Welcome to the latest position preview for LSU! Last week, we wrapped up the offensive side of the ball and now we turn to the defensive side of the ball.
Who Left After Last Season?
A couple of players in Sione Teuhema, Quentin Thomas, and Mickey Johnson all left the Tigers at the end of the season. Teuhema left after being suspended back in April due to off the field issues, and transferred to Southeastern. Thomas left after a college career that was plagued by injuries, and those injuries led to him only playing three games in 2015. Johnson saw very little time on the field during his time at LSU.
Who’s Returning?
The LSU Tigers have a lot of returning players to choose from to be the starters on the defensive line. In fact you’ve got eight players that saw playing time in 2015. That’s an insane amount of talent to choose from. For the sake of the conversation, I’ll discuss the defensive tackles and ends in the next few paragraphs because there’s so much depth.
To start things off we’ll look into the defensive tackles. You’ve got some real experienced players that new defensive coordinator Dave Aranda will be able to work with like Davon Godchaux, Greg Gilmore, and Frank Herron. This is a big opportunity for LSU having four experienced players leading the way, which could lead to a consistent rotation that could help them out as the season progresses. I’ll give the early odds for the starters being Godchaux and Gilmore with Deondre Clark and Frank Herron filling in where needed.
The defensive end position will see a facelift in 2016 with Christian LaCouture shifting over to the end slot and Lewis Neal returning to the spot where he broke out at in 2015. Other players like Arden Key got shifted over to another position that I’ll get to next week. But the line looks to be taking shape.
The Other Guys
There are quite a few freshmen that are coming in that are absolute studs that could see playing time in 2016. Guys like Ed Alexander and Rashard Lawerence could be put into the D-Line this season as part of that rotation to help keep the defense fresh. With the defensive ends, you’ve got Caleb Roddy and Glen Logan having potential to be in that defensive end rotation this season.
Conclusion
New defensive coordinator Dave Aranda is probably licking his chops heading into the 2016 season with all the toys he has on defense. The defensive line has the potential to be a monster with the depth that they have headed into the season.
-Clint Domingue
LSU Tigers Position Preview: QBs
LSU Tigers Position Preview: Running Backs
LSU Tigers Position Preview: Wide Receivers
LSU Tigers Position Preview: Tight Ends
LSU Tigers Position Preview: Offensive Line