LSU's secondary shuffles up - and adds a piece

Entering the 2022 season, one of the biggest question marks on the LSU Football team came in the defensive backfield.

From personnel to coaching, everything carried with it some unknowns.

For the first time in more than a decade, the Tigers would be without longtime cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond, who was replaced this offseason by 32-year Robert Steeples. At safety, the new coach in the room was Kerry Cooks, a 48-year old football lifer who had coached with Kelly before.

On the field, LSU returned a couple of starters in safeties Major Burns and Jay Ward. With the addition of Arkansas transfer Joe Foucha, it appeared the Tigers were set on a three-man rotation at the spot, but those plans were put on hold when it was announced Foucha would miss the first four games due to academics involving his transfer.

At cornerback, there were more unknowns.

LSU gets a feel for what the secondary offers

LSU entered Week 1 with four main pieces in Colby Richardson, Jarrick Bernard-Converse, Mekhi Garner and Greg Brooks Jr. All four transferred into the program this offseason, coming from McNeese State, Oklahoma State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas, respectively.

After giving up 260 passing yards and two touchdowns in the opener against Florida State, the group seemed to settle in even more against Southern. The competition was far from the norm, but the Tigers still held the Jaguars to 9-for-17 passing for 61 yards and an interception.

“I think the corners have held up pretty well,” Kelly said on Monday. “Their play has been consistent. It’s been on-body. They’ve played the ball well in the air.”

Two issues Kelly has circled: communication and tackling.

The Tigers were bit time-and-again with poor tackling in the opener against the Seminoles, and Kelly left the Southern win feeling progress was made, but not enough just yet. As for killing two birds with one stone, Kelly switched Ward from safety to nickel and Brooks from nickel to safety and saw both the tackling and communication improve in the secondary.

“I thought our tackling got better,” he said. “Greg Brooks playing back at the safety position has enhanced our communication to the level that we felt really good about it.

“Putting Ward down in a natural nickel position fits his game as well. I just think the pieces were moved in the right place after that evaluation of Florida State and where we felt like we needed to get better.

“So, communication on the back end was much better. The corner play continues to be solid. But they will be challenged at a higher level certainly this Saturday.”

A big test looms vs. Mike Leach and the Air Raid

The Tigers now face off against a Mike Leach offense that brings with it a quarterback in Will Rogers who has completed 79% of his 98 pass attempts for 763 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions.

For Kelly, it comes down to a defense that has to trust the defensive scheme and stick to the plan at hand – both individually and collectively.

“The answers are tried and true and tested,” Kelly said of defending Leach’s offense. “So, look, this is going to come down to our guys’ attention to detail. They’re going to have to tackle very, very well. This really puts the tenets of really good defensive football on display.

“You’ve got to be able to not only tackle, but be in really good positional awareness all day. Because, again, this is a scheme that in some instances — and I’m not here to compare across the board — but this is like triple option, right?

“The precision of this scheme, the way it is set up, if you are not taking care of your assignment and doing your job, you’re going to get exposed.”

More help is on the way at cornerback

The good news for LSU’s secondary: another piece will be added to the mix for the game against the Bullodgs.

Ohio State transfer Sevyn Banks suffered a hip injury at the end of the 2021 season that sidelined him for three games and required surgery. He was medically cleared for football upon transferring to LSU, but he took things slow in the offseason as he worked back towards being fully healthy.

Banks had planned to dress out for the team’s opener, but the Tigers held him back, and then did the same in Week 2 against Southern.

Now, Kelly said Banks is set to return to the field and could see action at cornerback on Saturday.

“Sevyn is close to being ready,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that – look, I mean, he wanted to play in the opener, but our medical team wanted to make sure that he was 100%. He was probably 90%, and there was really no need.

“(Now) we feel like we’re in pretty good shape. This is a game where all hands-on deck at that position. So the expectation right now is that he’s going to be dressed out, and we’re going to know here Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, how that eventually puts him in the rotation. He’s at the cusp of playing, and we’ll see how he practices this week.”