The LSU Tigers were already on a roll with recruiting this offseason, but then they added three blue chip defensive line and edge rusher recruits in about a 24-hour span. Zion Williams had already helped Brian Kelly and defensive line coach Bo Davis make a splash on July 4th, and that was good enough to thrust LSU into the top five recruiting classes for 2025 . But then two more stars committed on Friday within just a few short hours of each other.
Brandon Brown, a Texas defensive line commit announced he was flipping to LSU in the early afternoon. Then Damien Shanklin, a top 100 overall edge rusher announced that he was selecting LSU over Alabama and Ohio State just a couple hours later! LSU's recruiting is all of a sudden running hotter than any program's in the country!
Brandon Brown and Damien Shanklin
Brandon Brown has been a highly coveted defensive line recruit for some time now, having garnered over 40 FBS scholarship offers and tallied incredible stats over the last three seasons. Brown is already 6'2, nearly 300 pounds possessing fast, strong hands to win with a power and technique. His flip announcement from Texas to LSU is a huge get for LSU.
Damien Shanklin on the other hand, was not that big of a surprise to most close to his recruitment. Ever since he visited LSU to end the month of May most of my sources and many around the industry had been projecting Shanklin to select LSU. However, that doesn't change the fact that snagging an edge rusher with over 100 tackles and 25 tackles for loss in the last two seasons is a huge acquisition for Brian Kelly and LSU!
Shanklin said that LSU simply "feels like home" when he's there. Immediately after committing he mentioned how important the relationships with LSU staff and players were. Bryce Underwood (the number one QB recruit in the nation for) played a big part in bringing him to LSU. And the bond between Kevin Peoples (edge coach), Blake Baker (new defensive coordinator) and Shanklin certainly helped him make his final decision as well. Shanklin is all in with LSU and his commitment could not have come at a more exciting time.
Impact of Brown and Shanklin for LSU
LSU has now added eight defensive and offensive line recruits to their commitment list for the 2025 class and the momentum clearly isn't slowing down. Shanklin should immediately show up from day one as a rotational contributor in pass rush situations. Brandon Brown should be a slightly smaller and faster defensive lineman who can wreak havoc on passing downs early on as well. Both players could and should be near every down starters for the Tigers by year two given the current depth there.
Related: LSU Tigers and Brian Kelly defying the noise as they continue building top tier 2025 recruiting class
Be looking for more LSU Tigers coverage here at A to Z Sports all year long! And follow me (@FF_TravisM) on X (Twitter) for all the latest football news!
And if you want to watch some Damien Shanklin highlights to get excited about his monstrous force off the edge for LSU you can check out the video below!
Most Popular
Comments / 0