Former LSU Football Offensive Lineman Reveals Transfer Destination

Former LSU offensive lineman Kardell Thomas heading to join Deion Sanders' Colorado program for the 2024 season.

Former LSU offensive lineman Kardell Thomas has announced his commitment to Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffs, he revealed on Friday.

Thomas departed the LSU program following the 2022 season before taking his talents to Florida A&M in 2023.

Now, he's headed to Boulder where he'll lace up his cleats with the Buffs for his final season of college football.

A Baton Rouge native, Thomas heads to Colorado as a graduate transfer after playing in just four games for the Tigers in 2022, which also included the Citrus Bowl victory over Purdue.

Thomas was a member of the 2019 national championship squad led by Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase, but suffered a preseason ankle injury that sidelined him.

Thomas, a versatile offensive lineman, now has the chance to get back to his old ways after being a highly-rated prospect out of high school.

NEWS: Former LSU, Florida A&M OL Kardell Thomas has transferred to Colorado, per @BrianHowell33🦬

Thomas is a former Top-100 recruit from the 2019 class.https://t.co/IQxNvkX7nV pic.twitter.com/50lX7E37T3

— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal_) August 9, 2024

In what will be his sixth season of eligibility, Sanders and Co. add a player with significant upside as a depth piece in his final season of college football.

He'll join former LSU teammate Quency Wiggins in Boulder after the coveted EDGE revealed his decision to transfer to Colorado in December following the 2023 season.

The former four-star, Top 50 prospect in the 2022 cycle, Wiggins was a coveted player for the Tigers during the recruitment process.

One of the top defensive ends in America, the expectations were that Wiggins' development would hit at an efficient rate, but without a defensive line coach last season, his growth was stunted.

Wiggins appeared in less than 10 games for the Tigers across two seasons and will now look to make an immediate impact in Boulder for Sanders' Colorado program on the rise. 

A raw, versatile defensive lineman, Wiggins became a hot commodity in the Transfer Portal.

A player who still has all of the intangibles of being an effective player at a Power Five program, the former blue-chipper now finds a new home with Sanders and Co.

Brian Kelly’s Transfer Portal Message:

“They have got to be the right fit first,” Kelly said following the 2023 season. “They have to recognize the value of an education from LSU. They have to have the right traits. We are not just open for business. We’re not just putting a sign up saying, hey, we are going to take whoever. They have to be the right fit. I prefer that they are from the state of Louisiana if we can find them. And then we are going to address needs based upon how that freshman class marries into it by the particular needs by position class.

“So we are not going to overload a particular position group. In other words, if we have got three or four wide receivers that are freshmen coming in, you may not see a heavy influence in the portal in that position.

“We are going to develop based upon our freshman class, too. So we are doing this at the same time, and also allowing our program to be younger, too. We want to bring both of these along. We don’t always want to be a turn-it-over program where we are bringing in transfers and turning the program over.”

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