LSU DE Gabriel Reliford will miss remainder of 2025 season

After a strong start to his sophomore season at LSU, defensive end Gabriel Reliford will miss the remainder of the 2025 season with a torn rotator cuff, head coach Brian Kelly said on Thursday night at his radio show.

Reliford had a strong fall camp and was a key figure in the Tigers’ defense so far this year, with more than 100 snaps and five tackles in the first three games of the season, while providing pressure on opposing quarterbacks off the edge. Reliford is from Shreveport, Louisiana and was a highly touted four star prospect in the 2024 class.

On Monday, Kelly said the initial outlook was more positive, but said surgery was on the table if he could not play through it.

“Reliford has a subluxation of his shoulder so he is out this week then we will determine if a surgery is necessary or if he can play with it. We certainly want to respect the fact that in this situation, you want to make sure he’s capable in pass rush and if he can’t compete at the level he needs to then we’ll look at the options in front of us and surgery may be an option.”

Now, Reliford will take his redshirt and move towards recovery the remainder of the year.

LSU turns even more to senior Patrick Peyton off the EDGE, but the backup situation is murky with several names in the mix, including Jimari Butler, Dylan Carpenter, Damien Shanklin, Kolaj Cobbins, and others.

Gabriel Reliford’s LSU bio

FRESHMAN SEASON (2024)
Appeared in 13 games with 1 start … Start came at Florida … Tallied 10 tackles, 1.0 tackles for loss and a half-sack … Season-high 44 snaps in win over Baylor (1 tackle) … Set a career-best with 4 tackles in Tiger Stadium debut against Nicholls in week 2 … Had a pair of tackles including a tackle for a 4-yard loss and a half-sack in win over South Alabama … Played a total of 156 defensive snaps.

HIGH SCHOOL
Defensive line prospect who is considered one of the best at his position in the Class of 2024 … Rated with 4-stars in the On3 composite … Ranked as high as No. 7 nationally and No. 4 overall in Louisiana by On3 … Composite national ranking of No. 23 at his position and No. 6 overall in Louisiana … First-Team 4A All-State and named the Most Outstanding Player in 4A in Louisiana as a senior in 2023 … Tallied 251 tackles and 15 sacks over the span of junior and senior seasons … As a junior, racked up 129 tackles, 27 tackles for loss and 6 sacks … Followed that with 122 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 9 sacks, 21 QB hurries and a fumble recovery as a senior in 2023 … Capped career with 17 tackles vs. Shaw in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs … Comes from same school that produced former LSU standouts in Jacob Hester, Micah Baskerville and Jarrick Bernard-Converse … Early enrollee at LSU.