Achilles Woods on X
By Hunt Palmer
Miami reached the doorstep of a national title this month with dominant defensive line play.
Despite a significant investment in the defensive front in 2025, LSU’s play at the point of attack was average. The Tigers ranked eighth in the SEC in yards per carry allowed and 12th in sacks. It wasn’t a weakness, but calling it a strength would be aggressive.
The three edge additions — Jack Pyburn, Patrick Payton and Jimari Butler — are gone. So are Jacobian Guillory, Bernard Gooden, Ahmad Breaux, Walter Mathis and some others. There’s a significant retooling of the front coming.
WHAT WE KNOW
Achilles Woods is 6-foot-3 and 289 lbs. He’s got some positional versatility at that size. In 2025, he played 137 snaps at defensive tackle and 38 on the edge.
He’s another of the commitments that has multiple years of eligibility remaining. In 2024, he took a redshirt at South Alabama. That means he’s got three years to play.
As a redshirt freshman, Woods made 11 tackles including a TFL. He was used as a rotational piece.
In high school, Woods was considered a three-star prospect coming out of Decatur, AL.
THE FIT
LSU needed to add talent and depth at defensive tackle. The only returner who made a significant impact in 2024 is Dominick McKinley. Stephiylan Green and Malik Blocton come in as starters in the power four. That would appear to give them the leg to in the race to the field.
Woods joins a talented group of freshman signees from the high school ranks as the depth at the position.
LSU hasn’t returned a defensive line coach since Bill Johnson in 2019 and 2020. Sterling Lucas is the next man up at that spot. He’ll have to work to build the necessary rotation on the defensive interior.
HUNT’S PROJECTION
I think McKinley, Green and Blocton are the first three guys up at tackle. I think Woods is next, but he’ll have to fight Richard Anderson, Deuce Geralds and Lamar Brown off to stay there.
I also like that Woods have some experience playing the edge in heavier sets, as well. It’s hard for me to project that a South Alabama rotational piece will be anything more than that in the SEC, but LSU is going to play four or five tackles. Woods projects in that number unless these freshmen are immediate impact players.
I think Woods plays in every game for LSU, but it will be to get the veterans a breather for portions of the game.
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