Brian Kelly gets sniped by Big Ten powerhouse for elite recruit that will leave LSU Tigers fans furious
Recruiting for LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly has been going really well with the 2026 class. They just landed elite five-star and number one wide receiver Tristen Keys to be the potentially the next great Tigers wide receiver.
In fact, the Tigers recruting class currently ranks number one in the nation with their nine commits thus far. After losing out on elite five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood, they didn’t lose their momentum. That is, until now.
Brian Kelly loses elite safety to Ohio State
The Tigers were firmly in the driver seat to land elite safety Blaine Bradford out of Baton Rouge with On3 Sports having them with a 93.9% chance to land his commitment. It wasn’t too much of a surprise with elite defensive back recruiter Corey Raymond as one of his main recruiters.
Unfortunately, that didn’t end up happening as Bradfor committed to Ohio State on Monday morning.
It was somewhat of a surprise overall because Bradford is across town from campus. Losing a player from your hometown is never a good thing, and it’s a frustrating loss for the Tigers. He projects to be a top recruit for a bevy of reasons.
Bradford is one of the top safety prospects in the 2026 class for a reason. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Bradford has the skill and athleticism to play anywhere in the secondary but his football instincts make him a natural at safety.
On Friday nights, Bradford aligns in a lot of two-high safety sets for Baton Rouge Catholic. He is at his best identifying the ball handler then attacking downhill. Bradford is a sound tackler that stops of lot of runs for minimal gains despite playing 10-15 yards off the ball. He has plenty of speed to play side-to-sideline as well. There are several plays on his junior film where he comes from one side of the field to bring down a ball carrier.
The number two safety recruit will be playing his games in Columbus and it’s disappointing.
