Grant Delpit excused from NFL preseason game to attend LSU graduation

Sorry, Browns fans, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer to see safety Grant Delpit back on the field. On Friday, the team announced Delpit won’t participate in their preseason matchup against the Washington Commanders.

Instead, Delpit will be attending his graduation at LSU, where he earned a degree in kinesiology. Delpit’s contributions to LSU weren’t limited to the classroom. Delpit was a two-time, first-team All-SEC honoree with the Tigers and won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back in 2019.

During his tenure with the Tigers, Delpit amassed 199 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks and 8.0 interceptions. Additionally, in 2019, Delpit boosted LSU to its first national title since since 2007.

The Browns selected Delpit with No. 44 overall pick in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. After suffering a torn Achilles tendon in his rookie season, Delpit has appeared in 32 games over the last two seasons. The Louisiana native tallied 105 tackles with four tackles for loss, 10 passes defended and four interceptions in 17 games last season.

His impressive individual figures shined through in the team’s results. The Browns’ defense allowed just 196.2 passing yards per game, the fifth-least in the NFL. Further, the team forced 20 opponent turnovers.

The Browns-Commanders game was delayed due to inclement weather. As of now, the contest is scheduled to begin at 8:46 p.m. ET.

LSU secondary tries to live up to Grant Delpit

While LSU can’t bring Delpit back for one more season, the Tigers have done all they can to stack their secondary. At SEC Media Days, head coach Brian Kelly revealed how his program hit the transfer portal this season to fill any gaps in his defensive backs unit.

“There are going to be a number of new players back there,” Kelly said. “We do have some returning players that we’re excited about back there, [Greg] Brooks and [Major] Burns in particular are two veteran players that are going to help us a lot back there.

“Look, that was an area of concern. We’re a team that needs to get off the field on 3rd down. We did not do a very good job of that last year. That’s going to have to change, and it’ll start in that particular area.”

On Sept. 3, LSU’s 2023 secondary will make its debut in a matchup against Florida State.

On3’s Dan Morrison also contributed to this article.