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LSU Tigers and Brian Kelly set to possibly steal elite defensive recruit away from SEC rivals amid official visits

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Travis May | Last updated Jun 14, 2025 8:45 AM ET

The LSU Tigers may not be landing many commitments from top recruits amid official visits season just yet, but they're still getting plenty of good news. Brian Kelly and company are hosting one of the most important recruiting weekends of the cycle right now (June 13-14) and they're finalists for nearly the entire group. And after this week's news it looks like they may be closing in on landing one of their most important targets.

Landon Barnes, Four Star EDGE Recruit

Landon Barnes is a four star edge defender from the storied Duncanville High School football program. At 6'4", 235 pounds he's already built to compete in the SEC with speed, length, and burst to finish with his pass rush. For much of his recruitment it's seemed that he was leaning towards joining SMU, but as blue blood programs have been pushing harder for him down the stretch it's becoming quite clear he may leave the state of Texas after all.

The Texas Longhorns are still in it for Barnes, but so are Ohio State, Ole Miss, LSU, and more. However, as of this past week it looks like he's beginning to narrow his choices, or at least suggest his favorites. Barnes had just set an official visit with Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs, but instead chose to opt out of that visit entirely, prioritizing a trip to see the LSU Tigers instead.

NEWS: Four-star EDGE Landon Barnes is no longer set to visit Georgia this weekend. The blue-chipper will officially visit LSU instead

More on this weekend's official visitor list in Baton Rouge: https://t.co/sPlJTCgwW6 pic.twitter.com/B0GtJw0tkR
— Sam Spiegelman (@samspiegs) June 13, 2025

This is of course great news for LSU fans, because they understand just how important fixing their defense has become over the past few years. Last season the Tigers' defense was a bit better in coverage and checked more boxes in the advanced per-play metrics, but still struggled with more athletic quarterbacks. Landing elite athletic edge defenders like Landon Barnes could help fix that problem.

And as many LSU fans also know, the Tigers did bring in a strong transfer portal class along the defensive edge this spring with Patrick Payton, Jack Pyburn, and Jimari Butler, but all three of those players will be gone after this year. Rising star sophomore Gabriel Reliford will need a dynamic edge rusher opposite him as soon as next season.

LSU, like many top programs, joined the recruiting battle for Barnes a little late only offering him early this spring, but as soon as they did they entered the mix as a finalist. When Barnes officially announced his top eight schools to begin the month of May, LSU was right there. Despite that, there was some worry that LSU's position in Barnes' top eight was more ornamental than serious consideration as he prioritized locking in official visits with other programs first. His official visit with the Tigers this weekend (choosing to see LSU over Georgia) certainly silenced those concerns.

He still has visits with Ohio State (next weekend) and Texas (in September) scheduled, so this recruitment isn't over by any means, but LSU seems to be surging at just the right time. LSU fans can't rest easy with this one yet, but Barnes is yet another high pedigree recruit the Tigers find themselves firmly in the mix to land here soon.

We'll be back with more LSU Tigers coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

If you want to see some of the plays that have led to Landon Barnes quick ascent up recruiting boards just check out his junior season highlights in the video below.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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