Senior moments, some LSU honorees might return

Published 12:00 pm Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Saturday morning will be the Senior Day ceremony for LSU before the Tigers finish the regular season against Texas A&M.

For some Tigers it could merely be Senior Day Part I.

A good many who may go through the ceremony will have the option to return for another season.

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“You could have a couple of Senior Days,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said. “I’ve had multiple pictures with players with players on Senior Days, and this could be the case as well.”

There’s a glut because many of the seniors played during the COVID-19 Year of 2020, which didn’t count against an athletes’ eligibility.

“We’re really working on their academic calendar, not necessarily their eligibility calendar,” Kelly said. “There is that opportunity that some could come back because of the COVID year as an additional year of eligibility.”

Among the top seniors with a choice to make would be running back Josh Williams and No. 3 receiver Kyren Lacy.

Lacy would figure to get a lot more targets next year, particularly if junior wide receivers Malik Nabers and/or Brian Thomas leave early for the NFL draft.

There’s also the case of junior defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo, who was lost for a least the regular season after undergoing surgery after a lower-body injury in the Army game.

He, too, will have a decision to make about leaving early for the NFL.

“Certainly we’d love to have him back,” Kelly said of Wingo. “We’re going to recruit him again (but) he has a decision to make, relative to coming back for another year — is it in his best interests?

“We’ll give him a lot of data in terms of what we think is in his best interests and we’ll let him and his family and those that are helping him with his decision process through that.”

RINSE & REPEAT: Might as well retire the trophy. Daniels was named Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week after his record-setting performance against Georgia Southern. It was the second consecutive week Daniels won the award and fifth this season. While ringing up 509 yards in total offense, he tied the SEC record with the eight touchdowns he was responsible for — six passing, two rushing — and now shares the record with 2019 Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow.

WOUNDED TIGERS: Kelly said he expects to get starting running back Logan Diggs back after he missed the last two games with an injury. He said Diggs tried to come back for last week, but coaches decided the prudent play was to hold him out one more week. Also, Kelly said Whit Weeks has been missing for recent games due to an accident “that left a nasty gash in his foot … we probably could have gotten him in the Georgia State game. That was my decision not to play him. I did not want to put him into a game where he popped two or three of those stitches out. We’re going to need him this weekend.” The stitches have since been removed, Kelly said, and Weeks will play this week. Safety Andre Sam left the GSU game and did not return, but Kelly said he is good to go this week.

1-2 PUNCH: Both LSU wide receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. are among 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award given to the nation’s top receiver. Nabers leads the nation with 1,424 yards receiving while Thomas leads with 14 touchdown receptions. LSU is the only school with two receivers on the list. Also, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock is a finalist for the Broyles Award, which goes to college football’s top assistant coach.