LSU Football's Brian Kelly Provides Honest Assessment of Florida State EDGE Transfer

Kelly and Co. added the highly-touted defensive weapon, beginning to emerge for the Tigers.

Courtesy of Patrick Payton's Instagram

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers reeled in one of the top NCAA Transfer Portal hauls this offseason with multiple instant impact players making their way to Baton Rouge.

Florida State edge rusher Patrick Payton immediately became a headliner after putting pen to paper with the Bayou Bengals in December.

Payton, the 2022 ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year, provides a different element to LSU's defense after shining for the Seminoles during his time in Tallahassee (Fla.).

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.

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 during Fall Camp.

"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."

Courtesy of Patrick Payton's Instagram.

The LSU edge rushers room is arguably the deepest position group in Baton Rouge with Payton joining transfers Jack Pyburn [Florida] and Jimari Butler [Nebraska] alongside returnee Gabriel Reliford.

As it currently stands, Reliford and Pyburn have been receiving a majority of first-team reps in Fall Camp, but Payton remains a player that is in the mix for starting duties while shining with the second-team.

"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."

Florida transfer Jack Pyburn can be penciled in as a starter for the Tigers heading into the 2025 season as he continues his strong offseason.

Courtesy of Jack Pyburn's Instagram.

Pyburn is fresh off of a 2024 season where he logged 60 total tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack and one interception while starting the last eight games of the year.

In three seasons with the Gators, Pyburn logged 80 total tackles with his "coming out season" being in 2024.

LSU continues working through Fall Camp with all eyes on the new-look defense heading into Week 1 at Clemson.

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