By Hunt Palmer
LSU’s spring workouts were loaded with new faces.
This weekend, 18 more enter the fold.
Between January 1 and September 1, some college football teams turn over more than half the roster. LSU is in that boat.
While defensive transfers like Mansoor Delane, Jack Pyburn, Sydir Mitchell and Patrick Payton are sure to help mold the 2025 Tigers, the returning crop of players is expected to take a step forward as well.
“We still have a lot of guys that got a lot of reps for us last year,” defensive coordinator Blake Baker told Jacob Hester on Off the Bench. “They understand the scheme and how they fit into it certainly more than they did in year one (Under Baker). I think you’re going to see a natural improvement from that standpoint.”
Production is key to playing time, but leadership is, too. When asked about the leaders of his defense, the first name Baker brought up is one that missed the spring.
“You gotta start with getting Harold Perkins back,” Baker said. “I think it was the third game he got hurt. He’s just a natural leader for us. He brings a lot of energy.”
Helping to step up for Perkins was linebacker Whit Weeks. He led the Tigers in tackles with 125, finishing 2024 as the second-best tackler in the SEC.
In the Texas Bowl, Weeks was carted off the field after a scary fall that took the breath from much of the Tiger sideline.
“I think we were all holding our breath,” Baker said. “I honestly thought it was a knee when I walked out there on the filed just because I saw him get bent back, but all things considered it was the best-case scenario. You had a clean break, and his deltoid ligament ended up tearing. That’s what probably made him miss spring.”
Weeks has spent the last five months rehabbing with a familiar face in the room with him. Baker is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery himself.
“I see him every day. I’m down there trying to get this shoulder right, and he’s much further ahead than I am,” Baker joked. “He’s doing really well. (Tuesday) he was at full speed doing football drills…He’s dang near 100 percent.”
Weeks has proven himself in two years at LSU. His spot on LSU’s second level is secured.
Many of the other young Tigers are fighting for time on the field, but Baker has been encouraged by a number of them.
“When you look at that (2024) freshman class, Dominick McKinley, Ahmad Breaux, Deshawn Spears, Davhon Keys, PJ Woodland, Gabe Reliford. That’s a good group of freshmen who played a ton of snaps for us,” Baker said. “It’ll be interesting to see. Like we continue to talk about, we integrated with some transfers. We talk about before we bring in any of those guys, the No. 1 thing our job is to do is to bring competitive depth. I think you’re going to see some guys step up from a leadership standpoint and just from a competitive depth standpoint that were maybe kind of fringe guys for us last year.”
Two of those names, both in the LSU secondary, stood out from February to April.
“PJ Woodland had an outstanding spring,” Baker said. “Dashawn Spears, I’ve been very vocal. There was nobody harder on Dashawn Spears than me last year, and that’s just because of the potential that that young man has. To see him start to break through this spring, not only from a tackling standpoint but his leadership on the back end. He had a really outstanding spring. Those two guys in particular.”
LSU attacked the portal at defensive end, bringing in Pyburn, Payton and Jimari Butler, all of whom have played loads of power five snaps. That means, although Sai’vion Jones and Bradyn Swinson are off to the NFL, Reliford is in a serious battle for snaps.
“Gabe Reliford had an outstanding spring,” Baker said. “He’s one of those guys when you talk about competitive depth. He’s not going to lose his reps just because we brought in three seniors. He’s upped his game, the work that he’s put in the weight room. He’s changed his body, his flexibility.”
Baker’s message to the transfers and the rising young players has been consistent. And it’s a common refrain in championship level teams.
“Our guys have to understand when you have really quality depth it’s not a bad thing to play only 50 snaps instead having to go out here and play 80,” Baker said. “Especially when you talk about the longevity of the season with the College Football Playoff.”
