Guessing LSU’s Depth Chart as Camp Opens

LSU has reported for camp and will open the 2019 season’s practices today at 4 p.m. With spring practices and summer workouts in the books, here is an educated guess on how things might stand for LSU’s depth chart before the camp battles begin.

Couple notes:

• Tight end rotation is one of the more fascinating positions for me. I love the idea of Stephen Sullivan as a flex match-up, but I’m skeptical as to whether he can handle a major role with hands that haven’t always been consistent. But as a group, there are enough bodies here to maybe combine for some major production.
• Trey Palmer is slowed for now with an injury, but look for him to push for playing time , maybe even ahead of some other upperclassmen.
• I still see Clyde Edwards-Helaire as getting the first snaps, at least early on. What’s interesting to me is whether that translates to a lot of carries or more of a distribution of passes.
• Ed Ingram remains listed on LSU’s roster, but until there are some firm developments in his legal case, I don’t see him getting on the field any time soon. And for now, I expect Adrian Magee and Chasen Hines to compete for that job, with Kardell Thomas possibly pushing for some time.
• Look for Hines to work as the backup center in light of Cole Smith’s transfer.
• Josh Growden has left the team, so Zach Von Rosenberg will have the punting duties to himself this year. Growden did a nice job as a short-range directional kicker, so we’ll see if Von Rosenberg can add that to his skill set. We know he has a big leg.

• Love the defensive line depth here. Glen Logan basically gives LSU a fourth starter up front in the base defense. Although in nickel looks I expect that we’ll see the nose tackle come off and Logan, Rashard Lawrence and Breiden Fehoko as the top three linemen on the field. Neil Farrell is a good fourth body there, and redshirt freshman Jarrell Cherry has gotten a ton of good pub since the spring. Also expect JUCO recruit Soni Fonua to work his way in here.
• It seems like the coaching staff likes Patrick Queen too much to keep him on the bench, so look for him to get on the field at one of the linebacker spots. He remains in competition with Jacob Phillips inside, but if he loses out there, watch for him to slide to the F-linebacker spot and maybe rotate inside from time to time.
• The backup cornerback spots are interesting as well, especially with Kelvin Joseph gone. Mannie Netherly was talked out of transferring, so obviously LSU sees a future for him. But there’s a lot of talent coming in with Raydarious Jones, Jay Ward and Cordale Flott.
• The open safety spot, and how the positions will rotate should be really fascinating for schematic junkies. In nickel, I think we’ll see Grant Delpit play near the line with Kary Vincent Jr. playing deeper as a nickel/safety combo. But the other deep spot will likely come down to Todd Harris Jr. or Eric Monroe. Jacoby Stevens seems to be settled into his nickel/dime hybrid role, although it would be fascinating to see if he can increase his presence. Maurice Hampton might be a wild card here as well, once he gets up to speed with his hand injury.