By Hunt Palmer
LSU blitzed the transfer portal in December and totally reshaped the 2025 roster. It’s all part of a program shift toward NIL and portal additions.
In this series, we’re going to look at all of the transfers Brian Kelly and his staff brought in to assess where they fit and what our projections are for them in 2025 and beyond.
Next up is Donovan Green, the tight end transfer from Texas A&M.
WHAT WE KNOW: LSU only had one tight end on the roster for the Texas Bowl. Kind of. Once Mason Taylor made his professional intentions known, Brian Kelly had to hit the portal hard for tight ends. Bauer Sharp was first in the boat, but LSU needed more. Donovan Green provided necessary depth.
Green enjoyed a strong freshman season at Texas A&M. The former four-star recruit and Under Armour All-American played in 10 games and started four of them as a rookie. He caught 22 passes for 233 yards and a pair of scores. One of those came against LSU in the gut-punch of a loss for the Western Division champs.
Green was named the Aggie Offensive Newcomer of the Year.
Then came the news no one ever wants to hear. Green tore his ACL in fall camp and missed all of the 2023 season. A new staff showed up in College Station six months later, and Tre Watson saw the majority of the action at tight end in 2024. Green spent most of the year on the kick return team.
Green will be 24 months removed from ACL surgery in August, and his 6-foot-4, 265 lbs. frame is 20 lbs. heavier than Bauer Sharp’s. He’s three years older than J.D. LaFluer.
LSU’s search for bodies at tight end is complete. Now the program is in search of a position coach and a rotation.
THE FIT: Donovan Green is a totally different player than Trey’Dez Green. He’s a more experienced tight end than Sharp and an older player than LaFluer. I think Trey’Dez Green will play a ton of snaps for LSU next year, and Sharp feels like the second man in.
Donovan Green becomes a physical presence LSU can use in short yardage situations, a sore spot in the offense the last three seasons.
He offers LaFluer the chance to grow up a little bit before he’s thrust into action, and if there’s an injury, you’ve got a proven SEC tight end ready to take on a more meaningful role.
HUNT’S PROJECTION: If we’re basing this on Taylor’s departing production in the passing game, I think Trey’Dez Green accounts for 60 or so percent of that. Sharp probably takes the next 30 percent. That leaves some two tight end pass-catching for Donovan Green, but not a ton.
The Aggie transfer will be useful in the way that Bo Bordelon throwing on a new number was not. Bordelon couldn’t go run a quick out for nine yards. Green can. That’s been an important staple in the Kelly offensive for years.
So, I don’t have Green penciled in for 45 catches, but he will probably make eight to 10 with a real impact in the short yardage offense as a blocker. That will be far more impactful on the field that it will be on the stat sheet.
