A look at LSU’s roster entering portal season

By Hunt Palmer

The madness starts Friday.

College football’s transfer portal will open, and LSU will be among the most aggressive teams in the sport while assembling talent for 2026. Coaching transitions always bring turnover. This will be no exception.

Here’s a look at where the roster currently stands. I have removed players who are out of eligibility and players who have been reported to enter the transfer portal to give the most accurate depiction possible.

Still, some of the listed players could and very likely will enter to portal or forgo more college eligibility for the NFL. It’s fluid.

Here goes…

QUARTERBACK

Roster: Michael Van Buren

Signing Class: None

He’s it right now for LSU. That means the coaching staff absolutely must bring in as many as three quarterbacks. That’s going to be a massively tall task. It gets taller if Van Buren elects to enter the portal.

RUNNING BACK

Roster: Caden Durham, Harlem Berry, JT Lindsey

Class: None

It would stun me if all three of the rostered backs suit up for LSU against Clemson. Lindsey has been away from the team since August, and Frank Wilson is gone. He recruited Durham and Berry. Four healthy backs is a minimum to enter a season. LSU will be active here.

TIGHT END

Roster: Trey’Dez Green, Donovan Green, JD LaFleur

Class: JC Anderson

This room is pretty healthy. Green is a star, and the other two potential returners are big bodies who can help at the line of scrimmage. Anderson is a former Kiffin commitment at Ole Miss who is already 6-foot-6 and 230 lbs.

WIDE RECEIVER

Roster: Kyle Parker, Nic Anderson, Destyn Hill, Phillip Wright, TaRon Francis

Class: Jabari Mack, Corey Barber, Brayden Allen

That’s eight, so LSU needs a couple more, and they need to be starters. A transfer out from the roster is very possible, and you don’t want to lean too heavily on freshmen, both true and redshirt. Barion Brown, Aaron Anderson, Zavion Thomas and Chris Hilton leave a large amount of production.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Roster: Braelin Moore, Weston Davis, Bo Bordelon, Brett Bordelon, Solomon Thomas, Ethan Calloway, Khayree Lee, Tyler Miller

Class: Brysten Martinez, Ryan Miret

That’s only 10 bodies, which isn’t nearly enough. Moore also has an NFL decision to make. If he’s out of the equation, the only player on the roster with real starting experience is Davis. He had a bumpy freshman season. LSU is going to have to add five or six to this list at a minimum. Maybe that’s a player or two from the 2025 roster that has declared for the portal and then a few proven portal pieces. Maybe it’s five or six new guys. This is the biggest need after quarterback.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Roster: Dominick McKinley, Walter Mathis, Shone Washington, Brandon Brown, Zion Williams, Gabriel Reliford, Dylan Carpenter, CJ Jackson, Damien Shanklin, Kolaj Cobbins

Class: Richard Anderson, Lamar Brown, Deuce Geralds, Trenton Henderson

The numbers are not the problem here. That’s 10 returners and four elite signees. The problem is that no one on the returning list has been an elite level player to this point. McKinley had a decent sophomore year. Reliford showed promise but got hurt. LSU needs to go get two upperclassmen who have proven themselves. I’d expect a little bit of attrition, as well.

LINEBACKER

Roster: Whit Weeks, Davhon Keys, Tylen Singleton, Zach Weeks, Charles Ross, Jaiden Braker, Keylan Moses

Class: None

If Whit Weeks returns, this group looks pretty good on paper. Keys and Singleton now have real experience, and the true freshman class is bound to produce one or two high-level players from the four big-time talents. If Whit leaves, LSU probably needs to add.

CORNERBACK

Roster: DJ Pickett, PJ Woodland, Ja’Keem Jackson, Aidan Anding

Class: Havon Finney, Dez Ellis 

Pickett and Woodland provide an excellent base, but these numbers are light. Corey Raymond will have to get on the phone with the top portal cornerback and give him the resume. At this point, I’ll just expect that annually. Finney is someone the staff is very high on, but he’s very young as a reclassifier.

SAFETY

Roster: Tamarcus Cooley, Dashawn Spears, Joel Rogers, Jacob Bradford, Jhase Thomas, CJ Jimcoily

Class: Aiden Hall, Isaiah Washington

The safety spot is in pretty good shape. Cooley and Spears feel like the odds-on starters. The rest of the group adds depth and can help at nickel and STAR. If an elite player shows interest, LSU will move, but it’s lower on the priority list.

TOTAL

Roster: 47

Class: 14

That’s a total of 61, and I expect some of that 61 to dwindle.

LSU needs to add well north of 20 players to the 2026 roster. Quarterback and offensive line are the top two priorities. They also need difference makers at wide receiver and the defensive line. I trust that Corey Raymond will also make an impact add on the outside on defense.

It’s going to be fast and furious. Kiffin said on the television broadcast of the Texas Bowl that he was on the phone with agents. Clearly some of these discussions have been ongoing for weeks.

Kiffin is supposed to be really good at this. We’ll see how it shakes out.