Brian Kelly reveals three LSU players are on the 'injury list' for Florida State matchup

Fall camp injuries are inevitable, and it’s affected the No. 5 LSU Tigers heading into their top-10 Week 1 matchup against Florida State. Head coach Brian Kelly provided a brief injury report to begin game week.

“We have three guys on the injury list. Armoni Goodwin will be listed as doubtful. Kimo [Makaneole] will be listed as questionable and Josh [Williams] will be listed as probable,” Kelly said on Monday. “So, we have three guys on the injury list and we’ll have one player unavailable to us.”

Kelly is talking about star DL Maason Smith, who will be serving a one-game suspension for violating NCAA rules in 2021. Smith is accused of signing autographs — which is deemed an “improper benefit” by the NCAA — for profit before NIL laws took shape.

Smith will be able to return for the Week 2 matchup against Grambling State. He cooperated with the investigation, The Advocate’s Wilson Alexander reported, but will ultimately miss out on LSU’s first matchup of the 2023 season.

Smith only appeared in one game a year ago after tearing his ACL on opening night against FSU. He’s looking to be a key player for LSU on defense this year after totaling 19 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks as a freshman in 2021.

Regarding those that Kelly named, Makaneole is a former three-star offensive lineman out of the 2021 class, per the On3 Industry Rankings. This proprietary algorithm compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was a top-25 interior offensive lineman in his class.

Potentially losing Goodwin and Williams for the season-opening game is more concerning for the Tigers. Two of LSU’s top five rushers in 2022, the pair combined for 142 carries, 799 rushing yards and 11 scores. Williams — who is responsible for 532 yards of that — was the team’s most productive running back last season aside from star QB Jayden Daniels.

If Williams is unable to suit up, Noah Cain — who Kelly named the starter last week — will lead the rushing attack. Last season, he led the RB room with 10 touchdowns from a season ago despite rushing for just 409 yards in 2022.

LSU will put their rushing attack on full display when they kick off their 2023 season on Sunday, Sept. 3 as they look to even the odds against Florida State after last year’s heartbreaking defeat. The Tigers are 2.5-point favorites heading into the matchup, per Vegas Insider.