Brian Kelly's LSU Tigers stacked with extremely high upside breakout candidates ahead of the 2025 college football season
Brian Kelly has done an excellent job flipping over the roster in preparation for the 2025 college football season already. Not only did he bring in a Top 10 high school recruiting class, planning for the future. He also added the number one overall Transfer Portal class to an already talented LSU Tigers roster.With all […]
Brian Kelly has done an excellent job flipping over the roster in preparation for the 2025 college football season already. Not only did he bring in a Top 10 high school recruiting class, planning for the future. He also added the number one overall Transfer Portal class to an already talented LSU Tigers roster.
With all of those incoming transfers comes plenty of opportunity for players to break out in impressive fashion for LSU this fall. But it's not just transfers who could break out for the Tigers in 2025. Some of the high pedigree, high upside talents returning to LSU are set to explode this season. Which ones? And how could that play out? Let's dive in.
Barion Brown, Wide Receiver
Barion Brown has been one of the most dynamic playmakers in all of college football over the last few seasons, yet not too many have seemed to notice. Brown has put up over 3200 all purpose yards as an electric return weapon and wide receiver for Kentucky, but now he's joined Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers.
Brown has scored five kick return touchdowns already, and he had another called back on a bogus penalty unrelated to his play on the opposite side of the field. And for those who missed it, Brown put up one of the craziest games in college football history as a sophomore, scoring rushing, receiving, and return touchdowns, amassing 226 all purpose yards against Clemson.
Brown will likely slide into a similar role that LSU fans saw Malik Nabers play a couple years ago where he can line up in the slot, outside, and stretch the field at all levels of play. Aaron Anderson likely remains the primary slot receiver. Nic Anderson–another transfer–likely sticks almost exclusively at X given his size and profile. Brown is entering the perfect scenario to break out big time with plenty of talent around him and a veteran quarterback in Garrett Nussmeier who can get the ball into his hands in space.
Dominick McKinley, Defensive Tackle
LSU's defensive front is losing their top four defensive lineman and edge defenders from a year ago, so former five star Dominick McKinley will be leaned upon heavily to dominate on defense.
For those unfamiliar with McKinley, he's a completely jacked athlete at 6'6", 315 pounds who combines speed, power, and great hands technique to win consistently. This true sophomore has been dominant for years already, embarrassing the best players in the nation at events like Under Armour All-American games and circuit events for years (as you can see in post below).
Last season McKinley racked up a quick three sacks despite playing less than 150 total defensive snaps, showcasing some of his phenomenal athleticism. Now that he'll be playing just about every down it will be interesting to see how he breaks out production-wise. There's a real chance McKinley shows out to be good enough to be a first round NFL Draft pick one day given his otherworldly athleticism and already well-rounded skill set.
Trey'Dez Green, Tight End
For those who watched LSU's bowl game against Baylor in late December they may already assume that tight end Trey'Dez has posted his "breakout" season already, but that isn't quite the case. Yes, Green shined when Mason Taylor opted out of participating in the bowl game, but he only caught 13 receptions on the season, a complete waste of his talents.
Green hauled in two touchdowns in that Baylor game (one of which you can see in the post below) in his one breakout performance last season, but there should be much more where that came from.
Green is currently playing for the LSU Tigers' basketball team as well thanks to his absurdly impressive athletic abilities. Once that season wraps up though he'll pivot hard into making sure he's the perfect TE1 option to replace Mason Taylor. Hopefully he's given far more opportunity in year two.
Honorable Mentions
Both Patrick Payton (EDGE, Florida State) and Mansoor Delane (CB, Virginia Tech) could have been listed given how important their transfers likely are in 2025, but they've already broken out big time for other schools. Payton needs to prove that he can finish with more sacks. Delane needs to clean up the missed tackles and limit the big plays. Gabriel Reliford, who impressed in limited action last season, could prove to be the team's second best edge by midseason. DJ Pickett could be thrust into rotational action early given his unreal talent as a five star freshman cornerback.
We'll be back with more LSU Tigers coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
And if you want to see some of the crazy upside that Barion Brown brings with him to LSU this year just watch his 2024 highlights from Kentucky in the video below!