Brian Kelly expresses confidence in LSU offensive line depth

A year removed from questions abounding about the LSU offensive line, Brian Kelly is bullish about the unit heading into his second year in Baton Rouge. With four players returning who have started, Kelly expects some battles for positions.

Last season, Kelly made a conscious choice to start a pair of freshman tackles on an inexperienced line. They took their lumps, but it was a calculated decision that is paying off now as the Tigers bring back experienced depth up front on offense.

“I mean, any time you get a situation where you have four guys that have started SEC games compared to last year where you’re like, ‘I have no idea,’ you come into it feeling a lot better,” Kelly said. “I think Brad [Davis]’s built a great relationship with the guys that they understand what they’re doing, how they’re doing it and when they need to do it, which is really important. Offensive line is adjusting on the fly and their ability to do that now is really the difference in being a successful offensive line. Everything happens after the snap and these guys, now, have adjusted to the point where they can handle things on the fly.”

And now with a combination of some experienced returners and young up-and-comers, Kelly sees some stiff competition for any spots that are up for grabs throughout camp for LSU on the offensive line.

Kelly doesn’t plan to throw any youngsters into the fire quite like he did last year, another benefit of the depth.

“I think it’ll be an interesting deal. We’re going to have to see some of these young guys. We’re not going to throw ’em in there with the first group right away, but it’ll be similar to the evolution of our freshmen last year, where we gradually brought ’em along and then they took over some positions. You may see that happen again in camp. We’re going to give them a little time,” Kelly said.

And for the start of camp for LSU, Kelly doesn’t plan to roll out a depth chart. He wants to let the team settle in and see how they work off each other — albeit with a pretty clear notion of who is in the mix to play on the offensive line.

“I don’t really like to set a depth chart the first six practices. I like to the let the guys kind of go out there, that we’re starting, and let’s see how this competition takes care of itself,” Kelly said. “I think there could be potential battles on that offensive line.”