By Hunt Palmer
Garrett Nussmeier’s health and livelihood depend on his protection.
Four of the five men tasked with that last year have moved on to the NFL, so a new crop of towering 300-pounders are being integrated into LSU’s offense. Nussmeier knows the way to their heart–their stomach.
So, he popped into the offensive line meeting room and asked the guys if they wanted lunch.
“We went to Walk On’s; spent $800,” sophomore left tackle Tyree Adams said with a big smile. “We ran the bill up. It was amazing.”
Did Adams and his teammates regret running up Nussmeier’s tab?
”No,” he answered emphatically. “Nuss is a great guy. He loves the offensive line. He comes in the meeting room every day just to say what’s up. Little things like that, that’s why I love to fight for my quarterback.”
The meal was just one of the many instances of the 2025 offensive line forging friendships and bonds in an effort to replace the first four-man draft class in LSU offensive line history.
“This offseason we’ve taken the time to get together outside of the meeting room, outside of the facility and just be friends,” said junior lineman Bo Bordelon. “Hang out. Go eat lunch. We did some alligator tours and stuff like that…we’ve got two new guys Braelin Moore and Josh Thompson. Just trying to make them feel at home, showing them what it means to be a Tiger. If we’re close outside of here, then we’re going to go fight for each other when it gets hard.”
Will Campbell was a first round draft choice of the Patriots. Emery Jones followed in the third to the Ravens. The Lions took Miles Frazier in the fifth, and the Ravens nabbed Garrett Dellinger in the seventh.
That group started more than 30 games together. The version that starts against Clemson in four weeks will be in its first iteration.
“We played a bowl game without those guys, and that’s nothing against those guys, it just is what it is,” Bordelon said. “Next man up. So, we do miss those guys. I talk to Will, Miles, Emery, Delly, all those guys, and I would say it’s weird, but I do miss those guys, more in a friendship type of way. But in the room, it’s a next man up mentality, so our job is to uphold that standard.”
That standard was met to an extent in the Texas Bowl against Baylor. Nussmeier wasn’t sacked, and he threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns.
The passing game was the identity of the offense in 2024, and with Nussmeier returning and a host of talented wide receivers, that figures to continue into the fall.
“I wouldn’t say the bowl game was perfect,” Bordelon said. “We’ve got a lot of stuff we had to clean up from that, especially myself. But it gives us some confidence going into this season that we can go out and execute.”
What has to improve is the running game.
Talent remains in the backfield. Caden Durham returns after a breakout freshman season. The nation’s top prep back, Harlem Berry, enters the fold. Without a push up front, that talent will go wasted.
Adams, Bordelon and the rest of the offensive line know that. And it’s been hammered home since the spring.
“We have made that an emphasis this year, and we’re looking to execute better on runs this year and just do our job,” Bordelon said. “Our job is to protect Nuss and run the damn football, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
Just who is going to do that remains in question. LSU has used the same first team offensive line to begin practices, but reserves has cycled in out and throughout each workout.
Adams, DJ Chester, Moore, Thompson and Weston Davis have been the first five, but they’re fighting for jobs.
That competition can create ill will and unwanted tension which can make fostering relationships difficult.
“It’s definitely a healthy competition between guys,” Bordelon said. “There’s no animosity. I don’t feel that. The way I look at it, I want Weston Davis to go be an All-SEC offensive tackle, and then it’s my job to go beat him out. When I’m looking at guys like that, we want 10 guys that can play. We don’t want just five. We want to be able to throw as many people in that game as possible. And it’s the whole room’s job to uphold that standard.”
As camp progresses, the offensive line will continue to work to make strides on and off the field. On the field, it’s pass protection and paving the way on the ground.
Off the field, Adams knows how to integrate everyone together, even the freshmen and new transfers.
“We’re the bomb squad,” Adams said. “So, we take each guy in as they’ve been here. We learn about them. We go eat just about every day. We’re big guys. We’re fat. We love food.”
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