With kickoff against Clemson now 55 days away, LSU’s No. 55 is already carrying a lot of weight on both sides of the ball.
The Tigers have two current players set to wear the number, and both bring something important to the table. One is a freshman defensive lineman with rare buzz for a first-year player. The other is a transfer guard expected to step in and start immediately.
At defensive end, Lamar Brown arrives with more hype than most freshmen ever get. He just became the highest-rated true freshman in EA College Football history at an 84, a reflection of how much attention he’s drawing before he’s even played a snap. LSU lists him as a defensive end, but the expectation is that he’ll move around and line up in different spots.
Brown checks in at 6-foot-4 and 295 pounds, which is big for a modern pass rusher. That size is part of what makes him such an intriguing piece.
He has the athleticism to win with power or speed, depending on the matchup. It would be a surprise if he isn’t on the field in some kind of rotational role right away.
The other No. 55 is Aliou Bah, and LSU is counting on him to help stabilize the middle of the offensive line. Bah is projected to start at right guard and comes in as a four-star transfer from the portal, one of the better linemen available.
His experience stands out. Pro Football Focus has Bah with 1,511 career snaps, and he allowed just one sack in 2024 against Indiana.
That kind of track record points to a dependable pass protector. His run blocking hasn’t carried the same reputation, but that’s true of several of LSU’s new additions, and the group’s overall fit will be worth watching.
LSU’s look back at No. 55 also brings up a former Tiger who made his mark in Baton Rouge: center Ben Wilkerson, who wore the number from 2001 to 2004.
Wilkerson spent four years in the NFL after going undrafted, but his LSU résumé was loaded. He won a national championship in 2003 and earned two All-American selections.
Football has been part of his life for more than 30 years, going back to his high school days. He later returned to LSU as a graduate assistant in 2011 and has coached ever since.
This past offseason, he was hired as the new assistant offensive line coach for the Las Vegas Raiders.
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That shortage puts extra pressure on the staff to keep working the board and, if necessary, chase flips as the cycle develops. LSU has leaned on the transfer portal for defensive backs in the past, but that route has not always solved the problem for long, and the Tigers would prefer to build more of that room the old-fashioned way. If they cannot land a major addition at corner in this class, the concern is not just about one recruiting board - it is about whether LSU is again drifting toward a thin pipeline of homegrown talent at a premium spot. [Read more 🡒]