One of LSU’s newest tight end solutions didn’t just change positions this fall - he also inherited Trey’Dez Green’s old number and, for now, a chunk of Green’s role.
Roman Mothershed, a 6-foot-5, 212-pound transfer receiver from Troy, started the season in No. 82.
Then, after a conversation with offensive analyst Heath Dedeaux in September, a No. 14 jersey turned up in his locker the next day. That number belonged to Green before Green moved on to LSU’s prized No.
“It was a surprise for me,” Mothershed said.
The timing mattered. Green was sidelined by a knee injury at Ole Miss, and LSU needed another matchup piece at tight end. Mothershed has answered that call, giving the Tigers a much-needed spark in the middle of the field and down the seam.
At Kentucky, he caught two passes for 56 yards, falling just 2 yards short of his career high from Troy. He also scored on a 41-yard touchdown grab, giving him back-to-back games with a touchdown. That’s a sharp turn from last season, when he finished with only one touchdown catch for the Trojans.
LSU had other tight end issues to work through, too. Green had 222 receiving yards in three games before the injury, and Lane Kiffin’s push to bring in former Ole Miss tight end Dae'quan Wright was blocked by SEC rules.
Mothershed didn’t hesitate when LSU floated the switch.
“I was prepared to do whatever it took to get on the field to be able to make an impact to help the team,” Mothershed said of switching to tight end. “When (tight ends) coach (Joe) Cox came to me and introduced the idea to me, I was with it.”
For a player who posted 327 receiving yards over two seasons in the Sun Belt Conference, the move was about finding a lane and taking it. But that doesn’t mean it came naturally. Getting into a three-point stance was a fresh experience.
“It's probably the first time I've put my hand in the dirt,” he said.
Still, the traits were there. Mothershed brought receiver skills into a tight end frame, and his background at Pike Road High School in Alabama - where he played both basketball and football - made him a little easier to project in a hybrid role. LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt also sees a familiar kind of energy.
“I talk about Trey’Dez, how he's always smiling and bringing great juice,” LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt said. “Roman's another one of those guys. Just constantly is ready to go, and he has this look in his eyes when he gets into the game that makes you want to throw him the ball, because you got nothing but faith in him.”
Green has also helped speed up the transition from the sideline. As Mothershed comes off the field, Green has been grabbing him and talking through what he can do better on each snap.
“He's like eyes off the field,” Mothershed said. “The things that I'm being exposed to now, like the looks I'm getting, I see linebackers in the box move different ways, he's been able to be able to calm my eyes down.
“What I'm seeing, I see slower so I'm being able to do my job quicker.”
Mothershed may not be built to be a dominant run blocker at 212 pounds, but LSU isn’t asking him to be that kind of player. What he gives them is a real receiving threat at tight end, and the Kentucky game showed it.
On the opening drive, he lined up in the slot, worked from a two-point stance and turned a 6-yard curl into a 15-yard gain. Later, in the fourth quarter, he was in a three-point stance when Jackson Harris caught a quick toss to the sideline, then flipped a receiver pass to Mothershed, who outran Kentucky linebacker Grant Godfrey for a 41-yard score.
That trick play had been added the Tuesday before the game and practiced at the end of each session that week. Harris told Mothershed that if he got him one-on-one in the game, he was going to throw it.
“He threw the mess out of that ball,” Mothershed said.
Now LSU has a useful stand-in while Green remains out. And for Mothershed, the jump from Troy’s 30,000-fan setting to Tiger Stadium has only made the moment bigger.
“I've never felt nothing like that ever in my life,” Mothershed said. “Really being in Death Valley, that atmosphere is completely different.”
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