Brian Kelly expecting to roll out a hefty rotation along the defensive line

As we rapidly approach the start of the 2024 LSU football season, head coach Brian Kelly is expecting to roll out a deeper rotation along the defensive line than Tiger fans have grown accustomed to in recent years.

Coach Brian Kelly expecting a defensive line rotation that could go five-six players deep

With the hire of defensive line coach Bo Davis over the offseason, it’s hard to know exactly what to expect from the LSU football defensive line in 2024.

On one side, the Tigers lost a ton of talent to the 2024 NFL Draft and will be relying on very little experience this coming season. On the other, though, coach Davis has quickly become one of the more respected D-Line coaches in all of college football and is largely expected to help this group to some speedy improvements.

With all of that said, if the improvements are to happen, it won’t be because of one specific star player. There’s a lot of unproven talent on-roster, and according to head coach Brian Kelly, fans of the purple and gold can expect to see a fairly deep rotation throughout the entire season as they look to get the most out of each of their pieces.

“I think that the sum of this team will be greater than any one of its parts,” the Tiger head coach said to the media last week. “I think it’s going to be a unit that a lot of guys are going to be integral in its success. We’re gonna play five or six defensive tackles, we’re gonna play five defensive ends, we’re gonna play four or five linebackers. There’s going to be a lot of guys that are going to be a part of this.”

As far as who that exact rotation will include, it’s likely to change week by week, but we at the very least have a solid idea of who’s leading the pack with just days remaining until the start of the 2024 LSU football season.

Fifth-year Jacobian Guillory and grad transfer Gio Paez have consistently led the defensive tackle room throughout fall camp and are likely to get the nod as the starters come September 1. From there, things get a little muddy as far as a complete depth chart goes, but it’s largely assumed that senior Jalen Lee, junior transfer Jay’viar Suggs, freshman Dominick McKinley and freshman Ahmad Breaux will have the chance to make an impact of their own.

Many are intrigued by what Jay’viar Suggs can bring to the defensive line this season. #LSU nabbed the Grand Valley State transfer (D2) after missing out on a few other targets.

Suggs listed at 6’3, 295 and logged 14.5 TFL with 8 sacks as a Laker. pic.twitter.com/HYWLnKI6t5

— John Eads WAFB-TV (@JohnEadsWAFB) August 2, 2024

Then, if we take a look at the group of defensive ends, you’ll notice a fairly similar rotation overall. Senior Bradyn Swinson and senior Sai’vion Jones come in as the experienced veterans and projected starters, while senior Paris Shand, junior Princeton Malbrue, freshman Gabriel Reliford and freshman Kolaj Cobbins each have the potential to receive their own share of snaps.

Long story short, the early signs show that this could be a shockingly deep group of individuals. Now, said individuals just need to go out and make plays come game time, which is something last year’s group struggled to do in just about any appearances last season.

“I think there’s more players that are going to enter into the mix than we had last year,” the Tiger head coach continued.

The 2024 LSU football season is officially set to get started this Sunday, September 1, against the USC Trojans in Las Vegas, NV and will be available to watch live on ABC at 6:30 p.m. CST.

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