LSU Football 2023 Position Preview: Offensive Line

After taking some lumps in 2022, the Tiger o-line should be a strength in ‘23

What was the calling card of Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame teams? Tight ends and offensive linemen. What’s historically been the weakest group for LSU football over the years? Tight ends and offensive line.

We started to see a shift from both units in 2022. Thanks to a pair of freshmen playing well beyond their years, a savvy pickup in the transfer portal, and smart recruiting it looks like offensive line will be a strength for LSU in not just 2023 but beyond.

*At Maryland

Every LSU offensive line discussion starts and stops with the young guns at tackle: freshmen All-Americans Will Campbell and Emery Jones. In the time it takes me to make a peanut butter sandwich was about as long as it took for the LSU coaching staff to realize Will Campbell was going to be their starting left tackle for his entire LSU career.

Max believes Will Campbell is the best player on LSU’s roster, and he has a thread on Twitter highlighting his case.

Note: you might have to click on Max’s second tweet to see the thread in its entirety

Jones wasn’t quite as instantly impactful as Campbell, as he didn’t start until week 3 against Mississippi State. But he was LSU’s man opposite Campbell from that point forward and the Tigers never looked back. Also I’m legally bound to remind you that Jones showed some insane athleticism for a big guy in that Miss State game with an open field tackle on a punt return.

Because Campbell and Jones were stars their freshmen year, some have those same sky-high expectations for true freshman tackle Lance Heard. I’m not as confident Heard will have that type of impact in 2023 because what Campbell and Jones did is the exception, not the rule. I’m also not positive Heard is one of LSU’s best five options at this moment in time. Is Heard the future? Absolutely. Could he be so talented that he forces the coaching staff to insert him into the starting lineup this year? Possibly. But I’m not banking on LSU catching lightning in a bottle for a second straight year.

While LSU’s got their headliners back, they also bring back Charles Turner at center, Miles Frazier at guard, and Garrett Dellinger, who did a little bit of everything last year. Dellinger was LSU’s starting center against Florida State before moving to left guard in the games against Southern, Miss State, New Mexico, and Tennessee; he also started at left guard against Purdue. Barring injury, he’ll start next to Will Campbell.

Turner might still be a little undersized, but he’s got the mental part of the center position down. He also, per his bio on lsusports.net, was not called for a single penalty in the final 10 games he appeared in. That’s not nothing. But most important of all is he can actually complete the center-QB exchange. Sure it’s the bare minimum for the position, but remember LSU’s first drive of the season against Florida State got derailed by a bad snap from Dellinger to Jayden Daniels. Turner doesn’t have that problem.

Miles Frazier is back for a second year in Baton Rouge and we should expect to see a jump in his level of play. Frazier was a ballyhooed addition out of the transfer portal thanks to his freshman All-American honors at FIU, but it took some time for things to click. The jump up in competition likely had a hand in that, but remember Frazier was one of the most shuffled around pieces in the offensive line puzzle. Frazier played left guard against Florida State, only to move to right tackle against Southern, moved inside to right guard against Mississippi State, before eventually finding his home back at left guard. Now that he’s got a clearly defined role, and a year under his belt against SEC competition, I’d expect we see something closer to the freshman All-American Frazier that FIU had in 2021.

Chemistry might be the single most ingredient for success along the offensive line, and LSU’s starting five of Campbell, Dellinger, Turner, Frazier, Jones have a ton of reps together. Maybe I’m looking at this group with rose colored glasses, but I think this they can be one of the best in the SEC.

While LSU’s starting five is all but a lock, depth is where things get a little dicey. You can never have too many experienced bodies along the offensive line, but unfortunately the Tigers lost a ton in that department. Xavier Hill (Memphis), Cam Wire (Tulane), Marcus Dumervil (Maryland), and Kardell Thomas (TBD) all left via the transfer portal. LSU was only able to slightly offset those losses by bringing in Mason Lunsford from Maryland, who has 23 career starts.

Lunsford and returning senior Marlon Martinez are LSU’s only experienced depth players along the offensive line. Martinez did a good job filling in for Turner at center, so if there is a starting job up for grabs, it’ll be between those two. After them the only veterans you have are Bo Bordelon and Kimo Makane’ole. Are either ready to answer the call if such a situation arises?

Lance Heard might be the marquee recruit in LSU’s 2023 class, but he’s not the only lineman the Tigers took. LSU signed three others: Tyree Adams out of St. Aug, Paul Mubenga from Buford, Georgia—the same high school the Ferguson brothers attended— and DJ Chester, also from Georgia. Adams and Heard might be LSU’s starting tackles in 2025 after Campbell and Jones have gone pro. Mubenga could be LSU’s starting center as early as next season, and it wouldn’t shock me if Chester is gunning for a starting guard spot in 2024. Remember Charles Turner is a fifth-year senior, Miles Frazier is a fourth-year junior, and Dellinger is a true junior. I’d expect LSU to lose at least two of those three at season’s end and would love if LSU is able to fill those voids with their own recruits, rather than having to dip into the portal.