They chant it when breaking their huddles. They write it on white boards above coverage schemes. They tweet it at each other for motivation. The LSU football team’s secondary has unofficially redubbed their school DBU – Defensive Back University. The secondary embraced its ability to send players to the next level. According to pro-football-reference.com, there have been more Tiger defensive backs that have graduated to the NFL than LSU players at any other single position. And the tradition is as strong as it has ever been. After this year’s draft, when Morris Claiborne, Brandon Taylor and Ron Brooks were all taken, ESPN.com’s Gary Laney pointed out that it was the first time since 1960 that a trio of LSU defensive backs was drafted and that an LSU defensive back had been drafted for six straight years. “It was a trend ever since [former LSU defensive back] Corey Webster,” said junior cornerback Tharold Simon, a near-carbon copy of Claiborne. “…Who wouldn’t want to want to come over here and be a special part of this defensive back unit?” Some of the 12 former LSU defensive backs on NFL rosters were never even standouts during their time in Baton Rouge. The Bills spent a fourth-round pick in the 2012 draft on Brooks, a player that started three collegiate games in four years. The buzz around Brooks from Buffalo coaches is already building, especially after his interception of Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins’ pass in the first half of the team’s first preseason game. That kind of culture, the way the DB corps prepares cornerbacks and safeties for the professional game, catches the eye of recruits who can continue the legacy. “Watching them guys when I was in high school … it was just something I caught a liking to and wanted to be a part of,” said redshirt freshman Jalen Collins, a possible replacement for the recently dismissed Tyrann Mathieu.
____ Contact Alex Cassara at [email protected]; Twitter: @cassaraTDR