LSU Football's Brian Kelly Evaluates a Florida State Transfer EDGE With Huge Upside

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers made a splash in the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason after signing Florida State edge rusher Patrick Payton in December.

Payton, the 2022 ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year, quickly became a hot commodity in the portal with a slew of potential suitors, but it became the LSU Tigers that won out for his services.

Once his name was officially in the system last December, 247Sports rated Payton as the No. 2 overall transfer and the No. 1 edge rusher in the market. He was the No. 1 defensive player in the portal.

The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder logged 109 tackles, 32 tackles for loss, 16 sacks, 12 pass breakups and three forced fumbles across three seasons with Florida State.

Now, he's in Baton Rouge looking to carry his success in the Southeastern Conference with the LSU coaching staff ready to see his growth.

New LSU EDGE Patrick Payton Since 2023:

🐯 11.0 Sacks
🐯 70 QB Pressures
🐯 35 Run Stops
🐯 18 TFL’s/No Gain@LSUfootball pic.twitter.com/5Nuy2mkalS
— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 5, 2025

LSU head coach Brian Kelly broke down what he's seen from Payton and the current expectation heading into the 2025 season.

"Patrick would tell you if you asked him, he'd say, this is a big workload for him, one that he's not quite as familiar with. He's done a really good job of handling the additional workload," Kelly said on Tuesday.

"He's rounding into that kind of football shape that we all need him to be in to play at the highest level. But he's been great. I mean, he's done everything we've asked him to do."

LSU signed a trio of edge rushers this offseason with Jack Pyburn [Florida] and Jimari Butler [Nebraska] joining Payton.

The three newcomers sit alongside returning piece Gabriel Reliford as the four Tigers making up the two-deep depth chart during Fall Camp.

"It's a competitive situation. He knows it. But he's learning every day. Look, he came here because he wanted to obviously develop at a higher level. Not that they didn't develop at Florida State, but he was looking for more of that. That's why he transferred," Kelly said.

"We want to meet and exceed his wishes, so we spent a lot of time and coach Peoples spent a lot of time with him on his technique, developing his technique."

Now, all eyes are on the coveted first-year Tiger as he gears up for a critical season in Baton Rouge.

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