LSU's Next Head Coach Will Inherit an Offensive Line Room With Work to Do
BATON ROUGE - The LSU Football program is seeking new leadership to run its football program, and the next leader of the Tigers will not see a shortage of options along the offensive line.
Here’s a look at the players that contributed during the 2021 season that have eligibility in 2022, other members of the roster, recruits, and the possible decisions that could come about with the transfer portal.
What’s Coming Back?
Against Arkansas, the Tigers started three offensive lineman with eligibility beyond 2021. Cameron Wire will be a redshirt senior next fall and he’s a likely starter at offensive tackle. Garrett Dellinger will be a true sophomore and could play guard or tackle. Same with Marcus Dumervil, as he’s capable of playing inside or at tackle. He will be a redshirt sophomore.
Those three are a great place to start for whomever lands in Baton Rouge. There’s also Marlon Martinez, who will be a redshirt sophomore, and he could play guard or possibly tackle for LSU. Another name to know would be Kardell Thomas, a Baton Rouge native with great size for a guard.
Another intriguing product would be Charles Turner, who will be a redshirt junior. He’s played multiple positions for the Tigers, and could be a candidate to help at center.
Players that Could Challenge for Playing Time
After a couple of seasons in college, many offensive lineman make a physical and sometimes mental leap that allow them to play significant minutes. There are no offensive line recruits remaining from the class of 2018, but classes of 2019, 2020, and 2021 offensive line recruits could emerge for the Tigers.
While impossible to project how the 2022 spring practice session will go, here are the younger offensive line players not already mentioned above that could see a rise on the depth chart.
For 2019, there’s Anthony Bradford at guard and Thomas Perry at offensive tackle. A player to remember from the 2020 class would be offensive guard Xavier Hill.
Overall, this is a very big and highly recruited group of players.
2022 Prospects Coming to Baton Rouge
With arguably the nation’s top offensive tackle headed to play for the Tigers in Will Campbell from Monroe (La.) Neville, he’s a prime candidate for playing time. Campbell’s natural knee bend and open-field athleticism stick out amongst his many attributes. Here’s a film review of Campbell:
What Makes Will Campbell an Elite Prospect
Along with Campbell, there’s offensive guard Emery Jones from Catholic in Baton Rouge, as well as offensive tackle Bo Bordelon from Isidore Newman in New Orleans. Both are talented players, but are more likely to redshirt like most incoming freshman unlike Campbell.
Now, will the Tigers add another 2022 prospect? Perhaps two? It all depends on the next coaching staff, and that’s the same with new category in recruiting.
Transfer Portal
This category depends on the timing of the next LSU Head Football Coach. The sooner he’s brought in, the sooner he’s going to be allowed to recruit a transfer or two to help the Tigers along the offensive line. That’s if the new skipper decides it's needed. Again, there’s talent returning to LSU along the offensive line so it’s debatable as to what will happen.
Wildcard
It’s also important to note that Chasen Hines could technically return for a fifth-year due to the COVID-19 2020 season in which it does not count against any player’s eligibility.
Hines would certainly be a welcome addition to Baton Rouge.
Final Thoughts
For LSU to get back to being the LSU of old, it needs to be more consistent with running the football. That begins with the ability to produce a good overall offensive line depth chart, as well as five starters ready for battle in the SEC West.
The Tigers showed promise during the second half of the 2021 season. The next leader of the Tigers will have a solid foundation to work with based on the 2021 season results, returning players, recruits, and possible transfer portal options.
