Report: LSU Football Senior Tight End Jamal Pettigrew Enters NCAA Transfer Portal
LSU tight end Jamal Pettigrew has entered the NCAA transfer portal according to multiple reports.
The Tigers fifth-year senior joins linebacker Marcel Brooks and safety Eric Monroe as players who have entered the transfer portal this offseason. Brooks announced his desires to be closer to home and transferred to TCU while Monroe, a fifth year senior like Pettigrew, transferred to Texas Tech.
In four seasons at LSU, Pettigrew was primarily used as a rotational tight end, bringing in two career receptions for 17 yards in 28 appearances in the 2017 and 2019 seasons combined. Al.com’s Matt Zenitz first reported the news.
At 6-foot-7, 254 pounds, Pettigrew battled with former tight ends Thaddeus Moss and Stephen Sullivan for the starting job ahead of the 2019 season.
Moss eventually won the battle and went on to break the single-season program records for receptions (47) and yards (570) by a tight end.
Entering 2020, Pettigrew was likely to see his snaps limited even more with the addition of freshman phenom Arik Gilbert. Much of the offseason talk on the offensive side of the ball has been centered around Gilbert, who was recently named the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year and the Mackey Award watch list.
"I'm just speechless, honestly," Gilbert told SI All-American upon being named the 2019-20 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year. "I never imagined I'd win something like this but now that I have it, I'm really thankful and grateful."
Coach Ed Orgeron has been very high on Gilbert since he enrolled in January. Despite a shoulder injury that kept him out for most of the spring, Orgeron and the staff feel his role will be multiple in the LSU offense even as a freshman.
"The guy you've gotta look at is Arik Gilbert, I'm considering Arik Gilbert as a wide receiver," Orgeron said on Off the Bench. "I can't wait for him to come back. Obviously we can use him at tight end but we can split him out at "X" and we can get some mismatches with this kid, especially in the redzone. He's going to be a nice target there for Myles Brennan.
"We can use some of the same plays with Arik that Scott ran with Megatron, I'm not saying he's going to be Megatron but he's a good player."
Pettigrew still has the option to remove his name from the transfer portal if he so chooses. Freshman Kole Taylor, junior Aaron Moffitt, senior Tory Carter and newcomer Nick Storz round out the rest of the tight end room.
