How LSU plans to fill gaping hole in secondary left by the loss of Derek Stingley

Many LSU fans are curious as to how the team plans to fill the void left by the massive loss of star defensive back Derek Stingley Jr. It was announced early on Wednesday morning that he underwent foot surgery for an injury he suffered in practice on Sept. 22.

LSU head coach Ed Orgeron explained how the Tigers plan to fill the gaping hole in their secondary in his teleconference with reporters on Wednesday.

“First of all, I think Dwight [McGlothern] has played very well. We always have Jay Ward if we have to. We don’t want to do that. Major Burns is gonna be out this week, he’s not playing. So, hopefully, Todd Harris can come back and make some plays for us. Eli Ricks and Dwight [McGlothern]. And Raydarius Jones [is] gonna have to play a little bit. Those guys can play. That’s what we have. If we have to, we don’t wanna do that, but in an emergency, we can move Jay Ward there.”

The LSU secondary is in serious trouble but they still have Eli Ricks, who was named a third-team AP All-American in 2020. The talented sophomore cornerback is one of the best defensive backs in college football.

He’s snagged one of the Tigers‘ three interceptions in the 2021 season. They’ll need him and other players like Cordale Flott, Damone Clark, and Dwight McGlothern to step up in a big way.

LSU’s upcoming schedule is incredibly unforgiving, and they’ll have to face the high-octane passing attacks of Ole Miss (Oct. 23) and Alabama (Nov. 6) in back-to-back weeks.

The Tigers must first turn their focus to the Kentucky Wildcats (Oct. 9), who just faced Florida without their top corner, Kaiir Elam on Saturday. Now, Kentucky will get the luxury of facing yet another team without their top corner in back-to-back weeks.

LSU career bio for Derek Stingley, Jr.

Over two and a half seasons at LSU, Stingley has been named a two-time first-team All-American, two-time first-team All-SEC and was the 2019 SEC Newcomer of the Year. He was also named a preseason All-American for the 2021 season.

The former five-star prospect blossomed into one of the best cornerbacks in college football, continuing to build on his breakout freshman season in 2019. After finishing his freshman season with 38 tackles, 21 pass deflections and six interceptions on the way to a national championship, teams stopped throwing at him.

In 2020, Stingley played just seven games after missing the season opener due to illness and sitting the final two games with an injury. He finished the season with 27 tackles, five pass deflections and a forced fumble. Despite not registering an interception, Stingley proved to be a bright spot in an otherwise down year for LSU.

Prior to this season, Stingley was honored with the No. 7 jersey, a tradition started by Patrick Peterson. Over the years, the No. 7 at LSU has been worn by Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, Leonard Fournette, DJ Chark and Grant Delpit.

The key question for Stingley, Jr. is will he come back for one more season at LSU? His head coach, Ed Orgeron is hopeful that he will be back. LSU fans can only hope and pray that NIL money could possibly be enough to keep him in college for one more year.

It will be a tough sell for a player who is a projected first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and many mock drafts have him going as a top-five pick overall. That kind of money is tough for any prospect to turn down.

On3’s James Fletcher III also contributed to this report.