The LSU Tigers have started building back their depth on the defensive line with a couple of commitments from D-linemen on Thursday. One of them started eight games at Auburn this past season.
Six-foot-three, 291-pound defensive tackle Malik Blocton played in all 12 games and had 18 tackles, with 4.5 tackles for a loss. He also played as a true freshman.
Blocton was a dominant player at Pike Road High School in Alabama, setting a school record with 118 tackles in his senior season.
WWL’s Mike Detillier says Blocton is a good athlete and flashes good penetration skills. Detillier is lower-body power guy that needs to work with his arms and hands to get off blockers quicker.
LSU defensive line coach Sterling Lucas will work on improving his pass rush skills.
The other defensive lineman to commit to LSU on Thursday is Jaylen Brown, who is heading to his third SEC school in three years.
Brown is 6-5, 265 pounds, an edge rusher from Madison, Alabama. Out of high school he signed to play at Missouri.
Brown played five games at Mizzou and then transferred to South Carolina. But he never played a snap for the Gamecocks, because of a knee injury he suffered in spring football.
Brown gets to play for Lucas again as LSU’s D-line coach, Sterling Lucas, was at South Carolina last season.
Also on Thursday, LSU finally got a commitment from an offensive lineman out of the transfer portal. Ja’Quan Sprinkle was a standout player at North Carolina Central, earning second-team All-MEAC honors.
He’s 6-3, 295 pounds and appeared in 27 games for the Eagles, playing both guard and tackle.
The South Carolina native also had offers from South Alabama, Western Kentucky and Marshall.
He’s just the first of several offensive linemen that LSU will sign out of the portal as the Tigers had just seven o-linemen who did not transfer.
Carrius Curne, Coen Echols and Tyree Adams started games for LSU last season, and they’ve already signed with other schools. Curne is headed to Ole Miss, and Echols and Adams are now at Texas A&M.