Devastating ACL tear sidelines anticipated LSU DE Gabriel Reliford. An injury repeats last season's heartbreak, halting his path to a starting role.
Early heartbreak in spring camp as LSU Tigers defensive end Gabriel Reliford suffered a torn ACL, per Matt Moscona of LouisianaSports.net.
This continues an unfortunate trend, as the Evangel Christian Academy grad had his season shut down early last year with a shoulder injury. Reliford was in line for a starting role on this year's defense, but will not see the field.
The defensive end has 18 tackles with half a sack and two total tackles for a loss. He played 13 games as a freshman, but played just four games. He's likely to miss all of this season, but there does seem to be a chance he returns very late, per Moscona.
Reliford now repeats the same story of last season. He was a very anticipated piece of the defense and expected to take the Tigers' pass rush to the next level. Instead, he will have to watch from the sidelines.
Luckily for LSU, this time, they have already done a lot of work to replace that room. Princely Umanmielen was brought in after being the top pass rush option in the transfer portal. He was starting no matter what, but at least the Tigers will have their best pass rusher this season. Unlike last year, when Reliford may have been the top.
Looking to replace Reliford will be Jordan Ross. Ross was formerly a top-10 player in the nation, but has never really had the production to show it. Dylan Carpenter, Jaylen Brown, Lamar Brown and Trenton Henderson will also fight for extra playing time.