Jeff Blake-Imagn Images
By Hunt Palmer
LSU did a pretty good job of rushing the passer in 2024.
The same can’t really be said for 2025. The Tiger pass rush finished 12th in the SEC and 66th nationally in sacks per game. LSU did not register a sack against Houston, Oklahoma, Texas A&M or Ole Miss and lost all four of those games. Nine of the team’s 27, so 1/3, came against Western Kentucky and Southeastern.
Kevin Peoples got the most out of Bradyn Swinson and Sai’vion Jones in his first season. He didn’t really unlock the EDGE transfers in 2025. Here comes a new crop including South Carolina’s Jaylen Brown.
WHAT WE KNOW
Brown has the measurables at 6-foot-6 and 255 lbs. He was four-star recruit coming out of high school in Madison, AL., when he signed with Missouri.
He played in five games as a freshman and saw 39 snaps. After transferring to the other Columbia in South Carolina, he hurt his knee in spring ball and didn’t play in 2025.
His relationship with new LSU defensive line coach Sterling Lucas carried over from South Carolina to Baton Rouge.
THE FIT
LSU lost a ton on the edges. Jack Pyburn, Patrick Payton, and Jimari Butler are gone. They were the stalwarts of the unit once Gabriel Reliford got hurt.
Playing time is truly up for grabs as LSU adds Brown to a portal haul that includes former five-star Tennessee Vol Jordan Ross and Achilles Woods who comes over from South Alabama.
Brown is the most physically imposing of the group and could fill Pyburn’s role as a run stopper on the edge. Dylan Carpenter and Damien Shanklin will also have a shot at earning time there. Neither provided much in 2025. That puts Brown in a category right with them.
And then there’s the other Brown, Lamar. The nation’s top prep player will toss his hat in the ring, too.
LSU’s defensive end room is full of highly-touted recruits and third- and fourth-year players who haven’t produced much to this point. Blake Baker is betting on talent and Peoples to produce a strong unit.
HUNT’S PROJECTION
This is almost impossible to sort out based on injury returns of Brown and Reliford and the young returners who were blocked by transfers last season.
I think Reliford and Ross are the most likely starters at this point. My confidence level in that statement is about 3 out of 10. I know people will point to Lamar Brown, and I don’t think that’s out of the question, but rarely am I going to pencil a true freshman on an SEC line of scrimmage.
Jaylen Brown’s size is his best attribute to this point, and he will be full strength in the spring to work toward earning playing time. I think he’s a significant rotational piece that I don’t think will be among their best pass rush options. But he certainly could be.
Like wide receiver, this picture will clear up a bit as spring turns to summer.
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