Three Incoming True Freshmen Who Can Make an Immediate Impact On LSU Football Roster

Kiner, Ryan among the summer influx of freshmen talent who can provie instant impact for Tigers

LSU is just a couple of weeks away from officially being able to welcome the rest of the 2021 class to Baton Rouge. In total, nine players in the class were early enrollees and participated throughout the spring session. 

But on May 24, the remaining 14 members of the class will arrive to move in and start summer school while working out in the team facilities and catching up on the offensive and defensive schemes that will be expected ahead of fall camp. While there are many freshmen in this class who will be relied on throughout the 2021 season, here are three who can make immediate impacts at positions of need. 

Sage Ryan (S)

The Lafayette Christian star was one of the highly recruited players in the state for well over two years but he was also one of the later additions to the class. Nevertheless, safety is a position of need and Ryan, an elite level athlete, has the talent to be an impact player from the jump. 

Safety was a position that, heading into the offseason, would be one of the many up in the air. Veteran Todd Harris likely has a hold on one of the starter spots but junior Jay Ward has also impressed with his playmaking ability since making the move to safety as well. Needless to say, Ryan will have to come in and work extra hard to impress new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones.

He proved to be a game changing player at the high school level and if he can grasp the concepts down in fall camp, there's little reason why he shouldn't be a consistent part of the rotation.

“I’m counting on Sage Ryan coming in, Matthew Langlois coming in,” Orgeron said in a spring interview. “I’m counting on those guys coming in and contributing right away for us.”

Jack Bech (TE/WR)

Bech is an interesting case because when he committed and signed the initial thought was he'd be a receiver. Of course in this offense under Jake Peetz, skill positions are going to pretty much be rendered useless but Bech could be a sleeper who could earn reps at tight end and receiver over the course of his career.

He's had a two-year run unlike any other Louisiana high school receiver as he's been a catalyst for a St. Thomas More program that's won consecutive state championships, with Bech racking up 232 yards on 10 catches in a state championship win, coming one yard shy of an LHSAA state record. 

With Nick Storz and Kole Taylor being the only viable options at tight end, there will be an open competition into the fall, one that Bech can assert himself in if LSU truly plans to utilize five out schemes instead. 

"Just being part of the legacy, my heart has always been in Baton Rouge so when I got the offer, I definitely had to think about it a little bit but I was pretty sure that's where I wanted to be," Bech told LSUCountry after committing to the Tigers. "Having everybody in my family come to every one of my games was real big for me. I'm a really family oriented person, so definitely staying home was a huge reason for me."

Corey Kiner (RB)

The running backs situation is one of those groups that has plenty of expectations on veterans John Emery and Tyrion Davis-Price, but both battled injuries during the spring that limited their time on the field. Because of the injuries, the coaches ability to get a proper evaluation on the group heading into the summer was affected.

In a recent interview on Off the Bench, Orgeron said that one of the primary goals post spring was to figure out what does and doesn't work with the run game and how it can be fixed.

"If you can hold onto the football and you can take a hit and catch balls out of the backfield, which all these guys can do, you can play. I think that's a position that those guys are gonna have to play, especially with the running backs durability. It's a position where guys are gonna get nicked up. I think Corey and Armoni are gonna play next year."

Kiner is a Mr. Ohio winner after an extremely productive high school career and has the speed and catching ability to be an all around player for the Tigers' offense this fall. During his illustrious high school career, Kiner rushed for 200+ yards 18 times and 300+ yards on four additional occasions.

He and Armoni Goodwin should come in and compete right away for snaps in a backfield that showed some positive signs in 2020 but was way too inconsistent. If the offense hopes to get back on track in 2021, success needs to come from not just the passing game but a dynamic run game as well.