LSU’s defense picked off 23 passes last season, and 14 of those interceptions were made by players who are no longer members of the Tigers’ secondary.Former Tigers Jonathan Zenon, Chevis Jackson and Craig Steltz were the anchors for a secondary that allowed 182.7 passing yards per game. Now an inexperienced LSU secondary relies on a pool of former top recruits.Returning players do not believe this secondary shuffle is a cause for concern.  “I don’t even notice the difference,” said junior linebacker Jacob Cutera. “We recruit great talent. Those guys are unbelievable, so I am really happy they are behind me.”The Tigers expect the talent and potential of their defensive backs to overcome the inexperience and continue a tradition of dominant LSU defenses.”We’ll have plenty at corner,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “We just need to make sure we get the best guys to the field fast.”Junior Chris Hawkins, redshirt sophomore Jai Eugene, redshirt freshmen Phelon Jones and Ron Brooks and true freshman Ryan St. Julien are all players Miles said he expects to compete for playing time at cornerback.The group has a combined total of 25 combined career tackles. Eugene said the defensive backs feel a little pressure to step into the shoes of Zenon and Jackson who combined for 89 tackles last season.”Those guys are really special, and they were good players,” Eugene said. “It is just something we have to work on every day and come out and get better, so we can fill those shoes.”Co-defensive coordinator Doug Mallory said he is pleased with the progress made by Eugene and Hawkins.”The guys that were waiting in the wings, Hawkins and Eugene, as we went through spring football and summer conditioning, and thus far in two-a-days, have made tremendous strides,” Mallory said.Junior wide receiver Brandon LaFell said Eugene learned a lot from Jackson. “It is just like going against Chevis,” LaFell said. Mallory said Brooks and Jones could also battle for time.  “The two men we redshirted last year are ready to play,” Mallory said. “The incoming freshmen — and even as we got into recruiting this past year, having lost those corners, we knew that was going to be a priority in recruiting, and we feel good about the freshmen we signed this past year.”St. Julien and freshman corner Patrick Peterson are both highly touted recruits. Peterson was a five-star recruit, and St. Julien was the No. 20 overall prospect in Louisiana, according to Rivals.com.”[Peterson] is a man who has an awful lot of talent,” Miles said Aug. 8 at media day. “He still has to learn our style and our system and our scheme and we’ve yet to really bring that all together.”Hawkins said the competition is helping him stay focused.”There are no starters out here,” Hawkins said. “Everyday you’ve got to come out here with your hard hat on.”The Tigers have experience at the safety position in junior Danny McCray, sophomore Chad Jones and returning starter senior Curtis Taylor to help guide the way.   McCray racked up 64 tackles and two interceptions in 14 games playing mostly in nickel last season.He said he worked on his back pedal, his man coverage and his patience.Although he is listed as a free safety, he said he still expects to play a lot of cornerback in nickel formations.The Tigers’ leading tackler this past season, Steltz, graduated and left a huge void at the strong safety position, but the Tigers caught a glimpse of junior Harry Coleman in their final game of the season.    “In the national championship game, when [Steltz] went down, I didn’t know if I wanted to watch,” said LSU co-defensive coordinator Bradley Dale Peveto. “Harry Coleman went in that football game, and we didn’t miss a beat.” Coleman said he was ready to play in the game and is ready to play this season.”We are gonna go out there and try to dominate every team we play,” Coleman said.—–Contact Amos Morale at [email protected].