This article is the first part of a three-part series highlighting the most pivotal position groups heading into LSU’s 2024 season.
When you talk about LSU football last season, the conversation begins and ends with how porous the defense was.
It says something that LSU’s defensive struggles were so profound that they managed to overshadow what was perhaps the greatest offense in LSU history, led by Heisman-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels and first-round receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr.
Though there was plenty of blame to go around, the culprit of the offensive struggles was most often the secondary, which failed to grasp defensive fundamentals and often left receivers wide open or missed crucial tackles.
Simply put, watching the LSU secondary was a nerve-wracking and occasionally painful experience. If the unit was even average, the Tigers could’ve been one of the top teams in the country and the season could’ve gone completely differently.
Therefore, it’s fitting that as I examine the three position groups whose performance in 2024 will most define LSU’s season, I begin with the defensive backs.
What’s changed?
The biggest change to the secondary is on the sideline, not on the field.
Head coach Brian Kelly recognized that a cleaning of house was needed, and that’s certainly what has taken place.
LSU has completely overhauled its defensive staff, bringing in defensive coordinator Blake Baker from Missouri, as well as secondary coach Corey Raymond and safeties coach Jake Olsen.
Raymond was the longtime secondary coach at LSU from 2012 to 2021 and helped build the team’s reputation as “DBU,” or Defensive Back University. He wasn’t retained when head coach Brian Kelly was hired.
Throughout spring practice after Raymond arrived, he focused on rebuilding and re-teaching the defensive backs, correcting fundamentals and pointing the group in the right direction, something that was sorely needed.
The new coaches have also brought a new scheme that will introduce a position called the “star,” a versatile playmaker that plays close to the line of scrimmage as a sort of linebacker-safety hybrid.
Major Burns will occupy that role, which allows Sage Ryan to return to his natural position at safety after spending last season at cornerback.
As far as personnel change, LSU lost cornerbacks Denver Harris, Duce Chestnut and Laterrance Welch to the transfer portal, but Harris and Chestnut were away from the team for much of the year and Welch, though talented, was a work-in-progress.
The Tigers added safeties Jardin Gilbert and Austin Ausberry and cornerback Jyaire Brown as transfers.
Cornerbacks JK Johnson and Zy Alexander will return from injuries suffered last season, and PJ Woodland and Dashawn McBryde come in as the primary freshmen that could make an impact.
After a woeful season from LSU’s defensive backs, there’s appropriately been plenty of change.
The outlook
There was only so much the team could do to solve the issue with LSU’s secondary last year. There was a lack of talent there: the team didn’t have top options it could feel confident in.
As Kelly put it, no one else was walking through the door.
That same problem could emerge this season. Even with better coaching, does LSU just not have the requisite talent in the secondary?
In spring practice, Woodland and sophomore Ashton Stamps were the starting cornerbacks, two former three-star recruits.
Johnson and Alexander were admittedly both sidelined then, and Brown was relegated to the bench as a newcomer still earning his dues. Still, it’s clear LSU hasn’t been stocking up on elite talent at cornerback.
There’s a definite upside there. Alexander showed flashes last season before his injury against Arkansas, and Johnson was once a starter for a solid Ohio State defense.
Still, the outlook of the cornerbacks hinges more on what could be than what currently is. Fall camp will be important as these cornerbacks get more comfortable with the new coaches and a pecking order emerges.
The safety position offers more reason for optimism: Burns has been moved to a role that better suits him, Ryan is back in his natural position after being one of the brighter spots in the secondary last year and Gilbert brings high-level experience.
LSU also has an exciting amount of depth this season compared to the past. In addition to Brown and McBryde, young players like Kylin Jackson and Ryan Yaites Jr. showed promise during the spring.
Even more freshmen who didn’t enroll early could make splashes in the fall. It seems very likely that several starting spots could be up for grabs.
Between all of the options the team has, you have to assume that the LSU secondary will, at the very least, show improvement from last year.
It might be a stretch to say it could be an elite unit; that would require several players making huge leaps.
However, if the offense is one of the best in the country like it’s expected to be, the defense only needs to be serviceable to support it. That seems well within reason for this LSU secondary this season.
