BATON ROUGE, La. -- It's hard to say goodbye on senior day.
But let's face it: For the rank-and-file fan in the stands, half of the emotion is about the appreciation of the departing senior who has given four years of hard work and good memories. The other half is spent on fretting about who might fill that void when the senior is gone.
So let's look at LSU's 14-man senior class, which will be honored before Saturday's game against Ole Miss, and who might be there for the future:
DE: Lavar Edwards, Chancey Aghayere
The primary backups to junior starters Barkevious Mingo and Sam Montgomery, their presence allowed LSU to use a four-man rotation.
Who's back to replace them: With Montgomery and Mingo likely headed for an early exit to the NFL draft, the Tigers will need to replace the entire rotation. Jermauria Rasco, a sophomore, who has seen significant playing time, figures to be a candidate to start and Jordan Allen, who missed most of the season with an injury, will contend. Sophomore Justin Maclin and freshman Danielle Hunter also return.
Recruiting: LSU has commitments from three defensive ends: Frank Herron, Lewis Neal and Michael Patterson. The Tigers are still working to land Tim Williams, who would be the highest-ranked end in the class.
DT: Josh Downs
A solid contributor throughout his four-year career, Downs has been effective when he hasn't been dogged by injuries. This year, he's been healthy and has started seven of 10 games.
Who's back to replace him: Anthony Johnson, who started the other three games this season, is the likely candidate to start, and star, at defensive tackle. The other tackle, Bennie Logan, will likely leave for the draft, so the bigger question will be depth behind the starters as Ego Ferguson presumably steps into the lineup.
Two little-used reserves, redshirt freshmen Quentin Thomas and Mickey Johnson, will also be back to contend for the rotation.
Recruiting: Like defensive end, there will likely be opportunities for true freshmen to make an immediate impact at the position, a factor Greg Gilmore cited when he committed to the Tigers a week ago. Just days earlier another likely college tackle, Christian LaCouture, also committed. A third tackle, Tevin Lawson, committed in the spring. Gilmore is the most highly regarded of the bunch and has a good shot at playing right away.
OT: Josh Dworaczyk, Alex Hurst*
Hurst gets an asterisk because he left the team at mid-season and won't take part in senior day. The future at his old position, right tackle, is already solidified with true freshman Vadal Alexander having stepped into his spot and played well.
At left tackle, Dworaczyk stepped in at left tackle and has performed admirably after Chris Faulk was lost for the season with a knee injury.
Who's back to replace them: Faulk was likely headed to the NFL draft after this season before the knee injury sidelined him. Now, he'll be back and has time to recover from his injury. His backup, Chris Davenport, is also back, although when Faulk went down, it's notable that Davenport was not given a shot to replace him.
Alexander is back and freshmen Jonah Austin and Derek Edinburgh seem to be due to contend for playing time.
Recruiting: LSU has four offensive line commitments. Of the four, ESPN 150 member Ethan Pocic is the most likely fit at tackle. It's rare that somebody plays immediately on the offensive line like Alexander, so don't be surprised if some players from a class that includes Pocic, Andy Dodd, K.J. Malone and Josh Boutte are cross-training next year, working on finding their position of the future.
C: P.J. Lonergan
A three-year starter, Lonergan has solidified the position for a long time, lending some veteran savvy to a line that got younger as the year progressed.
Who's back to replace him: Elliott Porter got one start and more than 70 snaps behind Lonergan this year; there appears to be a high comfort level with him as the heir apparent. Beyond him are a slew of young linemen whose positions still are not clearly defined and a little-used walk-on in Ben Domingue.
Recruiting: Dodd, who's listed as a guard, might have a future at center for LSU. He switched his commitment from Alabama to LSU over the summer.
WR Russell Shepard
He came as a quarterback and has played some at running back, receiver and kick returner (along with other special teams roles) all as a reserve.
Depending upon how you look at it, Shepard's career has been one of frustrating talent unrealized, or remarkable versatility and selflessness.
Who will replace him: How do you replace a guy who's role has constantly shifted?
Actually, sophomore Terrance Magee is the Shepard-in-waiting. Like Shepard, he was a high school quarterback. Like Shepard, he has struggled to find a position, having gone from running back to a running back/receiver hybrid.
At receiver, LSU will be in great shape with all its leading receivers back. Shepard's had just six catches in his senior year and has been more effective as a running back, where LSU also returns all of its primary players (although junior Spencer Ware may leave for the NFL).
Recruiting: 2012 signee Avery Johnson becomes eligible in January and will join a recruiting class that also includes junior college transfer Quantavius Leslie, Chuck Baker and possibly athlete John Diarse, who might also play defensive back. And don't forget, LSU's still in the mix for super recruit Ricky Seals-Jones.
TE: Chase Clement
Always a good blocker, he had a solid senior year as the starter without being a huge factor in the passing game.
Who's back to replace him: Nic Jacobs was getting more playing time as the season went along until last week, when he did not play against Mississippi State despite being healthy. Also back is Travis Dickson, a little-used freshman, and true freshman Dillon Gordon.
Recruiting: There will likely be opportunities for both junior college transfer Logan Stokes and high school recruit Desean Smith to play right away.
K: Drew Alleman
As a senior, Alleman shook off a mid-season slump and is 16-for-23 on field goals and he's perfect on 36 point-after attempts.
Who's back to replace him?: James Hairston, who handles kickoffs, might get to handle place kicks as well. LSU has two walk-ons in Colby Delahoussaye and Trent Domingue.
Recruiting: After briefly flirting with kickers during the summer, it doesn't appear LSU will add any to this class.
Others
The rest of the class will be walk-ons, including defensive tackle Cleveland Davis, offensive guard Ben Domingue, defensive lineman Edwin Johnson, linebacker Jason Slaydon and linebacker Nick Rice. Domingue saw playing time this year on 11 snaps at offensive guard.