Offensive line, running game huge emphasis for Tigers in spring

(photo credit: Nate Bell)

By Hunt Palmer

In two weeks’ time four of LSU’s 2024 offensive lineman will be NFL Draft picks.

That creates a massive amount of turnover for a unit that also needs to improve its impact on the LSU running game.

Brad Davis, LSU’s offensive line coach, has recruited at a high level. The depth chart is full of former four and five star recruits. They’re just light on experience. That’s where transfers Braelin Moore and Josh Thompson come in. Both are two-year starters at the Power Five level.

Over the course of a month of spring workouts, Davis has shuffled the offensive line routinely to get different looks and develop different players.

On Saturday at LSU’s open practice, the first offensive line was Tyree Adams, Paul Mubegna, DJ Chester, Coen Echols and Weston Davis left to right. Later in the workout, Thompson moved into the lineup at left guard, and Moore played center. That kicked Chester over to right guard.

Chester has played center and guard all spring. Thompson, who arrived just three weeks ago, has played guard and tackle, just as he did at Northwestern.

“I think we’ve made great progress in building versatility within the group,” Kelly said. “I think in one sense we’ve been clear that the mandate was not to go through the spring and name five guys. So, if we went in with that goal, we would not be anywhere near it. But that wasn’t the goal. The goal was to get guys in position where we could find out the best fit for them individually and far us as a unit and as LSU as a football team.”

Davis and Kelly will evaluate the entirety of spring and take the summer to work through the group as a whole with eyes on August.

“We’ll go into camp and probably say, alright, through the first eight, nine practices we’ll give us some time to make the decision on what that unit is and then build continuity to the back end of preseason camp with the starting five,” Kelly said.

While LSU works through different combinations up front, the running game is simultaneously being overhauled.

LSU’s running game stalled far too often in 2024. No one in the SEC ran it worse.

While the offensive line is essential to running success, it’s only a piece of the puzzle. The scheme needs to work as well.

Kelly said Saturday that the past month has been very positive.

“There’s been a concerted effort to be much more diverse, hit on a broader spectrum from outside zone to gap schemes to inside zone,” Kelly said. “We’re running a lot more misdirection, so it’s been a conscious decision that we’ve made that we needed to be that as well as misdirection. I think it just makes us a better offense when we have a much more diversified running game.”

That diversity has included Zavion Thomas in the backfield, Ju’Juan Johnson in the wildcat game and plenty of misdirection with Garrett Nussmeier’s ball handling. Thomas scored a long touchdown in Saturday’s scrimmage, and Johnson was a dynamic runner in the red zone, scoring multiple times in the period.

While Will Campbell, Emery Jones, Miles Frazier and Garrett Dellinger leave, the players primed to step in are talented as well.

“I think our offensive line is capable of doing all the things that I just mentioned,” Kelly continued. “We have guys that can pull. We have guys that can double team at the point of attack and run traditional duo plays. And I think we can be really good at inside zone. This was really about focusing in and being much better at the running game. You can’t just say we’re going to focus on the running game and forget the talent we have at wide receiver. I think we’ve struck a much better balance of bringing those two together this spring.”