Ashton Stamps leaves the LSU Football team, set to transfer

LSU cornerback Ashton Stamps, who had started for the Tigers prior to the 2025 season, is no longer with the team, sources tell The Bengal Tiger’s Shea Dixon and On3’s Pete Nakos.

Stamps is set to redshirt and enter the NCAA Transfer Portal following his departure from the roster.

Stamps, who was in his third season with the Tigers, started all 13 games at cornerback as a sophomore in 2024. The New Orleans native ranked inside the Top 5 in the SEC in passes defended (14) in 2024.

Between his debut season as a freshman in 2023 and going wire-to-wire as a starter in 2024, Stamps appeared in 24 games with 17 starts in purple-and-gold. He logged 74 tackles and 16 total pass breakups during that stretch.

With 16 games started in a row entering the 2025 season, Stamps took a backseat at cornerback to Virginia Tech transfer Mansoor Delane, returning starter PJ Woodland, and true freshman and former 5-star prospect DJ Pickett.

After the team’s 5-2 start, Stamps had played in just one game and logged only 18 snaps on the season.

Earlier this week, LSU head coach Brian Kelly circled Stamps and safety Jardin Gilbert, another former starter who moved into a backup role for the Tigers, as two players who were not seeing game action as a result of decisions to take a redshirt to preserve a year of college eligibility.

“We’re trying to protect them,” Kelly said. “Both of them.”

Here’s a glance at the snap count for the group of true freshmen on defense, which paints the picture of players who are likely to redshirt with five regular season games remaining.

Defense

Defensive snaps (Games played includes special teams)

• CB DJ Pickett: 213 snaps (7 games) – PFF Grade: 73.2
• DL Walter Mathis: 79 snaps (7 games) – PFF Grade: 64.8
• LB Zach Weeks: 30 snaps (2 games)
• DT Brandon Brown: 16 snaps (1 game)
• LB Charles Ross: 14 snaps (6 games)
• DB CJ Jimcoily: 11 snaps (7 games)
• LB Jaiden Braker: 7 snaps (1 game)
• DE Damien Shanklin: 6 snaps (2 games)
• S Jhase Thomas: 1 snap (1 game)
• CB Aidan Anding: 1 snap (2 games)
• DT Zion Williams: 2 games
• DB Jacob Bradford 2 games

Pickett has been superb at LSU as the opposite corner of PJ Woodland and has lived up to every expectation for the Tigers at the cornerback position. Mathis has also been reliable playing about 10-15 snaps per game and grading out well.

CJ Jimcoily and Charles Ross will not be taking redshirts, having played more than four games because of their activity on special teams. Both should be real players for the defense next year, but this year they are both outside of the two deep.

The rest of this group will take their redshirts and may only play in the game against Western Kentucky at home if LSU can build a lead for once this season. LB Keylan Moses is the only freshman defensive player who has not played in a game this year.