By Hunt Palmer
LSU’s 2024 receiving corps was productive, if incomplete.
Garrett Nussmeier threw for 4,052 yards, fifth in the country, and led the SEC in completions by 40 over second place Quinn Ewers who played one more game. The Tigers were sixth in the country in third down conversion percentage and averaged 30 points per game with the worst rushing offense in the SEC.
The passing game was good, and so were the receivers.
Aaron Anderson burst onto the scene to lead LSU in catches and yards. He and Kyren Lacy both topped 850 receiving yards and combined for 14 touchdowns. C.J. Daniels’s impact wasn’t what it could have been, but he averaged 11.4 yards per catch.
Chris Hilton and Kyle Parker battled injuries. Zavion Thomas caught 23 balls and scored twice.
LSU was missing the home run threat. The Tiger offense completed the most passes in the league but finished sixth in 30-yard catches and last in 50-yard catches with just two.
Hilton made a couple of 40-plus yard catches when he got back on the field, but outside of the speedy senior, it was a lot of short and intermediate stuff.
Brian Kelly and his staff were extremely aggressive at receiver in the transfer portal. They roped in a pair of big play guys from SEC rivals and another from Florida State. This stable is deep and explosive. It should be a strength of the team.
WHO’S GONE
- Kyren Lacy (Graduation)
- C.J. Daniels (Transfer: Miami)
- Shelton Sampson (Transfer: ULL)
- Landon Ibieta (Transfer: Nicholls)
WHO’S BACK
- Aaron Anderson (5’8”, 188, R-Jr)
- Chris Hilton Jr. (6’0”, 190, 5Sr)
- Zavion Thomas (5’10”, 192, Sr.)
- Kyle Parker (5’11” 195, R-Soph
- Jelani Watkins (5’10” 162, R-Fr)
- Kylan Billiot (6’3”, 193 R-Fr)
WHO’S NEW
- Nic Anderson (6’4”, 208, R-Jr, Oklahoma)
- Barion Brown (5’11”, 85, Sr, Kentucky)
- Destyn Hill (6’1”, 197, R-Soph, Florida State)
- Phillip Wright III(6’0”, 175, Fr)
- TaRon Francis (6’1”, 207, Fr)
WHAT WE KNOW
This time last year, doubts about Anderson’s ability as an SEC receiver were legitimate. They aren’t anymore. Anderson went over 60 yards in 10 of LSU’s 13 games and had 126 at Texas A&M including a 76-yard catch and run on a slant. He did most of his damage in the intermediate game but did stretch the field a couple of times including at South Carolina and Florida. He’s a smaller target and works best in the slot, but he’s a weapon for sure.
💨💨💨
Aaron Anderson WILL. NOT. BE. CAUGHT.
📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/L7m2FyTPVh
— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) October 27, 2024
Hilton has made huge plays when he’s been available. Texas Bowl, 81-yard catch and run from Jontre Kirklin. Reliaquest Bowl, 43-yard catch on the game-winning drive. 42-yard catch in the 2023 shootout at Ole Miss and a 47-yard touchdown catch against Grambling. Last season, he had four catches of over 40 yards in just six games. He’s blazing fast and has progressed as a complete receiver.
TOUCHDOWN LSU!
Nussmeier finds Chris Hilton again on the 45 yard pass!!
Tigers lead 31-17, 6:48 3Q pic.twitter.com/wleYsipizb
— Matthew Brune (@MatthewBrune_) December 1, 2024
Zavion Thomas’s primary role is as a kick and punt returner. He made 23 catches last year and carried the ball nine times. During the spring, LSU used Thomas in the running game a good bit. He played in the backfield and worked the jet sweep game.
Kyle Parker isn’t the most explosive athlete, but he’s a strong route runner that earned a start in the USC game last year before he got hurt. The torn triceps tendon cost him the rest of the season. He did make a really nice 45-yard touchdown catch against UCLA.
TOUCHDOWN LSU!!
Garrett Nussmeier finds Kyle Parker for the 45-yard touchdown pass! Tigers retake the lead 14-10, 13:57 2Q pic.twitter.com/Kl6vvpVM9R
— Matthew Brune (@MatthewBrune_) September 21, 2024
Jelani Watkins is a burner with track speed. This spring he clocked a 6.63 in the 60-meter at the New Mexico Collegiate, which tied for seventh-fastest time in school history. He didn’t get on the field last season. Kylan Billiot has great size at 6-foot-3 and was a standout tack and basketball star at Terrebonne High School.
The newcomers are headliners.
Nic Anderson exploded onto the scene as a redshirt freshman at Oklahoma. He set the Sooner freshman record for touchdown catches with 10. He caught the game-winner against Texas with 15 seconds to play and topped 100 yards three times. Anderson has the size-speed combination that makes No. 1 wide receivers. He has not been healthy. Anderson missed all but one game in 2024 with a hip/hamstring issue that wasn’t fully resolved in spring football. He was practicing but had a wrap on his leg and did not participate fully.
NIC ANDERSON IS A TOUCHDOWN MACHINE. pic.twitter.com/j5L4RFkO0k
— College Football Alerts (@CFBAlerts_) October 21, 2023
Barion Brown rewrote the record books at Kentucky. He set the freshman record for catches and receiving yards catching passes from Will Levis. He’s run back five kickoffs for touchdowns in his career, one as a freshman, three as a sophomore (tied SEC record) and one more as a junior. He was the first player in Kentucky history to have two games with a kickoff return touchdown and touchdown catch of 45 or more yards. Only two players since 1976 have returned five kickoffs for touchdowns and 11 receiving touchdowns. He’s 10th all-time at Kentucky in all-time receiving yards.
Barion Brown last year vs Georgia:
10 catches
145 yards
1 TDBreakout game vs Georgia part 2 🔜 pic.twitter.com/6LyK4yz0tL
— Matt Sak BBN (@MattSakR2NG) October 5, 2023
Destyn Hill’s path to Baton Rouge has been circuitous. He was a four-star recruit out of Edna Karr back in 2021. He picked Florida State and wasn’t with the team the next two years. He played sparingly in 2023 and missed all of 2024 with an injury. So in four years in Tallahassee, he only played in 10 games. He’s 6-foot-1 and spent time in the spring working with the first and second teams.
TaRon Francis and Phillip Wright are the freshmen, both from the New Orleans area. Francis is from Karr where he was the top-ranked wide out in the state in the 2025 class. He’s got good size at 6-foot-1 and 205 lbs., plus he anchored Karr’s 4×100 relay team on the track. Wright is from Destrehan, and he’s probably even faster. He was clocked at 4.34 in the 40-yard dash at the All-American Bowl Showcase and won the 5A Regional in both the 100m and 200m on the track.
HUNT’S PROJECTION
Pretty simply, this is an embarrassment of riches for Cortez Hankton to work with. There may not be a first team All-American on the list, but the amount of size, speed, depth experience and college production is phenomenal.
I think the most predictable player in the group is Aaron Anderson. He’s worked with Nussmeier for a couple of years now, first as a reserve in 2023 and now as a starter for 2024 and the spring of 2025. He’s steady and dependable, and I think he makes a ton of catches.
The next three guys I’m looking at are Hilton, Brown and Nic Anderson.
There is massive upside with all three. Hilton has had back-to-back stellar fall camps. Then he’s gotten hurt. He was purely a burner when he got to campus, but he’s a complete wide receiver now who just happens to be able to run by you. I think LSU sending Hilton to SEC Media Days was in part a nod to his sticking it out at LSU as opposed to transferring but also a recognition of how much of an impact he can have on the team. He absolutely gives the offense another gear in the vertical passing game. That’s not a guess. It’s proven in his short time on the field.
Brown also adds that in spades. If he and Hilton are on opposite sides of the formation, the field gets tilted in respect to both safeties. Most corners can’t flip their hips and run with these two. In the spring, Brown absolutely torched DJ Pickett on a vertical route. It would be a bit of a surprise to me if Brown went for 1,000 yards this year. It would probably be a surprise if he went for 800. But his speed will dictate some coverage looks, and he will make some huge plays.
Nic Anderson is the biggest wildcard. Aaron Anderson and the two above speedsters very much have a role carved out. I can see Nic Andrson anywhere from First Team- All-American with 1,100 yard and eight touchdowns to a guy who just never really got healthy and didn’t contribute. I’ll say this, he was the portal target that I thought could make the biggest difference. Of the projected top targets on this roster, Anderson has the most size at 6-foot-3, and he stretched the field beautifully at Oklahoma. When fall camp starts next week, Anderson will be one of my first observations, because I think he could be the No. 1 receiver if he’s moving around well.
Those four are the top dogs.
Hill is a complete unknown. Parker is a solid depth piece. Billiot has a huge catch radius with no experience, and Watkins, Francis and Wright are track stars in pads who probably have very bright futures beyond this season with a load of veteran experience ahead of them.
If Nussmeier has time to throw the ball and the running game shows up just a little bit, this receiving corps is going cause some serious problems for people. There is shiftiness, elite speed, length, proven production and a quarterback coming off a 4,000-yard season with far less to work with.
I expect about 4,000 more yards this year from Nussmeier, hopefully a little south of that because the running game eats up some more of the offensive pie.
My official projection is Nic Anderson 950 yards, Aaron Anderson 850 yards, Hilton 700 yards. I think Brown, Trey’dez Green, Bauer Sharp and the running backs take the rest of the load. Brown and Green could have monster years, too. Opposing secondaries are going to have their hands full with this group.
LSU’s identity is going to be in largely the air.
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