LSU trending for a trio of blue-chip defensive linemen

Brian Kelly and Co. have proven their recruiting chops at LSU, building consecutive top-10 classes during his first two years.

That includes landing the state’s No. 1 player and five-star defensive lineman Dominick McKinley in the 2024 class, along with On3 top-50 prospect Gabriel Reliford and four-star EDGE CJ Jackson. The Tigers are looking to load up again in 2025 in the trenches, but are still without a commitment along the defensive line — for now.

According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM), they’re currently trending to land three of their top targets at the DL and EDGE spots:

4-star EDGE Damien Shanklin

School: Indianapolis (Ind.) Warren Central
On3 Industry Ranking: No. 85
On3 RPM: LSU 70.9%, Notre Dame 21.6%

Latest intel: “I’ve logged a new prediction in favor of LSU for On300 EDGE Damien Shanklin, who also visited for the spring game. The Tigers will have to hold off Alabama, Ohio State, Tennessee and others but they’re the early bar.” — Steve Wiltfong, On3 VP of Recruiting (June 3)

4-star DL Zion Williams

School: Lufkin (Texas)
On3 Industry Ranking: No. 359
On3 RPM: LSU 95.4%, Texas 2.5%

Latest intel: “We feel good about the Tigers coming off the official visit (as covered this morning by us) and with his commitment date set for July 4, we feel like the Tigers sit in a great spot. Zion Williams is high on his relationship with Bo Davis, which dates back to Texas. He’ll still take the rest of his visits, but we’re projecting him to land at LSU. If he announced today, we’d feel extremely good. Gotta weather the visits, but a good source thinks it’ll be hard for Texas to overcome LSU’s lead.” — Billy Embody, BengalTiger.com insider (June 3)

4-star DL Brandon Brown – Texas commit

School: Melbourne (Fla.) Eau Gallie
On3 Industry Ranking: No. 331
On3 RPM: LSU 92.0%, Texas 1.2%

Latest intel: “Melbourne (Fla.) Eau Gallie defensive tackle Brandon Brown finished up another visit to Baton Rouge this weekend and I’ve logged an On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine pick for LSU to flip the Texas commit. He finished up his LSU official visit on Sunday and the visit stood out in a big way. Brown and his mother took a visit to LSU for the Spring Game. This time, they spent even more time around the coaching staff in a family setting.” — Billy Embody, BengalTiger.com insider (June 3)