With less than two weeks remaining until the start of the 2024 LSU football season, coach Brian Kelly is beginning to sound more and more confident in his defensive line group, and even gave some hefty praise to under-the-radar freshman defensive lineman Ahmad Breaux over the weekend.
Coach Brian Kelly displays plenty of confidence in LSU freshman defensive lineman Ahmad Breaux in 2024
“It starts with physical development, and he’s done a terrific job,” coach Brian Kelly began while speaking about LSU freshman defensive lineman Ahmad Breaux during Saturday’s media availability.
“I mean, he’s still lean, and he’s close to 290 pounds,” the Tiger head coach continued. “He came in somewhere in the 250 range, so I think he’s closer to 40 pounds in terms of weight.”
Coming out of high school, Breaux was officially listed at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, and ranking as the 26th highest signee in the class, there was plenty of work ahead of him if he had any hopes of seeing the field his freshman season. As it would turn out, he was up to the challenge, and is already turning heads early in fall camp.
“He’s smart, he is accountable and he’s a guy that’s going to be in the right place at the right time. Now, he gets thrown out on some double teams – we’d like him to be a little bit bigger – but in time, he’s going to be a guy that we talk about.”
This early improvement is particularly notable when considering the position group he happens to find himself a part of.
During the 2024 offseason, the LSU defensive line group faced abundant turnover, with their three biggest contributors – Maason Smith, Mekhi Wingo and Jordan Jefferson – all being drafted into the NFL.
In turn, limited returning snaps and a hefty dose of recruiting both high school and the transfer portal turned out to be some of the biggest keys to the offseason for Brian Kelly and defensive line coach Bo Davis.
Interestingly enough, in many ways, the purple and gold’s 2024 season somewhat depends on it too, which means that if Breaux can continue the track he’s trending towards, he could very well end up taking plenty of snaps for the Tigers as soon as this season, and the Tiger head coach seems to have plenty confidence in him with less than two weeks remaining until their week one matchup vs. USC.
“You can count on this kid. He’s going to be in the right place at the right time, so he brings that accountability and reliability and trust that [Coach] Bo’s looking for. He’s gonna play this year.”
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