LSU’s 2023 recruiting class is turning into a massive dud
Two redshirt freshmen were the latest Tigers to declare their intentions to enter the transfer portal when the window opens this upcoming Monday.
Safety Kylin Jackson and wide receiver Shelton Sampson Jr. both will intend to enter the portal. As always, players can take their names out of the portal if they so choose.
While disappointing, neither decision is especially shocking. Jackson’s been more of a special teams player the past two seasons and seems to have been passed up on the depth chart by DaShawn Spears, while Sampson for whatever reason just hasn’t been able to live up to hype.
Jackson was a four-star, top-200 safety coming out of Zachary. In two seasons with the Tigers, Jackson has appeared in 17 games and recorded five total tackles.
Sampson, on the other hand, was one of the top wide receivers in his class, and at one point in time was viewed as the wide receiver in the 2023 cycle. He eventually landed as a high four-star prospect and finished as the No. 83 overall player in the class of 2023.
Despite getting a myriad of opportunities, Sampson would not record a single catch in two seasons as a Tiger. As a freshman he was playing behind two future first round draft picks in Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas, but this season he wasn’t able to do anything whenever his number was called.
While transfers are a big part of today’s college football climate, an overwhelming majority of LSU’s 2023 recruiting class has already left the program. LSU’s 2023 class was viewed as a top-five group by 247, but of the 26 high school players LSU signed, only 11 of them are, at the time of this writing at least, still with the program. Those players are: Whit Weeks, DJ Chester, Javien Toviano, Paul Mubenga, Tyree Adams, Ka’Morreun Pimpton, Kaleb Jackson, Kyle Parker, Dylan Carpenter, Ashton Stamps, and Trey Holly who is technically still on the roster but is away from the program as he works out his legal issues.
How would you grade that class now that we’re going on three years removed? You hit on Weeks. Chester, while not exactly an All-American this season, at least started every single game for you. Stamps has been fine, while Mubenga, Adams, and Pimpton all should be starting next season; and then of course there’s Kaleb Jackson who really looked like would be RB1 coming into this season, but clearly has been passed up by Caden Durham and oh by the way LSU signed two promising running backs yesterday with Harlem Berry and JT Lindsey.
Brian Kelly’s told us his plan is to build through the high school ranks and supplement through the portal and so far, he’s had more misses in his first full recruiting class than hits.