LSU adds veteran Wisconsin transfer defensive lineman
Former Wisconsin defensive end Gio Paez will transfer to LSU for the 2024 season, he announced Tuesday via X. He spent the past five seasons with the Badgers and will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Paez appeared in 13 games with six starts at Wisconsin this past season. He ended the year with 23 total tackles to go along with a pair of quarterback hurries.
Listed at 6-foot-3, 310 pounds Paez could have potential to bump inside for the Tigers in 2024 as it’s been talked about from Brian Kelly that LSU still needs defensive tackle help. Paez is originally from Los Angeles, California and spent his first season at Wisconsin redshirting and his second playing in one game, but it counted as the COVID season in 2020. The past three years, he’s played 32 games and logged 36 tackles.
Paez was a three-star prospect out of high school in Southern California and is someone LSU will need to help bolster the depth along the defensive line as new defensive line coach Bo Davis has to rework the unit after LSU lost three starters over the offseason in Mekhi Wingo, Maason Smith, and Jordan Jefferson.
“I love our young players,” Kelly said. “Gabe Reliford, obviously. We talked about McKinley. Certainly, De’Myrion Johnson. I mean, we’ve got young, talented players. Ahmad Breaux. We’re gonna be in a really good situation. We’ve got edge players. That to me is an area that we’re going to have to get more depth in the inside, the interior, in the shade, the 3-technique. We’re going to continue to look at where we can continue to grow there. We’re still recruiting and we’ll continue to do that. We have the spring portal that we’ll address as well. There aren’t any transfer opportunities within the SEC, but there are opportunities in the spring outside the SEC.
“So, we’re vigilant. We’re on it. We know where we need to continue to build depth and we like the guys we have on campus, so we know where we need to continue to grow.”
Jacobian Guillory and Jalen Lee were reported as starting in spring practices at the two defensive tackle spots over the weekend. LSU moved offensive lineman Kimo Makane’ole to the defensive line and has continued to look for more options on the interior, but the transfer portal was always going to be key for the Tigers in 2024. This is the first domino to fall as the Tigers rebuild the defensive front.
“I think all eyes are on what we are doing defensively,” Kelly said. “What is the improvement from the defensive line, we’ve lost some really good players up front, to what is the maturation level of the back end of the defense where we have played a lot of young players.”
