LSU Transfer Portal Tracker: Former Top 5 TE prospect set to transfer

The NCAA Transfer Portal opened on December 9 and will close on December 28, giving LSU – and all college teams – three weeks to reshape the roster after the Early Signing Period.

One year ago, LSU had 21 players enter the portal, which was three more than the 18 players who entered the portal from LSU two years ago.

What will the final LSU transfer numbers look like this month? Expect the number to be high, and the Tigers have already eclipsed double-digits.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly said attrition by way of transfer portal departures is expected, but added the Tigers plan to be more aggressive in the December portal than in year’s prior.

“We’ll be very aggressive,” Kelly said. “I think everybody that’s followed us knows that we weren’t very aggressive in the transfer portal. We put together a defensive line using minimal resources. We’ve really put ourselves in a position — and I’ll use this term loosely — to stay well under the cap, so we could be quite aggressive this year.

“And we will be very aggressive in that area, as well as bringing in 16 mid-years (early enrollees from the high school class). We’re gonna have 16 mid-years. We think that the program in terms of the culture and the standards are such that we can do that now, where we can bring in 16 freshmen and maybe one of, if not the largest, transfer portal classes as well.”

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Which current LSU players have announced their decision to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal? Here’s The Bengal Tiger Transfer Tracker for the December transfer portal window.

The LSU Transfer Portal Tracker: Departures (14)

QB Rickie Collins … The second-year backup quarterback saw action in four games across two seasons as the backup to Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier. Collins, a Baton Rouge native who signed as a 4-star prospect out of Woodlawn, flipped his commitment from Purdue to LSU before signing with the Tigers in 2023. Collins, who completed 7-of-7 pass attempts for 38 yards in four games, tells On3’s Hayes Fawcett he plans to enter the portal as an underclassman on December 9.

More: The Bengal Tiger Breakdown

WR Landon Ibieta … Ibieta caught a pair of passes in the lone game he played during his freshman season in 2022, but the bowl win over Purdue would prove to be his final playing time on offense. Injuries hampered Ibieta time and again over the past two seasons, and he didn’t log any game action in 2023 and saw just three snaps in one game played this past season. Ibieta signed with LSU in the 2022 class as a standout player at Mandeville, flipping his commitment from Miami to the Tigers before Signing Day arrived.

More: The Bengal Tiger Breakdown

WR CJ Daniels … The third player to enter the portal is the biggest yet. LSU starting wide receiver CJ Daniels, who caught at least three or more passes in 10 of the 11 games he played this past season, is headed to the portal after one season in Baton Rouge. Daniels finished 4th on LSU’s team in both catches and yards. While he didn’t score a touchdown for the Tigers, Daniels transferred from Liberty after a 1,000-plus yard, 10 touchdown season in 2023.

More: The Bengal Tiger Breakdown

EDGE Da’Shawn Womack … After playing in a backup role the past two seasons, the former 5-star EDGE rusher plans to enter the portal, On3 has learned. Womack played 100 snaps for LSU this year as a backup after logging 79 snaps as a freshman a year ago. He logged 21 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 20 games, none of which he started.

More: The Bengal Tiger Breakdown

S Jordan Allen … Allen is set to enter the Transfer Portal after three seasons in Baton Rouge. Allen, a Lafayette native, played in 22 games (2 starts) and logged 22 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one pass broken up. Allen played in a career-high 111 snaps this season for the Tigers.

More: The Bengal Tiger Breakdown

WR Shelton Sampson Jr. … The promising local pass-catcher becomes the sixth player — and third wide receiver — to share his plans enter the Transfer Portal. The former Catholic (Baton Rouge) star played in 11 games, including one start, in two seasons in purple and gold, but did not record a reception or crack consistent role in the rotation.

More: The Bengal Tiger Breakdown

S Kylin Jackson … Just 35 minutes following Sampson, news broke that another local product would be entering the transfer as well. The former Zachary High safety played in 17 games in two years for the Tigers, primarily on special teams, and recorded five tackles.

More: The Bengal Tiger Breakdown

LB Xavier Atkins … Atkins played in five games and logged 31 snaps at linebacker for LSU during his freshman season, but the Tigers turned to fellow freshman linebacker Davhon Keys – who finished the regular season with 172 snaps – as the team’s third linebacker.

CB Jyaire Brown … Brown logged just 34 snaps in four games this season, finishing the year with three tackles as a backup cornerback. Brown spent his first two college seasons at Ohio State before transferring to Baton Rouge, and with LSU returning a handful of young cornerbacks, adding 5-star DJ Pickett and 4-star Aidan Anding as signees on Wednesday, and the likelihood of adding at least one cornerback in the portal, Brown’s departure doesn’t come as a surprise.

CB Bernard Causey … Causey didn’t log any game action for the Tigers on defense this season in a cornerback room short on depth, and for the same reasons listed with Brown, the decision to depart is not a surprising one for the New Orleans native.

P Nathan Dibert … Dibert signed with LSU out of Michigan as the No. 6 kicker in the 2022 recruiting class, per the On3 Industry Rankings. Dibert appeared in 11 games as a true freshman, handling kickoff duties for the Tigers before being named to the Freshman All-SEC team by the league’s coaches after handling 60 kickoffs with 38 going for touchbacks. He served in the same role in 2023, with 50 of his 94 kickoffs going for touchbacks. This past fall, LSU specialist Aeron Burrell took over kickoff duties, and with Damian Ramos handling field goal duties in recent years, Dibert’s exit comes with a search for a starting spot at as a placekicker.

DL De’Myrion Johnson … Johnson is headed to the portal after one season in Baton Rouge, a stretch where the New Iberia native and former Westgate defensive lineman didn’t log any snaps on defense. First-year LSU defensive line coach Bo Davis signed four defensive linemen a week ago during the high school Early Signing Period.

CB JK Johnson … Johnson makes the second Ohio State defensive back to transfer to LSU only to later enter the portal, joining Jyaire Brown as one of LSU’s defensive backs set to leave the team. After being sidelined with an injury a year ago, Johnson appeared in 10 games as a backup cornerback, finishing fifth on the team in snaps among cornerbacks with 113.

TE Ka’Morreun Pimpton … At 6-foot-6, Pimpton was a four-star prospect out of high school in Fort Worth, Texas and was committed to Vanderbilt before flipping to LSU late in the 2023 cycle. In the 2024 season, Pimpton played in 11 games and caught six passes for 79 yards. LSU starting tight end Mason Taylor took most of the tight end snaps, and the emergence of Trey’Dez Green in the room also contributed to a minimized role for Pimpton. Still, the receiving talent is evident as Pimpton will look for an expanded role at his next stop. Expect LSU to stay active in pursuit of tight ends in the transfer portal, beginning with a visit from from Arkansas transfer tight end Luke Hasz.

More: The Bengal Tiger Breakdown