TRENDING: Here is LSU Tigers top target for the transfer season.

Gio Paez admittedly talked a lot of trash when he played against LSU. He didn’t know what his future held after five years at Wisconsin, so he tried to get underneath his opponents’ skin and tossed his head around between plays throughout the ReliaQuest Bowl.

Two months later, Paez took an official visit to LSU. The team needed defensive tackles, and he wanted to play somewhere else with his last year of eligibility. Paez saw a few of those offensive linemen he talked smack to while in the facility.

“That’s my team now,” Paez said with a laugh.

Paez signed with LSU after the visit. He said “I’m not big into recruiting,” so even though other teams contacted him when he entered the transfer portal, he made his decision after one trip. He found a scheme that might help him produce more, and LSU added its first transfer defensive tackle of the year.

Paez likely won’t be the last. The transfer portal opens from Tuesday until April 30, and LSU has one priority: sign defensive tackles.

“I don’t see any other positions that we need to be in the transfer portal for other than the defensive tackle position,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said.

Players only have to enter the transfer portal during the window. They can choose a new team afterward, but they can’t transfer within the Southeastern Conference and play this fall according to league rules that prohibit them from doing so after Feb. 1.

LSU has needed help at defensive tackle ever since Maason Smith and Mekhi Wingo declared early for the NFL draft. It focused on retention instead of signing transfers in December, but now it has no choice. The team has to find more interior linemen to add experience, depth and proven talent to the room.

LSU went through spring ball with five scholarship defensive tackles. Redshirt seniors Jacobian Guillory and Jalen Lee started the spring game, and Kelly said Guillory was “outstanding” against the run over the last month. Junior-college transfer Shone Washington, converted offensive lineman Kimo Makane’ole and preferred walk-on Preston Hickey played on the two-deep. The Tigers also had three-star early enrollee De’Myrion Johnson.

Paez and five-star freshman Dominick McKinley will join the team this summer, but LSU wants to strengthen the defensive interior. It hosted Indiana graduate transfer Philip Blidi last week. Other targets will emerge as players enter the transfer portal.

“We need to get some help at the defensive tackle position, which we will,” Kelly said. “We’re addressing it.”

The Tigers are above the 85 scholarship limit, so there will be departures. Redshirt freshman edge rusher Jaxon Howard already told the staff he intends to transfer.

Paez was the first addition. The day he entered the transfer portal, new LSU defensive line coach Bo Davis called him around 5 p.m. as he left the capstone class for his life sciences communications major. Davis expressed his interest and introduced himself. Paez said Davis wanted experienced players, and Paez met that requirement.

A Los Angeles native who went to high school in North Carolina, Paez signed with Wisconsin in 2019 as a three-star recruit. He did not play much his first three years. Then, Paez appeared in 10 games as a redshirt junior, matching the previous three seasons combined. He made 12 tackles, including one for a loss.

Last season, Paez played in every game with six starts. He recorded 22 tackles. Though listed on the roster as a defensive end, the 6-foot-3, 310-pound Paez played inside. He often lined up at nose guard in a 3-4 scheme and slid to wider alignments based on the call. He said his responsibilities made him absorb double-teams and prioritize stopping the run.