On3 Roundtable: LSU's rebuilt cornerback room is biggest question mark vs. Florida State

LSU and Florida State will square off to open the season for the second straight year. After the Seminoles just edged the Tigers by a point in New Orleans in 2022, what’s something that could make the difference for Brian Kelly’s team in the second half of the series in Orlando?

To Shea Dixon, it’ll be all about what their secondary accomplished. Dixon, from The Bengal Tiger, shared that opinion while on the On3 Roundtable in a preview of the matchup alongside JD PicKell and WarChant’s Ira Schoffel. He said that, regardless of their defensive talent at other positions, they’re going to be crucial to whether or not that side of the ball can slow down FSU’s passing game.

“For the second year in a row, we will see right away against Florida State what LSU’s DBs are made of, specifically at cornerback where they were taking nothing but transfers again,” Dixon said. “When they’ve got a D-line that can get pressure (and) linebackers who can get pressure? The reality is, at the end of the day, Jordan Travis will be able to make throws. So they’ve got to be able to man up with some talented receivers.”

While he said this is his second straight year of having this concern, Dixon also added that this has consistently been an issue down in Baton Rouge. They have continued to try and fill the void at corner, especially now through the portal, and are now asking a lot of some inexperienced players in some very key games, namely this one in the opener.

“Everybody knows LSU’s scholarship numbers were so low at the end of the Ed Orgeron era and all that. (But) the one position that was a multi-year rebuild was corner. They just didn’t have anybody left,” Dixon noted. “They took all transfers a year ago, played fairly well (and) much better than a lot of people expected. But most, if not all, of those guys are gone.”

“Now they’ve taken all transfers again,” continued Dixon. “Everybody knows about Denver Harris coming out of Texas A&M. JK Johnson out of Ohio State, (Darian) Chestnut out of Syracuse. (And) Zy Alexander out of Southeastern was one of the top players in (the) FCS last year. Those guys haven’t played in an SEC game. Denver has (but) they haven’t played together for LSU yet in an SEC game.”

Travis had his best passing season in 2022. He threw for over 3,200 yards and 24 touchdowns on a 64% completion rate. That included his 20-33 performance in Caesars Superdome last year that led to 260 yards and two touchdowns.

That’s why, while LSU’s defense is more than capable as a whole, Dixon will be focusing his eyes on the back end of the unit on September 3rd to determine whether the Tigers can get some revenge.

“That’s going to be the big question mark for me in Week One. The same one I had last year,” said Dixon. “What does LSU’s cornerback group, that has never played together, actually look like against a good offense?”