subscribe to the channel like the video share the video it goes a long way in helping this channel as well as helping the Deep dive series it's growing the channel tremendously I appreciate every single one of you for what we've seen so far in terms of growth and the support has been outstanding let's dive into LSU and keep that going Brian Kelly is a Coaching Staff really interesting coach I think that he the decision he made to come to LSU was surprising but at the same time you know I think that it was expected at the same same time in terms of when you heard everything and what was going on behind the scenes at Notre Dame and what was going on with him it just made sense to get a change and move to a different program now this year is going to be interesting because he's bringing in two new coordinators and that's going to be tough you can't just expect things to go swimmingly when you bring in two new coordinators and it's they're two new coordinators for two different reasons you had an offense that was one of the best in college football last year you had the reigning Heisman Trophy winner in Jane Daniels So that obviously makes things really fun and really easy for whoever's calling play but Mike Den Brock is now gone Joe Sloan comes in to take over what should still be an explosive offense I don't think that there's too many concerns about what this offense is capable of doing but you do have someone new calling the plays you have some new players stepping in we'll talk more about that in a little bit but this is still a team that expects a lot of things to happen in 2024 the defense gets Blake Baker from Missouri because let's be honest defense was not very good for you last year this is not a group that was very successful consistently and they need to find ways to be successful BL Blake Baker did a great job in Missouri the Tigers had a very good defense and now you bring him in to take over what was again a defense that definitely needs some assistance when it comes to getting in positions and playing better as a whole we'll talk more about that dive into more what we should expect because there's plenty of Talent on that defense it's just a matter of getting them to play more consistently the transfer portal lisu Transfer Portal didn't bring in a ton and that shouldn't be a surprise because LSU shouldn't be able to recruit where you don't need a ton of players to come in and honestly they didn't lose a ton of the transfer portal in terms of starters or instant impact guys so you lost some pieces that maybe you're you're going to wish you had down the road uh but you also brought in some quality players as as well I think the one name that everybody has their eye on is jvr Suggs is he's going to be able to handle the the defensive tackle uh workload that is required at the SEC he's coming from the SCS level or you know he's going to be an interesting player to watch you bring in CJ Daniels to take over one of the wide receiver positions replacing Brian Thomas Malik neighbors isn't going to be easy so you're bringing a guy like Daniels you're bringing zavon Thomas that's going to be interesting to watch as well so you didn't bring in a ton of players but you also brought in some quality it was quality over quantity for this transfer portter class and that's going to be really fun to watch with certain sides of the football the offense like I said is going to be everything's going to be business as usual yes you have a new quarterback coming in to replace Jane Daniels and QB & RB you have some new faces that are going to to lead the way to speed stars of the show but you still recruit at a level that should allow you to I don't know say reload but you definitely have talent to make sure that this is one of the better offenses in college football once again Garrett nme has been waiting I am honestly shocked that he is still at LSU because of you know the era of the transfer portal and what kids are doing nowadays loyalty is one of those things that everybody talks about and Garrett NM has loyalty for LSU that cannot be disputed anymore if anybody had any doubts the fact that he waited for the time that he did and did not waver in his commitment he is someone that is you going to be a fan favorite but also has the talent to be an absolute stud for LSU and when you go back and watch the bowl game against Wisconsin some of the throws he was making were incredible he has the arm Talent it's the one thing that everybody talks about with Garrett osm is his ability to make big time throws and we saw that against Wisconsin we saw him make some really good throws you also saw some throws that you maybe want to refine or rethink but he also has the arm talent to take some of those risk and you're going to have the pass catchers coming back that allow you to take some of those chances and put the ball in danger situations because you know your receivers is going to come down with it but also nus Meer has the talent where if he needs the thread and needle in cover two he's going to throw an absolute rocket that's one of the things we've heard about Garrett NM is his arm strength his ability to make some really really incredible impressive throws only had 591 yards obviously last year as the backup to Jane Daniels that obviously will change quite a bit he is someone who I expect to throw for over 3,000 yards you're probably G to get that close to 30 touchdowns for sure even with a new play Coller it's still going to be fun nus Meer is a really fun player to watch and this passing attack should be I won't say just as good but it's still going to be one of the best in college football behind him is where things are interesting you bring in AJ Swan from Vanderbilt that's kind of an interesting addition for LSU to bring in a Vandy player but AJ Swan's an underrated player that could play a a good role as a backup if nesme goes down you feel pretty good about the lack of a drop off if you will to to play Swan so that's going to be interesting Ricky Collins a red shirt freshman is also back he he will be interesting to watch if he gets in the game and then you go to the running back position this is a group that finished 11th in Russian last year so I think that you're looking at an offense that when you look at the talent level there's still plenty of players that return that can help in a big way and Josh Williams and Caleb Jackson will be the two players that play that role and obviously one of them or both of them needs to take step forward because you can't have a guy rush for two just 200 84 yards like Williams did or 165 like Jackson did somebody is going to step up and depth shouldn't be a concern those are two guys that will get first crack at it John emry Jr if he can put everything together and stay on the field has all of the talent to be a stud for this team but again we're just kind of waiting for that to happen Trey Holly had 110 yards in a touchdown last year as well so you have plenty of options options are not a problem for LSU and you can talk about recruiting what they've done you've recruited really well you've brought in Keat players from the transfer portal so you have plenty of options it is not a question of do you have the players on your roster the answer is always yes for LSU and the answer to that is going to be a successful season if you can put everything together we talked about the WR & TE passing attack again this is a group that I don't really have any concern I don't really have too many worries about this group yes you just lost two first round picks at the positions and I'm not saying that they're they're not going to be missed but also everything you hear and read about this group is that they're going to be good they're going to be so good Kon Lacy leads way and everybody's been talking about Kiron Lacy since those two left and he is the next man up 6 foot2 23 pounds had 558 yards and seven touchdowns as the third best option for Jane Daniels are you kidding me that's just unfair this is a group that's going to be really fun to watch and Karen Lacy is going to lead the way Aaron Anderson if he can put everything together a really good piece really explosive piece for LSU's offense again if he's able to figure everything out and take on a more prominent role he has the talent to be a dangerous weapon Chris Hilton if you we talked about Garen esm we talked about what he did in the bow Game Chris Hilton made two catches on a couple two different throws for Garr esm you saw the throw into the End Zone it was in the back Left End Zone I think it was in the first half and NM throws the perfect ball and Hilton literally has one foot in bounds heades it literally no more room in the back of the end zone to go anywhere you literally had to put your foot in the exact spot that Chris Hilton did and he catches it doesn't Bobble it gets a touchdown the other throw is the one that nesm throws up later in the game and Hilton adjusts the DB didn't know where it was going well I should say first Hilton blows past him and then he makes an adjustment and makes a really great grab so you saw again don't want to put too much weight into a bowl game those are just the references that I have for you and what we can expect from these guys Chris Hilton is someone who could be another big-time player and could take a step forward as a more prominent and a more explosive play player for LSU this year we talked about CJ Daniels I think he's one of the more underrated editions for any team in the transfer portal comes in from Liberty had a year with the Flames expects to do the same with LSU xaven Thomas comes in from Mississippi State he's kind of looking at the same thing as CJ Daniels and you have Kyle Parker a Richard freshman this this wide receiver room has talent there's no question about that it's just a matter of who is going to step up there's it's not if it's when this is so such a talented group and it's going to be fun to see what they're capable of doing Mason Taylor is coming back very good tight end for LSU should play a more prominent role in the passing attack 348 yards and one touchdowns every everybody knows about his dad they know the NFL pedigree and they know what he's capable of doing has a bright future has an NFL future I'm really excited to see how they utilize him in the offense this year behind him though is probably where things are a little bit more concerning camoran pimpleton and M marway are back two sophomores that could play more rot ational roles this year when Taylor needs a break or if they're going to play you consistently I think that they have again options are not blocking if you're lsdu you have plenty of options in the passing attack and that's really exciting another thing that's really exciting is that you have one of the best offensive lines in college football OL coming back you have plenty of experience and you have NFL Talent everywhere you start with the two tackles and Will Campbell and em Jones NFL future will Campbell's probably going to be a first rounder emry Jones could be a first rounder as well you also have plenty of experience in Garrett Dinger and Miles Frasier those are two NFL guys as well maybe not first round talents like their tackle counter Parts but definitely Futures in NFL DJ Chester most inexperience of the group this staff loves him this staff knows he's capable of great things and he is going to be a really fun player to watch for for this offense going to be playing a more prominent role in the center position than some of those other guys but I think the chemistry that he has with nus Meer will play a huge role and he'll be the XA Factor year but I know that he'll do such great things for an offense that has you know such high expectations but has such a high stealing to reach that it's going to be fun to see what they're capable of doing when they put it all together ultimately then you look at the depth behind them now if you're LSU you feel pretty good because you you've been able to recruit at a certain level and the starters are kind of evident of that obviously you have a couple of transfers that have come in here and there but the the fact that you have three red shirt freshman and a true freshman as your backups maybe concerns a lot of people if you're any other program but if you're LSU you feel pretty good about that you're going to learn a lot from the guys in starting in front of you you will learn about how to be an LSU football player and LSU offens lineman you'll also learn how to handle SEC competition so you're going to find ways to win football games because you have plenty of skilled position Talent you also have plenty of offensive line talent I don't really have concerns about this offense slowing down and the offensive line is a big reason why is those going to be the skill positions that play a role but the offensive line is a big reason why as well the defense is the group we talked about that needs to play better playing in simple you cannot afford to rely on your offense as much as LSU did last year and obviously there's a reason why they lost three games and I'm surprised they didn't lose more games but also that's how good the offense was the defensive line is where everything starts I I think plain and simple the defensive line needs to play better they DL they must produce more tackles for loss more sacks they need to play in the opposing team's backfield a lot more and that's why you bring in Blake Baker take things over because this was a group that did not meet expectations they struggled mightily to get to the quarterback they struggled mightily to create tackles for loss they were not disruptive they did not stop anybody and that has to change yes you can rely on an offense to be explosive but that offense also has some new players stepping in it's going to take time for them to get acclimated to their new offense coordinator to their new quarterback to their new role so there's going to need to be a transitional period and that's where the defense needs to step up that being said the defensive line has options Savon Jones is a really talented player at 66 280 BR Swinson can be disruptive six and a half tackles to Lost for him last year 64 250 pounds so again with what elseu recruits in terms of the talent level you have talent there is no question about that you just have to find ways to produce potential doesn't really matter if you can't turn into production jayen Lee and Jak jaoan gillery are also evident of that you see both of them have zero tackles for loss now granted there's less Reps for both of them but you you have to find ways to improve and take a step because you lost your two top defensive tackles and now you have new guys coming in but Blake Baker is going to do a good job of getting these guys and setting a new expectation this is a group that shouldn't accept what happened last year they should not be okay with what happened last year they should play with the chip on their shoulder and they should show everyone why they're going to be better this year the defensive line is where everything starts if you can't handle life in the trenches it's going to be a long year you are not going to stop anybody so that's why this defensive line is so important and the tackles are inexperienced but the edges should be fine this is a group that has plenty of experience on the edge and the depth behind them should be pretty good Paris Shand had 17 tackles five tackles for loss two sacks last year desan wack is coming back 13 tackles one and a half tackles for loss one and a half sacks so you have guys that can do things on the edge but again the defensive tackle position is such a valuable piece for this defense it's going to dictate a lot about where this group is going and how successful this defense can be because if you're going to struggle in the 80s 90s hundreds in terms of your stats as a group you are in for a long year and again this offense can do a lot of good things but they can't do that many good things for that long I don't think you're going to see a repeat of last year it's a reason why you saw a coaching change it's a reason why there's new defensive coordinator and I think that they're uh this group is HED in the right direction now the LB linebackers are going to be probably the strength of this defense uh because you have two guys in Greg Penn and Harold Perkins coming back after what we saw from them last year sometimes they're doing mop-up Duty other times they're doing what they do best which is be disruptive and this is a group like I said needs to be disruptive and you have two guys a linebacker that are very good at that now everyone's got their eyes on Harold Perkins he has a bright future in the NFL but Greg Penn's also right there with him I don't think he maybe has the ceiling of Harold Perkins but he is someone who is a valuable leader and in terms of improving this defense Greg Penn is an extremely valuable player to have back 89 tackles for Penn last year six and a half tackles for loss Perkins had 13 tackles for loss 75 tackles I think that Harold Perkins is still getting comfortable at the linebacker position I think that he is still learning things at his new position you know we saw him on the edge as a freshman last year he moves to linebacker and I think that at times looked a little lost and kind of relying on his natural talent but now I think he feels a little bit more comfortable he's still very good on the edge he's still very disruptive so worst case scenario you put him back on the edge and he's going to just be successful that's how talented he is behind them you have uh the two weeks here you have wit weeks and West weeks wit had 40 49 tackles and three and a half tackles for loss West had 16 tackles and and a half tackle for loss so you have two solid guys behind them uh and that's going to be a good group to have in terms of depth it's also going to help guys like tylon Singleton and Xavier Atkins to freshman learn about what's expected to play in the SEC and what kind of things you can learn from Greg Penn what can you learn from Harold Perkins and those two backup guys so the linebacker position feels like they're in good hands and and it's going to be fun to see what they're capable of doing and how they can help this defense improve the secondary also Secondary is a group that has talent but needs to play better they finished 118th against the P last year and the secondary is a group that needs to take a step forward this is used to be one of the more exciting secondaries in college football and last year that was not the case you bring in a guy like PJ Woodland that you expect big things from I would like to see him be more than 160 pounds but I think that he is is set to play a more prominent role this year opposite of him Z Alexander a little bit better in this height department at 6290 pounds that's a 30 pound difference but Z Alexander comes from the FCS level and takes on a more prominent role in LSU's defense last year shows that he's capable of handling that now he gets a chance to utilize that experience and help him play in 2024 the safeties have Sage Ryan and J Gilbert VAR various levels of experience there Gilbert comes from Texas A&M s Ryan returns after a decent season so again you have plenty of talent and plenty of experience but it's various levels major Burns is back at the star position so he is someone that will play near the line of scrimmage kind of be all over the field he is probably the biggest strength of this secondary someone who has the knowledge the leadership to be able to get guys in place sign them you don't have a ton of options in terms of experience but I know that the staff likes some of the players that they have coming in kylin Jackson behind major Burns will learn quite a bit you have other players that could step up at the corner and safety positions you have jvn Toano 33 tackles one pass defended last year the other Corner JK Johnson Richard Junior could step upan McBride's a a freshman that could play at safety that would be really impressive Jordan Allen is relatively inexperienced but has some playing time so you're looking at team that should still feel good about their options but can you again can you take that next step is Blake Baker the difference and what should we expect from this group in 2024 and a lot of that is going to be on the defense and that defense probably dictates how successful the schedule turns out this Schedule is a group that over under nine wins so Vegas expects this to be a successful season and when you look at what they have in Talent level it's easy to see why now I will entertain a 12-0 ceiling for LSU but I also think that it's going to be tough for them to do that so I put it at 111 I think the floor is eight and four and as if things really just aren't going well USC is a sleeper team in the big TW Big 10 this is a group that is kind of everybody's kind of looking past them because Caleb Williams has gone having them in week one means that LSU's got to be ready right off the bat you cannot afford to take your time getting into the season USC is ready for your best and they are going to hit you in the mouth that is going to be a tough game I don't have any concerns about Nicholls South Carolina could be a better team maybe that's a tougher game don't really know but I think that LSU after the USC game should be ready for South Carolina even though it's on the road UCLA at home UCLA I think is going to need some time under DeShaun Foster to get to where they want to be so I don't really have a ton of concerns but again us could surprise people South Alabama should be a win or Miss at home that's really where things are interesting because if you find a way to be undefeated going into October 12th then the game against Old Miss will be really fun even if you have one loss say you happen to lose to USC Old Miss game is still going to be very interesting at Arkansas and at Texas A&M after that those are two tougher tests unless Arkansas just isn't where we think they might be uh there's a lot that needs to be improved with that program but at Texas A&M is a tough game Alabama at home is always going to be tough Alabama even without Nick saan is going to be tough I don't think anybody is going to dispute that we we'll know for sure if Florida is I don't know what Florida's going to be this year I don't really know if we should expect a lot from this group it's a group that's going to have multiple losses by the time this game comes around just because of that schedule is absolutely brutal but LSU should play be playing pretty well at this point they're coming off the Alabama game after they just play Texas A&M so we'll see what they look like healthwise consistency wise but we'll know pretty pretty quickly uh where these two teams are at by the time they get to that game vanderbel at home don't have concerns there Oklahoma at home could be interesting but that's definitely a winnable game so LSU has all the pieces to be a successful team they have the right players in place they have the right coaches in place this can be another successful year you probably just need to see a little bit of progress from the defense to reach a better record than you did last year and who knows this is a team that could compete for an SEC Championship I think a playoff run is definitely the goal for sure and winning a national championship is still very much on the table the schedule obviously isn't too daunting it's just a matter of can your offense be as explosive as it was last year and can the defense play more of a prominent role in your success because if the answers to both of those are yes and you have those answers this is going to be a very dangerous team to face in 2024