Brian Kelly optimistic about future of cornerback position for LSU

LSU finished with the nation’s No. 1 scoring and total offense in 2023, led by Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels at quarterback. Yet the Tigers lost three games, failing to ever threaten for a College Football Playoff spot.

The defense was a massive liability. In particular, the secondary was shoddy enough that virtually every game against a a quality opponent turned into a shootout.

Naturally, fixing the secondary — and more specifically the cornerback position — will be a key focus heading into the 2024 campaign.

“I feel good about it. I mean certainly Javien Toviano, Ashton Stamps, Jeremiah Hughes, Sage (Ryan), you’ve got four corners there,” Kelly said. “You’ve got some depth there. You’ve got freshmen coming in. I think we’re stabilizing a position that was not very stable.”

The Tigers also got some major news in the form of a returning player recovering from injury, with former transfer Zy Alexander now back and projected to get healthy.

“We’ve got Zy coming back as well, who was a starter for us,” Kelly said. “There’s depth there. There’s athleticism. That was not the case, obviously, over the last couple years.”

Exactly how bad was LSU’s secondary, anchored down by the underachieving cornerback position? Well, the Tigers finished 115th nationally in passing defense, pretty close to the bottom on the country.

The Tigers surrendered 255.6 yards per game through the air, and opponents had little trouble getting back into game by firing away at the secondary.

That will have to change if LSU hopes to break the 10-win barrier under Kelly. The defense simply has to be better.

One thing that’s interesting to note, though, is that LSU didn’t really attempt to fix the cornerback position this offseason by simply plugging and playing from the transfer portal, the way the team did a year ago.

Instead, Kelly is opting to rely more on the recruiting class for additional depth and potential snaps.

“What we’re starting to see is a stabilization and depth within the program that really was devoid of that,” Kelly said. “I think that’s why you didn’t see us jumping into the portal. We really want to be able to develop these younger players, and again, I feel confident in our ability to do that and have them ready to play championship football in the SEC.”

Time will tell, but the bottom line is LSU has to get significantly better at the cornerback position. At least for now, Kelly feels good about those odds.