LSU Football: Tigers Add Commitment From Wisconsin Transfer DL

Bo Davis and the Tigers reel in a pledge at a position of need, Gio Paez reveals his commitment.

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Brian Kelly and the LSU football staff continue pushing for top talent via the NCAA Transfer Portal with their first spring commitment making his announcement on Tuesday.

Former Wisconsin defensive lineman Gio Paez revealed his pledge to Kelly and Co. after five seasons with the Badgers. Now, he joins an LSU defensive line searching for depth pieces as they prepare for next season.

After bringing in defensive line coach Bo Davis, he's hit the recruiting trail with force. With spring ball in full swing, he now adds a 6-foot-3, 310-pounder who'll give an additional boost to the interior of his position group.

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It's no secret LSU is working with a young rotation up front currently, but Kelly hasn't shied away from how pleased he's been with their contributions over the last few weeks.

“I love our young players,” Kelly said. “, obviously. We talked about McKinley. Certainly, . I mean, we’ve got young, talented players. . We’re gonna be in a really good situation. We’ve got edge players. That to me is an area that we’re going to have to get more depth in the inside, the interior, in the shade, the 3-technique. We’re going to continue to look at where we can continue to grow there. We’re still recruiting and we’ll continue to do that. We have the spring portal that we’ll address as well. There aren’t any transfer opportunities within the SEC, but there are opportunities in the spring outside the SEC."

It's clear defensive help is of the utmost importance for the Tigers over the next few weeks with this program reeling in their first piece on Tuesday.

 “I think all eyes are on what we are doing defensively,” Kelly said. “What is the improvement from the defensive line, we’ve lost some really good players up front, to what is the maturation level of the back end of the defense where we have played a lot of young players.”

Paez is from Los Angeles, California and redshirted his first season with the Badgers. In year two, he played in just one game, but it counted as the COVID season in 2020. Over the last three seasons, he’s played 32 games and logged 36 tackles.