LSU Football: Tigers should be a lock to land nation’s top tight end

LSU football should be the team to beat for one of the nation’s top-rated 2022 tight ends.

Jake Johnson, 6-foot-5/210 lbs from Bogart, GA (Oconee County), is ranked in 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 1 tight end in the country.

Johnson is a priority for the Tigers, due to the loss of tight end Arik Gilbert, who recently announced his transfer to the Florida Gators.

And fortunately for LSU, Johnson appears to be destined for Baton Rouge.

LSU football could be the team to beat for Jake Johnson

There have been four 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions made for Johnson and all four have the Tigers landing the four-star tight end.

There’s a very good reason for the optimism surrounding Johnson to LSU.

It’s because Johnson is the younger brother of Max Johnson, a former four-star quarterback who signed with the Tigers during the 2020 recruiting cycle.

Clemson and Georgia will also be factors for Johnson, but this is LSU’s recruiting battle to lose.

At this point, the only way the Tigers miss on Johnson is if his brother grows unhappy at Baton Rouge over the next year and decides to transfer.

That’s certainly possible, considering the amount of players that are hitting the transfer portal these days (and the one-time transfer rule that’s eventually expected to be passed by the NCAA). But there’s nothing so far to indicate that the older Johnson is unhappy at LSU.

Johnson played in eight games as a true freshman for the Tigers last season, passing for 1,069 yards, eight touchdowns, and only one interception. He’ll likely start the 2021 season behind Myles Brennan on the depth chart (TJ Finley will also be a factor), but the potential is there for him to have an impact on LSU’s offense.