LSU has a Top 10 Transfer Portal addition in WR CJ Daniels

LSU loses two of college football’s best wide receivers following the 2023 season, but a key addition from the NCAA Transfer Portal should soften the blow.

Liberty wide receiver CJ Daniels announced his decision to transfer to LSU following a visit to campus earlier this month.

As the month of January winds down, Daniels checks in as one of the Top 10 players on the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings. Daniels is ranked as the No. 8 overall prospect and the No. 2 wide receiver to enter the portal.

Daniels is one of three wide receivers in the Top 10 of the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings, checking in behind Evan Stewart (Texas A&M to Oregon) and ahead of Isaiah Bond (Alabama to Texas).

Liberty’s offense allowed Daniels to shine in 2023

LSU had the best offense in college football in 2023, averaging 544 yards per game en route to quarterback Jayden Daniels winning the Heisman Trophy.

Just three spots behind LSU is Liberty, with Jamey Chadwell‘s offense averaging 499 yards per game. Liberty went 13-0 and landed in a New Year’s Six Bowl, which resulted in a loss to Oregon.

For Daniels, it was his best season to date, closing out the year with 55 catches for 1,067 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Two adds help soften the blow of losing Nabers, Thomas

Daniels joined Brian Thomas Jr. and Malik Nabers as one of 11 wide receivers to surpass the 1,000-yard mark and record at least 10 touchdown catches in 2023.

Headed into the 2024 season, only five of the 11 names on the list are returning for another year of college football: Daniels, Tez Johnson at Oregon, Tetairoa McMillan at Arizona, Jalen Royals at Utah State and Ja’Mori Maclin at North Texas. Maclin and Daniels were the lone names among the five who hit the portal, with Maclin landing at Kentucky and Daniels at LSU.

He’s the second wide receiver LSU has added through the portal this offseason following the addition of Mississippi State wideout and return specialist Zavion Thomas.

With 2023’s college football season complete, LSU is losing the NCAA’s leaders in receiving yards (Malik Nabers) and touchdown catches (Brian Thomas Jr.). Both have declared for the 2024 NFL Draft and are widely being projected as first-round picks.

Nabers closed out a record-breaking season with 89 catches for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns, while Thomas hauled in 68 catches for 1,177 yards and 17 touchdowns. Nabers led the NCAA in receiving yards, while Thomas led the NCAA in touchdown catches.

The first step towards replacing the production came when Thomas got on board, giving LSU a boost on both special teams and the offensive side of the ball. Thomas is expected to take over as LSU’s starting punt returner, a position of need for the Tigers after two years of tasking Gregory Clayton to fair catch the ball and hand it back over to the high-powered LSU offense.

Thomas is widely considered one of the NCAA’s best punt returners, and he also added a touchdown on a kickoff return against the Aggies this past season. Then there’s the production as a sophomore wide receiver. Despite playing in the second-worst passing offense in the NCAA (MSU averaged just 182 passing yards per game), Thomas closed out the year with 40 catches for 503 yards and a touchdown.

After turning in a 1,000-plus yard receiving season in 2023, Daniels joins LSU’s roster with proven experience and production. He’s logged 42 games played during his college career, totaling 106 catches, 1,954 yards and 21 touchdowns.

The proven production from the two is a welcomed addition to the LSU roster as the Tigers look to carry over the success on offense into the 2024 season during the quarterback transition from Jayden Daniels to Garrett Nussmeier.

Kyren Lacy leads the way among the returning WRs

The Tigers return a veteran wide receiver Kyren Lacy, who finished third on the team in receiving with 30 catches for 558 yards. With Nabers and Thomas moving on to the NFL Draft, Lacy passed up the chance to go pro and chose to return for a final season next fall.

From there, the most experienced returning receiver is Chris Hilton, who was healthy for the first time in two years and flashed with 13 catches for 225 yards and a touchdown. Aaron Anderson, who transferred in from Alabama ahead of the 2023 season, was the lone other LSU wideout to catch a pass in 2023, finishing the year with 12 catches for 59 yards. Landon Ibieta (injury) didn’t appear in a game during the 2023 season, though all eyes are on whether he can be back to full strength for spring practices.

The Tigers redshirted all four freshmen wide receiver signees in Shelton Sampson Jr., Kyle Parker, Khai Prean and Jalen Brown. Brown entered the NCAA Transfer portal and landed back in his home state at FSU. Sampson and Parker will look to move up the depth chart at wide receiver this offseason as they enter Year 2, while Prean made the move to defensive back during bowl game preparations as the Tigers test out potential options in the secondary.