Christmas Mailbag: Tommy Rees and NCAA Tournament questions

By Hunt Palmer

Merry Christmas! A couple of weeks ago I asked for some questions via Twitter to unload on a mailbag. Today is that day. Football staffing questions, a hoops future and some baseball are on the docket. No need to waste any time. Let’s get to it.

Are the players Brad Davis has brought in enough to feel good about for the 2025 offensive line?

• Not for me. It’s not that Davis hasn’t accumulated a talented group. He has. But in this era and with the budget LSU obviously has, why would you not add to the mix? I think Braelin Moore is a great addition at center that likely strengthens you at guard if and when D.J. Chester moves over. Paul Mubenga made real strides over the season’s final three weeks, as well. Weston Davis and Tyree Adams are promising tackles, but I’d rather grab a proven Power 4 tackle and have those two fight for the other side. Football tests depth. No reason not to create it.

Is LSU (basketball) an NCAA Tournament team?

• Right now, I have my sincere doubts. If I could teleport this team back a decade, you bet. LSU is a solid team. The Tigers have proven that by beating middle-to-lower tier Power 5 teams in Kansas State, Florida State and UCF. There just aren’t many middle-to-lower tier Power 5 teams in the SEC. The league is 170-22. That’s 22 losses for 16 teams. Five of the Top 10 come from the SEC. Missouri may be in the league’s bottom tier. They beat Kansas. Texas A&M has two losses and might have the most dangerous player in the league on a given night. South Carolina is the only team with three losses, and they have already beaten Virginia Tech, Boston College and a ranked Clemson that beat Kentucky. I think LSU has likely put itself in a position to reach the field at 8-10, but those eight are going to be very hard to come by. Your most winnable home games are against Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Ole Miss and South Carolina. That needs to be three wins at a minimum. Find five more. It’s going to be a grind.

If Brian Kelly going to hire Tommy Rees?

• Currently, there is only one open staff spot. That’s the tight ends role vacated by Slade Nagel who became the offensive coordinator at Houston. Rees is coaching tight ends with the Cleveland Browns. That makes a ton of sense. However, any inclination that Kelly is just going to dump Joe Sloan for Rees is misguided. LSU finished the season second in the SEC in passing, fifth in total offense and first on third down conversions. The Tigers did some really good things. Running the ball was absolutely not one of them, and the Alabama and Florida games weren’t all that pretty. There needs to be improvement, but this wasn’t in the same stratosphere as the defense from 2023. The questions become, does Rees want to coach tight ends at the college level? Does he get a more attractive offer? Does he get a “run game coordinator” tag slapped on him? Does staff chemistry take a hit with a former Kelly offensive coordinator coming in? In summation, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Rees join the staff. I would be surprised if he replaced Sloan or Cortez Hankton.

Is DJ Pickett a Day 1 starter in 2025?

• I’ll tell you what helps, enrolling early enough to go through bowl workouts and immediately getting into the strength program. Pickett worked out with the team this week and will travel to Houston. Your current pool of realistic starting cornerbacks is Ashton Stamps, PJ Woodland, Mansoor Delane, Ja’Keem Jackson and DJ Pickett. Today I would probably put Pickett fourth on that list behind the three guys who have done it at the Power 4 level, but Christmas to Labor Day is a loooong time. We know how much Corey Raymond values length, and Pickett trumps the whole group there. Derek Stingley and Eli Ricks were out there in the opener for Raymond. I wouldn’t bet a single nickel that Pickett doesn’t.

Breakout baseball star?

• Star is a strong word. And breakout kind of takes Jared Jones and Steven Milam off my list. Those guys were stars down the stretch last year. I’ll give you a pair of names. Conner Ware, the left-handed JUCO arm that arrived this fall is damn good. He put LSU, Samford and ULL in a pretzel every time out in the fall. I think he’s a perfect candidate for that Griffin Herring role. First time LSU has a lead in the seventh or eighth in a given weekend, he slams the door. Offensively, I’ll take Derek Curiel. He’s not going to hit 15 homers, but he’s an impressively mature hitter. Curiel has been an elite prospect for four years now, so he’s been to all the showcases and Team USA tryouts. For his age, he’s seen as much high-level pitching as you can see. The fall wasn’t a huge adjustment for him. The outfield is crowded with guys like Ashton Larson, Chris Stanfield, Josh Pearson, Jake Brown and Ethan Fry. I do expect Curiel to get early at bats.

Favorite Christmas present growing up?

• I can finish with this softball. On pure excitement level, it was probably my Troy Aikman Hutch uniform. Helmet, shoulder pads, the whole thing. But since this is LouisianaSports.net, and 94% of y’all will hate that answer, I’ll pivot to my SONY boombox. That thing got A TON of use over the years. Jock Jams CDs, GooGoo Dolls and Matchbox 20 jams. And most importantly, hours and hours of Jim Hawthorne, Kevin Ford and Charles Hanagriff calling midweek LSU baseball and basketball on 1130 AM up in Shreveport. I didn’t have the SEC Network to lean on. I had my boombox. So, I’d lay on the floor and listen for hours.

That’ll about wrap things up. Again, I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Christmas!