COLUMN: Kyren Lacy snubbed from Biletnikoff Award preseason watch list

It’s watch list season. With the 2024 college football campaign fast approaching, awards are starting to release the players they have an eye on entering the year.

The Biletnikoff Award, given to the best receiver in college football, released their list. Noticeably, LSU receiver Kyren Lacy was absent. One Tiger did make the cut, and that’s Liberty transfer CJ Daniels.

It’s easy to see why Daniels caught the Biletnikoff’s attention. He posted a 1,000-yard season with Liberty last year and was one of the most efficient receivers in the sport.

But for the entirety of the offseason, there’s been no doubt about LSU’s WR1. It’s Kyren Lacy. With Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. gone, Lacy is the next star WR expected to emerge at LSU.

Lacy began to turn heads in the spring with a dominant spring practice and has continued that into fall camp. If he has the year LSU is expecting in this offense, Lacy will be in the Biletnikoff discussion.

Lacy is a fifth-year receiver who began his career at Louisiana. It’s rare to see a fifth-year player without an elite season generating this much hype, but the WR depth chart was clogged up by future NFL players over the last two years.

When Lacy got his chances, he made the most of them. He averaged 18.6 yards per catch, ranking third in the SEC. He caught seven touchdowns on just 30 catchers and showed an ability to play outside and in the slot. Lacy averaged 7.5 yards after the catch, one of the best marks in the SEC.

All the makings of a No. 1 receiver are here. A lot of the same could be said for Daniels, but Daniels didn’t cement a starting spot in the spring. Lacy’s led the room the whole way.

Setting fair expectations for Lacy is hard. 1,200 yards might be a lot to ask of a guy with a career-high of 557, but LSU is expecting its offense to pick up where it left off last year. That leaves a lot of production to go around.

Expect Lacy to get the bulk of it and perform like one of the best receivers in the country.

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