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LSU In-Depth Chart: Edge

Jul 29, 2025 | 8:00 AM

By Hunt Palmer

The emergence of Brayden Swinson and Sai’vion Jones was among the brightest spots of LSU’s 2024 season.

Swinson started one game in 2023 and had just two sacks. That brought his career total to five in four years between Oregon and LSU. The fifth-year senior posted eight and a half sacks in 2024 to go with 13 tackles for loss and 12 more quarterback hurries as LSU’s most feared pass rusher under the tutelage of new edge rushers coach Kevin Peoples.

Jones upped his sack total from 2.5 to 4.5 and his tackles for loss from 3.5 to 7.5 as a senior and became a third round pick of the Broncos.

Simply put, both players became far more disruptive in their final season. It’s rare that you see a jump so drastic for such experienced players. Peoples deserves a ton of credit for that.

With Swinson and Jones out the door, LSU used the transfer portal aggressively at defensive end. It appears to have paid off in a big way, especially considering the experience that’s headed to Baton Rouge and the position coach in place.

WHO’S GONE

  • Brayden Swinson (NFL Draft, 5th round, Patriots)
  • Sai’vion Joines (NFL Draft, 3rd round, Broncos)
  • Paris Shand (Graduation, Singed with Bills)
  • Dashawn Womack (Transfer, Ole Miss)

WHO’S BACK

  • Gabriel Reliford (6’3”, 265, Soph)
  • Dylan Carpenter (6’4”, 255, R-Soph)
  • Kolaj Cobbins (6’3”, 238, R-Fr)
  • CJ Jackson (6’4, 250, R-Fr)

WHO’S NEW

  • Jimari Butler (6’5”, 265, Nebraska, Grad)
  • Patrick Payton (6’6”, 255, Florida State, 5-Sr)
  • Jack Pyburn (6’4”, 264, Florida, Sr)
  • Damien Shanklin (6’5”, 260, Fr)

WHAT WE KNOW

The returners are green in experience, and the transfers have played a ton. That could create significant competition in fall camp.

We’ll start with the transfers.

Jack Pyburn from Florida arrived with a reputation as a relentless worker and competitor. That showed up immediately in the spring. Pyburn is big, strong and plays with a significant mean streak that has allowed him to be a quality run-stopper in the SEC. He made 60 tackles from his edge spot last year. That’s 20 more than Jones who started every game for LSU. Pro Football Focus graded Pyburn a 78.9 for the season against the run which is excellent. He was a 75.3 against both LSU and Ole Miss, and he only missed one total tackle in the last seven games of the season. On the flip side, Pyburn has one career sack in 29 games. He has not been a productive pass rusher and was taken off the field on many a third down last season. Reportedly that’s why Pyburn left Florida, and he told reporters in the fall that he and Peoples worked tirelessly on his pass rush moves during the spring.

Pass rush hasn’t been a problem for Patrick Payton. He’s got 16 sacks and 31.5 tackles for loss to his name in 40 games as a Seminole. For perspective, Barkevious Mingo was the sixth pick in the draft out of LSU after collecting 15 sacks and 29 tackles for loss in 40 games. Payton has those long levers at 6-foot-6 and can really rush off the edge. His numbers dipped a good bit from 2023 to 2024. He went from 14.5 tackles for loss to 11 and seven sacks to four. His pass breakup total went from 10 to zero. Considering Florida State went from 13-0 to 2-10, the opportunities to rush the passer shrunk rather drastically. Florida State faced 90 fewer pass attempts during its dismal 2024 season. Payton has massive talent. He’s also been quite productive.

Jimari Butler started 16 games over the last two seasons at Nebraska. He finished third on the team in tackles for loss in 2024 with seven and played his best game against Ohio State when he had three tackles for loss and a sack. Butler is playing his sixth season of college football, but he hasn’t played much relatively speaking. His first three years of high school he focused on basketball. After going out for football as a senior, he earned some big time offers including Nebraska. He’s a physical presence at 6-foot-5 and 260 lbs., but he’s also an above average athlete.

Gabriel Reliford leads the group of returners, and he said back in the spring that the influx of talent and experience surprised him a little bit. He also said after some discussions with the staff that he welcomed the challenge. Reliford was a big time recruit that LSU managed to pry from Texas A&M when Jimbo Fisher was fired and Tommy Robinson, the Aggie defensive line coach and interim head coach, decided to leave College Station for Syracuse. Reliford was behind two breakout senior last season and was limited to 156 snaps on the season. He played a season-high 44 in the Texas Bowl against Baylor. He made 10 total tackles, one for loss and half a sack. His lone start came at Florida when Swinson was suspended for the first part of the game.

Dylan Carpenter gets a lot of praise from his teammates. He clearly practices really hard because his offensive line counterparts have mentioned him multiple times in interview sessions. H’s big and physical, but he hasn’t gotten to the field for any significant reps through two years in the program.

Kolaj Cobbins had a big start to fall camp last year. He was a terror in the 1-on-1 drills in early August. He’s a little undersized at about 240 lbs., but he’s a great athlete who profiles as an edge rusher.

C.J. Jackson was a four-star recruit out of Georgia when he inked with LSU. He didn’t play last season until the Texas Bowl. And Damien Shanklin is the only true edge rusher in the 2025 high school class. Shanklin was the top player in Indiana. Rivals listed him as the No. 8 EDGE in the country despite the fact that he was only credited with three sacks as a senior.

HUNT’S PROJECTION

The floor on this group is incredibly high. Pyburn has proven himself to be among the better run stoppers in the SEC. Butler and Payton are much closer to 25-years-old than 18. They’ve played great football against power four competition. Reliford got some seasoning last year and has massive potential.

When you add that talent and experience mix to Peoples and what he produced last year, it looks really good for LSU on paper.

Pyburn, to me, feels like the most likely starter. He’s a leader. He’s a tone setter. He’s basically a maniac out there. The other side feels like an intense battle that will be fought throughout camp. Payton’s potential and past production as a pass rusher mean he’s going to be in there on third downs. Butler and Reliford are going to play, too.

Last year Swinson, Jones, Dashawn Womack and Reliford combined for 14.5 sacks. I think this group blows by that number and approaches 20. LSU finished seventh in the SEC in sacks. With this group and a healthy Harold Perkins, it feels like a top four finish is very doable if not likely.

I’ll take Payton to lead the team in sacks and project Pyburn and Reliford, who combined for 1.5 last year, push eight to 10 combined.

I’m putting a lot of faith in Peoples and banking on LSU having late leads, but I think both of those are reasonable to suggest.

Hunt Palmer

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