Monday’s announcement from Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels that he was skipping the bowl game to get himself ready for the NFL draft was not a surprise.
The next question to be asked: what about future first-round selections at wide receiver Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Junior?
Tigers Coach Brian Kelly said they are both playing and so is everyone else who contributed to LSU’s 9-3 regular season.
“We’re bringing everyone that was with us in the last game of the season, nobody else has said anything, we have gotten in five practices, everybody has practiced with us, everyone has trained, so that’s two weeks in with the entire team here so we’re pretty excited about where we are,” said Kelly.
And Daniels said he’ll travel with the team to Tampa Bay to help Garrett Nussmeier, as he makes his first collegiate start.
The other big news of the day is that LSU has added a quarterback from the transfer portal.
AJ Swann, who played the last two seasons at Vanderbilt, announced his commitment to the Tigers after visiting LSU this past weekend. The six-foot-three, 228-pound signal caller also considered South Carolina.
Swann has experience playing in the SEC, appearing in 15 games, making 12 starts and completing 56% of his passes for 2,731 yards, 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Swann is a pocket passer. When you figure in sacks, he has negative 60 yards rushing. But he takes good care of the football. He played in nine games his freshman season, throwing 198 passes, but he was intercepted only twice. He started his career with 159 pass attempts without an interception.
His sophomore season he threw seven interceptions as he battled an elbow injury.
But Swann appears to be a good get for LSU. They get a quarterback with SEC starts to compete with Nussmeier and it gives them more depth at the quarterback position.
For the bowl game, Nussmeier and freshman Rickie Collins are the only scholarship quarterbacks available for LSU. LSU will also add another quarterback with the signing of Colin Hurley, who is the lone QB in LSU’s 2024 recruiting class.
Hurley threw a couple of touchdown passes in Monday night’s U.S. Army Bowl in Frisco, Texas.
Another piece of news that came out Monday is that wide receiver Kyren Lacy is coming back for his senior season. Lacy is fourth on the team in catches with 24 receptions for 463 yards and seven touchdowns.
With Nabers and Thomas likely moving on to the NFL after the bowl game, getting Lacy back next season is huge for next year’s passing game. Lacy had his share of drops, but also showed his big play ability as he averaged 19 yards a catch.
With Lacy, Aaron Anderson, Chris Hilton, Mississippi State transfer Zavion Thomas, Shelton Sampson and other freshmen who did not see playing time this year, LSU’s wide receiver room looks to be in good shape for next season.
