Five non-freshmen to watch for vs. Grambling State

LSU enters Saturday’s game against Grambling looking to make a statement early in front of its home crowd. Coming off of a deflating loss to Florida State, LSU now just has one game before the start of SEC play with a need to not only fix the problems from week one, but also regain it’s confidence before heading to play Mississippi State the following week.

There’s a lot that fans will want to see from the starters, but in a game where the Tigers are likely 40+ point favorites, there’s only so much we can really learn from this team on Saturday night. Once the Tigers get a substantial lead, the fans will want to see the freshman, of course. There’s too many to name, but Dashawn Womack, Shelton Sampson, Ashton Stamps, Ka’Morreun Pimpton, Zalance Heard, Kaleb Jackson, Javien Toviano and Whit Weeks are names among the top of the list. 

Here, I wanted to look at five non-freshmen who I want to see on Saturday night. Most have the potential to impact this team in a major way, but we just don’t know yet. I’ve already written a story about Harold Perkins and Maason Smith that you can read for insight on those two. Let’s get into it.

5. QB Garrett Nussmeier

This has nothing to do with thinking Garrett Nussmeier should start or supplant Jayden Daniels. This has everything to do with wanting to see Nuss be Nuss. It’s also a chance for some redemption from last year’s horrid performance against Southern, despite him clearly shooting that he’s a much better player than that in every subsequent opportunity.

I firmly believe Nussmeier is one of the seven best quarterbacks in the SEC and is set up to have an explosive 2024 season as the starter at LSU. Despite his terrific showings against Georgia and Purdue, fans continue to want to see more and this is an opportunity for him to show that he’s not going to turn the ball over with bone-head mistakes and still has an elite arm.

4. DE Quency Wiggins

Wiggins was supposed to be a significant player for the Tigers at defensive end and throughout the offseason, there was a sense of waiting for him to emerge. That never quite happened and instead he was surpassed by Paris Shand on the depth chart going into the Florida State game,

I expect we see a good amount of Wiggins in this game and this is his chance to show the staff that he just needs some in-game reps to really flip the switch. Physically, there’s never been a question about Wiggins’ potential, but the technical side will have to continue to develop as a pass rusher if he wants to help this team this season. I know it’s an FCS team, but at least show give me a highlight or two to hold onto.

3. WR Chris Hilton

While the Tigers were dropping balls and unable to make plays on the perimeter (outside of Malik Nabers), there was a certain 22 miles per hour track star sitting on the sideline waiting to make a play. Now, for all of the physical traits and explosive excitement Hilton brings, theres plenty of uncertainty with his hands and route-running. I mean, we saw him get locked up by Laterrance Welch in the spring game because there was no variety in his game. Maybe that’s changed as the offense continued to develop. Regardless, I want to see him in action on Saturday.

He’s going to make an 40-yard reception and catch everyone’s attention and hopefully that’s the confidence he needs to become a consistent playmaker for the Tigers moving forward in a receiver room that could use his dynamism.

2. RB Logan Diggs

A disappointing scratch for the Florida State game, Diggs is a question mark in a lot of ways. As a newcomer to the room, there was a hope that Diggs would elevate the run game coming off of an 822 yard season at Notre Dame. Throughout camp he was in and out with a lingering hamstring injury and now LSU fans should get their first real look at what Diggs can do. 

Brian Kelly said in his radio show that Diggs will be heavily featured this weekend and hopefully that’s the tune up game he needs to be a factor in the run game moving forward. 

1. LB Greg Penn

Why am I excited to see Greg Penn? It coincides with the movement of Harold Perkins to the edge and the overall usage of the linebackers on this Matt House defense. Omar Speights said we’d be seeing more Greg Penn, but LSU will need a better version of Penn than it got last year to justify the move for the remainder of the season.

Penn was used sparingly against Florida State, but I’ve said throughout the summer that he’s going to have to be a significant part of this defense this season with the movement of Harold Perkins. There are a lot of areas where the defense will need to improve and this week will be about House finding the lineups he feels comfortable with before heading into SEC play. It’s not the flashy pick, but Penn’s value on this team is significant and I need to see more.