PALMER: Kelly, Davis have quickly addressed defensive tackle

By Hunt Palmer

College football roster management plays like a massive game of whack-a-mole.

Issues pop up all over the board, and as quickly as one is taken care of, another arises.

In January of 2024, defensive tackle popped right up. Mehki Wingo, Jordan Jefferson and Maason Smith moved on leaving a gaping hole in the LSU defensive front. Bo Davis was wrangled from Texas to help address the issues, but the price tag was too high for LSU in the ensuing transfer portal.

The Tigers settled on a former defensive end and reserve from Wisconsin in Gio Paez as well as a Grand Valley State transfer in Jay’viar Suggs. Junior college transfer Shone Washington came in.

A pair of highly touted Louisiana signees, Dominick McKinley and Ahmad Breaux, joined the fold from the high school ranks, but the proven depth was almost zero entering the 2024 season.

And then Jacobian Guillory tore his Achilles.

Davis cobbled the group together. Paris Shand admirably moved inside to help. It wasn’t always perfect.

LSU bottled up Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. There were major issues against Texas A&M and Alabama.

While the parameters of college football have changed in terms of conference alignment, NIL regulations (or lack thereof), playoff qualifiers, etc. Defensive line play has remained essential in competing for championships.

The great LSU teams of the last 25 years have featured players like Chad Lavalais, Kyle Williams, Glenn Dorsey, Michael Brockers and Bennie Logan. Though his NFL career didn’t mirror those stars, Tyler Shelvin was a load for the 2019 team.

Alabama’s dynasty was a defensive line factory. Georgia is now.

The position is not a luxury. It’s a necessity.

By the end of the 2024 season McKinley and Breaux had proven themselves SEC-ready with multiple years remaining in the program. McKinley, the former five-star, notched a pair of sacks against Oklahoma. Breaux, now more comfortable in a frame he’s added 30 lbs. to, played in all 12 games and started a pair.

Guillory announced his return for a sixth season.

Wednesday the ink dried on national letters of intent from Zion Williams, Brandon Brown, Walter Mathis Jr. and Dilan Battle.

Williams is a 340 lbs. space eater in the middle. Brown, who Davis has recruited for three years over two stops, is leaner at 290 lbs. but plays with great quickness. Mathis held offers from Clemson and Auburn but chose these Tigers. Battle is a heavy-handed 300-pounder from the Dallas area.

As spring approaches, LSU’s defensive tackle situation looks exceedingly promising.

“Now you’re looking at a defensive line with depth, size physicality,” Kelly said. “That’s what it looks like in the SEC. We’re putting the men together to put together the defense in terms of what it should look like.”

Guillory, McKinley and Breaux feel like a strong base. Suggs provides quickness and rush ability on passing downs. That quartet allows Dy’Myrion Johnson, Washington, and the four freshmen to jostle for a spot or two as depth.

If one of them shows the same promise McKinley and Breaux did in 2025, that’s a solid five-man rotation at tackle coached by one of the best position coaches in the country.

Mole whacked.

Onto wide receiver, defensive end and offensive tackle.