By Hunt Palmer
LSU’s fall camp is officially a week old.
The Tigers have gotten to full pads and have worked a full two-hours, so the steady climb to both benchmarks was successful. Brian Kelly has taken that part of the first week very seriously, and it has worked. Aside from Aaron Anderson’s hamstring issue, the squad is healthy and getting plenty of reps in.
After Wednesday’s workout, the Tigers will take Thursday off before returning to the field Friday for practice. Kelly suggested Saturday will be a scrimmage-like practice which will be open to reporters.
The media has gotten a good look at individual drills, 7-on-7 periods and some 11-on-11 through a week, and there have certainly been some standouts early on in camp.
It’s easy to overreact to a snap here and a snap there when the sample size is this small and the opener is still three and a half weeks away. These three Tigers have shown a consistency in performance to go with the eye-catching reps.
Bernard Gooden, Sr. DT
- Gooden arrived at LSU in the Kyle Williams mold, a leaner defensive tackle with quickness and playmaking ability. That showed very obviously in his tape from South Florida, but that’s the American Conference. How will that translate to the SEC? Literally from the first day, it’s been seamless. He was knifing his way into the backfield before the Tigers put shoulder pads on, and in Tuesday’s fully padded practice he shined once again. Gooden is firmly in the top four rotation at defensive tackle with Ahmad Breaux, Jacobian Guillory and Dominick McKinley, and no defensive player has made more plays on the practice field through a week.
Caden Durham, Soph, RB
- Durham exploded onto the scene last September in South Carolina as the Tigers’ feature back, and as this group heads back to the Palmetto State at the end of the month, he’s having another really strong camp. The most eye-catching reps have been the long touchdown runs. He’s been good for one of those in every practice. That was Durham’s scouting report out of high school at Duncanville. He’s always been a home run hitter because of his speed. Something I’ve really enjoyed from Durham’s first week is his ability to catch the ball. He’s not a big target out of the backfield, but he’s been very reliable. I scribbled in my notebook Tuesday “Durham has caught everything for a week”, and he promptly dropped the next rep three minutes later. But that was one out of what has had to be 30 to 40 checkdowns and swing routes I’ve watched. There may be times this year where LSU is going to have to slow down the pass rush, and screens may be involved. I think Durham is proving he’s very much up to that task. Remember the long touchdown catches versus South Alabama and UCLA.
¡¡GARRETT NUSSMEIER TO CADEN DURHAM FOR A 35 YARD TOUCHDOWN!!#UCLA 17-31 #LSU
pic.twitter.com/bGGvnLWQUi— 𝓟𝓐𝓣 🗽 (@Darts2Leek) September 21, 2024
“…within LSU’s disjointed 2024 offense, while dealing with tremendously painful and limiting injuries, fronted by an injured & out of sorts O-line, Caden Durham still racked up over 1,000 total yards, nearly double digit TDs, producing spellbinding moments on the ground or… pic.twitter.com/BNit9gehAh
— Lonn Phillips Sullivan (@LonnPhillips) July 13, 2025
Ashton Stamps, Jr., CB
- Stamps has been a two-year starter on poor pass defenses. He has not notched an interception and really hasn’t made a ton of plays. No one on LSU’s defense has. We’ve seen a precursor to that in the last two fall camps. Defensive backs weren’t making plays on the ball. That has changed this week. The defensive backs, Stamps specifically, have made things difficult on the LSU wide receivers at times. Pass breakups are almost commonplace at this point, especially in the 11-on-11 periods. Stamps has asserted himself as the top cover corner on the team thus far. Mansoor Delane has worked on the other side. DJ Pickett has worked with the second team with PJ Woodland. It’s easy to see all those pieces moving around except Stamps. With the way he’s practicing, expect a big-time year from the Rummel product.
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