The 2025 NFL Draft came to a close on Saturday night wrapping up a massive weekend for college athletes making the jump to the professional level. For the LSU Football program, it was business as usual as the Tigers sent 7 players into the professional ranks via the draft and several others as undrafted free agents.
While the past few drafts have seen players coached by Brian Kelly drafted from LSU, this draft was different in many ways. This draft class was Brian Kelly's true first draft class as it was the first group of recruits he signed after being hired and players that spent most of if not all of their careers with Kelly as their head coach.
During his time at Notre Dame, two things stood out on every roster Kelly built for the Fighting Irish. Every Notre Dame team had incredible offensive lines and incredible tight ends which was something LSU fans hoped he'd bring to Baton Rouge as Louisiana gives the Tigers a ton of talent at other positions.
Brian Kelly's Draft Class reflects what LSU fans wanted from the hire
As LSU Tiger after Tigers heard their names called this weekend, the results of Brian Kelly's first season and recruiting class at LSU showed. In a class where LSU only signed 15 recruits, three of the signees reaped the biggest rewards at the draft.
The four-star recruit from Monroe, Louisiana who stuck with his commitment, walked across the stage in Green Bay as Will Campbell was the 4th overall pick. Kelly entrusted Will Campbell to start at left tackle as a true freshman and he blossomed into one of the best offensive linemen in the Country in his second season.
Opposite of Will Campbell for all three seasons at right tackle was Baton Rouge's own Emery Jones Jr, who stuck with LSU after Ed Orgeron's firing. The Baltimore Ravens saw the offensive tackle who allowed just two sacks on 522 pass blocking snaps and selected him 91st overall. Kelly entrusted Jones to start every season as well, and he quickly became one of the best tackles in the Country.
The 3-star tight end that LSU was able to sign, Mason Taylor, was lowly thought of as the 51st-ranked tight end in his class. Like the two offensive tackles, Mason Taylor was given the chance to start right away, and he went on to become the most productive tight end in LSU history. Taylor's incredible LSU career led to him being the 42nd overall pick in the NFL Draft and the 3rd tight end off the board, far exceeding the recruiting ranking.
As Brian Kelly had to reload the roster on the fly, he added FIU offensive tackle Miles Frazier via the transfer portal. Despite the fact that Frazier was a Freshman All-American at left tackle, he embraced a role at LSU as a guard. Frazier became a key piece on the Tigers' offensive line and it led to him being the 171st overall recruit.
The Tigers had a returning young piece on the offensive line when Brian Kelly took over after Garrett Dellinger returned with experience playing in 12 games, 4 of which he started at several positions. Dellinger would settle in at left guard for the LSU Football team, and he became the glue for LSU's offensive line over the next three seasons. The Ravens completed LSU's offensive line draft class, taking Dellinger 243rd overall, meaning every piece of LSU's offensive line was drafted.
As the LSU football team now moves into a season where four of five offensive linemen need to be replaced LSU fans should feel a bit calmer. Brian Kelly has shown time and time again at several schools that his offenses are built on the offensive line which makes facing a full retool easier to stomach.
Along with replacing the entire offensive line, the LSU Tigers are also tasked with replacing arguably the best tight end in program history. Given Kelly's track record and with an elite talent in Trey'Dez Green, LSU fans should be optimistic about what lies ahead.