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LSU

Maason Smith back on the field for first time since injury

On3 imageby: Shea Dixon04/18/23sheadixon
maason-smith
(Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)

LSU defensive lineman Maason Smith suffered a torn ACL on the first defensive drive of the 2022 season, and he was sidelined for the remainder of the year.

At the time, Smith was set to be one of college football’s top defensive prospects.

Seven months later, Smith returned to the practice field – in pads – and took part in position drills on Tuesday. It was the first media viewing session of spring practices that Smith was with the current defensive line and not working on conditioning with other injured players on roster.

LSU is set to practice again on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s Spring Game at 1 p.m.

It’s unlikely Smith plays in the game, but his return to practice for the first time is certainly notable as LSU head coach Brian Kelly moves into Year 2 in Baton Rouge.

Kelly said the return of Smith brings LSU a major boost

Smith left high school as a five-star recruit, and he burst onto the scene as a freshman with 19 tackles in nine games, while also recording five tackles for a loss and four sacks.

When he moved into a starting role as a sophomore, Kelly said the second-year star was set to become a household name in college football. Instead, his injury cut short the season before Smith got rolling.

Now, Smith is on track to be ready to suit up for the Tigers in the opener against Florida State.

“It’ll be immense,” Kelly said of Smith’s return. “Look, we had great edge presence last year, it was pretty obvious, with Harold (Perkins) and BJ (Ojulari). But you could fan one side and chip or move the back to the other because we didn’t have a great inside pass-rush presence.

“Now you put Maason to the inside? If you do that this year, I don’t know how many sacks he’ll have. You can’t single block him. We couldn’t.

“So when you start to fan to him and when I say fan, when you start to move the center to him or use a back inside, now you’re going to leave our edge players one-on-one and we’ll have a really good, balanced pass-rush. He brings that presence, which we didn’t have last year.”

Matt House used Smith’s time away to give others a chance

While Smith is locked into a starting job, his absence this spring has given LSU defensive coordinator Matt House the chance to get a closer look at other players on the roster as he gets a better sense of what’s in the arsenal for the Tigers next season.

Arizona transfer Paris Shand has worked at tackle with returning players like Bryce Langston and Tygee Hill, while Jacobian Guillory, Fitzgerald West and Jalen Lee have seen time mainly at nose tackle. At defensive end, the Tigers have plenty of options with Saivion Jones and Quency Wiggins leading the way.

With Smith, starting defensive lineman Mekhi Wingo and incoming freshman five-star Dashawn Womack all out this spring, House has gotten a better feel for the rest of the room.

“You kind of have to go back and and in some ways you know, Mekhi played so many snaps for us. We know what he can be,” House said. “Maason, I have a pretty good feel for what Maason can be because he did go through a whole training camp and a whole spring.

“I think what you see, too, is you get an opportunity to work with the guys that really need more reps. Not that those other guys don’t — they do — but it’s the next man up and it gives you a chance to see that growth.”

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