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Eli Lederman
LSU secured its highest-ranked pledge in the 2026 recruiting cycle Thursday with a commitment from four-star in-state offensive tackle Brysten Martinez, No. 32 in the ESPN Junior 300.
Martinez is a 6-foot-6, 280-pound lineman from East Ascension High School in Gonzales, Louisiana. He is ESPN’s No. 4 offensive tackle prospect and third-ranked recruit in the state of Louisiana in the 2026 class. Martinez, whose list of offers includes Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, Tennessee, Florida, Texas A&M and Penn State, announced his commitment to the Tigers via Instagram Thursday morning.
Martinez is now the highest-rated prospect in coach Brian Kelly’s 2026 class, and his pledge continues LSU’s hot start to the cycle on the in-state recruiting trail.
All six recruits currently committed to the Tigers’ next class hail from the state of Louisiana, including five prospects ranked in the latest ESPN Junior 300 released earlier this week. Headlined by Martinez, safety Aiden Hall (No. 118 overall), athlete Jakai Anderson (No. 161), defensive tackle Richard Anderson (No. 181) and wide receiver Kenny Darby (No. 275), LSU currently holds pledges from 50% of Louisiana’s top 12 prospects in the 2026 cycle.
Martinez, who plays his high school football roughly 25 miles from Tiger Stadium, took a series of unofficial visits to LSU during his recruitment, most recently during the program’s junior day last month. He follows four-star Oregon pledge Kodi Greene (No. 37 in ESPN Junior 300) as the second commit among ESPN’s top five offensive tackles in the 2026 class, leaving only five-star blockers Jackson Cantwell (No. 4 overall), Lamar Brown (No. 5) and Immanuel Iheanacho (No. 9) still uncommitted.
Martinez’s pledge gives LSU a potentially foundational talent for the future, and the Tigers will be trying to add around him on the offensive line atop the 2026 class in the coming months.
Brown is ESPN’s No. 2 offensive tackle and Louisiana’s No. 1 prospect in the cycle. He also attends University Lab School on the LSU campus, and the Tigers should be viewed as front-runners to land Brown’s pledge ahead of Alabama, Miami, Florida State and Texas A&M. LSU is also vying to join Alabama, Georgia, Penn State, Oregon and Maryland on Iheanacho’s list of official visits later this year while the Tigers are also in the mix for four-star offensive tackle Darius Gray (No. 70 overall).
LSU signed three ESPN 300 offensive tackles in the 2025 cycle, headlined by five-star Solomon Thomas, the No. 17 overall prospect in the class.