Since the Texas Bowl on New Years Eve, the LSU Tigers have been hard at work in the weight room, but now it's time for them to get back out on the field for real.

The Tigers begin spring practice on Saturday, March 8th and will practice multiple times a week until April 12th, when they have their spring game (or whatever that event ends up being this year).

Since we're getting close to the beginning of practice, I thought we could go through and look at the four biggest position battles that we'll be watching this spring. This list is in no particular order, but I think these will be the most contested and fun battles to keep track of.

The starting defensive end battle is going to be very fun to watch. Patrick Payton is the favorite to start, but Jimari Butler, Jack Pyburn, Gabe Reliford, Kolaj Cobbins and Damien Shanklin will be in the thick of things as well.

I don't see a world where Payton isn't one of the starters, so the battle really comes down to the other five guys I named fighting for one more spot.

Butler and Pyburn, who both transferred to LSU with one year of eligibility remaining, are probably the favorites to start alongside Payton. They both game here for their final season to learn from Kevin Peoples and help their chances of getting drafted next year. If I had to guess right now, I'd say Pyburn wins, but Butler will give him a run for his money.

Of the other three I mentioned, Gabe Reliford is the one I would watch for. He played a lot as a true freshman and is someone the staff really believes in. Cobbins and Shanklin should also earn some playing time, but I don't know how much they'll rival the other four for a starting spot.

Mansoor Delane already has the CB1 spot pretty much locked up, but the CB2 battle is WIDE open. Currently, there are four guys that I believe have a legitimate shot at earning the CB2 spot.

Ashton Stamps is the early favorite considering he's started for the past year and a half after he was thrown to the fire as a true freshman, but he has some challengers. Ja'Keem Jackson is a notable name; the Florida transfer was recruited by and worked with Corey Raymond, and if not for an injury, he probably would've been a full-time starter at UF last year. PJ Woodland is a very talented sophomore that we know the coaching staff loves. He's got great coverage skills, but needs to work to add weight and improve his tackling. Then there's five-star freshman, DJ Pickett, who has elite coverage skills mixed with a 6-foot-4 frame and even longer wingspan.

LSU has no shortage of talent at cornerback this year, and I think this will end up being one of the most tightly contested battles of the offseason.

While we have a decent idea on what the starting WRs could look like, there will be a big battle for playing time because this room is incredibly crowded.

The favorites to start are Barion Brown, Nic Anderson and Aaron Anderson, but there's a world where Chris Hilton has another excellent offseason and actually stays healthy and could get in that mix.

I think some mix of those four will be the starters, but there are still seven other guys who will be fighting for playing time: Kyle Parker, Zavion Thomas, Destyn Hill, TaRon Francis, Phillip Wright, Jelani Watkins and Javen Nicholas.

Parker and Thomas are pretty much guaranteed to be on the field at some point; Thomas is a weapon that can be used in a ton of different ways and Parker seemed to be in for a pretty big year before he was injured early in the season. Destyn Hill is another name I'd expect to get some good playing time. The FSU transfer was set to be one of the Seminoles' top wideouts last year, but a preseason injury sidelined him for the year.

After that, Francis, Wright, Watkins and Nicholas are going to be fighting for limited snaps. The WR room is just so deep that it will be hard for these four to get out there, but I expect Francis to be the top guy from this tier.

While the starters are pretty clear cut, it will be really interesting to see how the rest of this room stacks up.

The offensive guard battle is another one I'll be keeping a close eye on this spring. With Garrett Dellinger and Miles Frazier moving on, the battle is wide open for the young guys on this roster.

Virginia Tech transfer, Braelin Moore, is the favorite to start at center, which means DJ Chester will likely transition to guard if he still wants a chance to start (which I'm sure he does). Along with him, I view Paul Mubenga, Coen Echols, Bo Bordelon and Carius Curne as contenders for the two guard spots.

Chester and Mubenga are obviously the experienced options. Chester started at center last year and Mubenga filled in at guard when Dellinger was hurt at the end of the season. Chester struggled at times, but I think he'd do much better at guard. Mubenga also struggled, but settled in nicely in the Tigers' final two games of the season.

If they don't go with the experienced options, Echols, Bordelon and Curne all have a case to start. Echols started the Texas Bowl at guard and performed really well, giving up zero pressures in 27 pass blocking snaps. Bordelon also played some guard in the Texas Bowl and he surrendered zero pressures in 15 pass blocking snaps. Curne is the unknown commodity, but Brian Kelly said he's physically ready to play in the SEC, weighing in at 6-foot-5, 335-pounds.

Despite Mubenga and Chester having an advantage in terms of playing experience, I think Brad Davis and Brian Kelly are going to go into this with an open mind. I don't think any one guy has a massive advantage over the rest, which should make this battle really entertaining.