LSU Football: Tigers are being smart with last open scholarship

LSU football signed 23 players during the 2021 signing period and they added one transfer (linebacker Mike Jones).

That means the Tigers have one scholarship still available.

LSU, however, isn’t in a rush to use that final scholarship right now.

In fact, they may not even use it all during this cycle.

What will LSU football do with final scholarship?

Shea Dixon, who covers the Tigers for 247Sports, reported on Monday morning that LSU could end up saving their final scholarship for next year.

While I could certainly see that being the case, I think there’s a good chance the Tigers end up using that final spot near the end of spring.

The transfer portal has completely altered the way college football teams construct their rosters. Attrition is much more common these days with the transfer portal and the one-time transfer rule that’s expected to be passed eventually.

There are still a LOT of kids in the transfer portal that haven’t found a home yet (there were over 1,700 players who entered the portal and most of those are still available). And there will likely be more players hitting the portal after programs go through spring practice.

It’s very wise of Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron to hang onto that final scholarship. That prevents a situation where a player hits the portal that LSU likes a lot, but they can’t pursue because they don’t have room.

I imagine there will be at least one player the Tigers end up strongly pursuing (another linebacker maybe?). And if there isn’t, then that just gives LSU more room during the 2022 recruiting cycle to add players (the transfer portal isn’t slowing down anytime soon).

It’s a win-win for LSU.