Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
By Hunt Palmer
It wasn’t that LSU’s 2025 edge rushers played poorly.
They just didn’t get to the quarterback regularly.
Jack Pyburn, Patrick Payton and Jimari Butler missed two games combined and played over 1,500 combined snaps. All three were in LSU’s top 13 in tackles. Only Whit Weeks and Harold Perkins Jr. made more tackles behind the line than that trio.
Was it solid? Sure. Was it spectacular? It wasn’t.
LSU finished the season 12th in the SEC in sacks per game and 13th in tackles for loss per game. The Tigers just weren’t disruptive enough in Blake Baker’s second year. Again, that’s not to say the unit was bad. LSU was fifth in the SEC in scoring defense which was better than Texas A&M, Texas and Ole Miss. The offense provided no help, and the defense had some shortcomings.
But LSU has to be better at the point of attack next season, and additions like this one should help.
WHAT WE KNOW
Princewill Umanmielen comes to LSU after a big season at Ole Miss.
He played in all 15 games for the Rebels and posted nine sacks and 13 tackles for loss. He played his best football later in the season when he had at least one tackle for loss in the last eight games of the season and a sack in four of the last five.
Payton, Pyburn and Butler combined for five sacks.
Umanmielen didn’t exactly show up out of nowhere. He was a consensus four-star recruit coming out of Austin, Texas. He signed with Nebraska and was named a Freshman All-American there in 2023 according to The Athletic.
He’s 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds and has a good pedigree. His older brother, Princely led Florida in sacks in 2023 and tied for the Ole Miss lead with 10.5 in 2024 before he was a third round pick of the Panthers.
THE FIT
This would appear to be something of a missing piece for LSU.
Those three senior defensive ends are gone. Gabriel Reliford is coming back from a shoulder injury that cost him the final two months of the season.
LSU added former five-star Jordan Ross from Tennessee and South Carolina’s Jaylen Brown early in the portal cycle. Both guys were high-level high school players but have not proven themselves in the SEC. They’ve combined for a sack and a half in four seasons. Brown didn’t play at all in 2025.
Umanmielen brings 10.5 career sacks with him and was the No. 5 player in the portal according to 247sports. Pro Football Focus graded him a 74.3 overall, 73.6 against the run and 73.8 in pass rushing. He created 51 pressures last season to lead the Rebels.
HUNT’S PROJECTION
This is LSU’s most feared defensive player when the season begins on Labor Day Weekend. Clemson will have to know where he is at all times.
Princewill Umanmielen Defensive Playmaker 🐯 pic.twitter.com/Ww2Y2YklyS
— Boppa 🧟♂️ (@ihatebbls) January 24, 2026
That’s an element LSU was missing last season.
Whit Weeks and TJ Dottery are massively productive, but I wouldn’t call them “feared.” DJ Pickett could become that. In time, some of those young defensive linemen could, too. So could Ross. But right now, it’s Umanmielen.
He starts at one EDGE and should thrive in Baker’s scheme. I think nine or 10 sacks to lead LSU makes sense. I think 13 to 15 tackles for loss makes sense. That would also lead the team.
Great teams need closers off the edge. This is LSU’s for 2026.
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