Advertisement
football Edit

Emergence of Delpit highlights LSU's deepest, talented secondary since '15

BATON ROUGE, La. — Let’s be honest for a moment: LSU’s 5-0 start to the football season certainly fits under the category of welcomed surprises in Baton Rouge.

There’s a lot of reasons why the fifth-ranked Tigers are on the roll that they are. Quarterback play, production from a stable of running backs and a patchwork offensive line. There’s a two new starting defensive linemen and a middle linebacker, but coach Ed Orgeron identified sophomore safety Grant Delpit as the most unexpected surprise a month into the season.

Through five games, Delpit has 27 total tackles, including a team-leading 6.5 stops for loss. He also leads the defense with three sacks and shares the lead with two interceptions. His five passes defensed are shy of only cornerback Kristian Fulton by one.

Delpit started as a true freshman a year ago, but he was more concerned with not messing up and giving up a big play, teammate John Battle suggested. With experience comes a sense of fearlessness, which has paid dividends for the Tigers’ defense. Delpit’s ability to freelance in a hybrid safety/nickel role has not only led to him filling up box scores, but enhancing the play of the entire defense.

“How about the play of Grant?” Orgeron asked of his second-year defensive back, who notched five tackles, a sack and a first-quarter interception in LSU’s 45-16 rout of Ole Miss on Saturday night. “The biggest surprise me is the play of Grant Delpit. The ability for him to move around, the plays he’s making in the post, the coverage, the rushes … he’s a fantastic football player.”

Delpit’s newly designed role playing most of his snaps closer to the line of scrimmage has led defensive coordinator Dave Aranda to add a fifth defensive back deep in LSU’s base package. In addition to Delpit, who is playing at an All-SEC level this season, there’s All-American Greedy Williams and Kristian Fulton at corner, Battle at free safety and either Kary Vincent Jr. or Terrence Alexander on the opposite side.

Kelvin Joseph also rotates in at cornerback and Todd Harris spells Battle as the deep safety at times. The LSU secondary is about eight players deep at the midway point of the schedule and as talented a unit as the team has had since 2015.

That season, the Tigers trotted out future first-round picks Tre’Davious White at cornerback and Jamal Adams at safety. Jalen Mills occupied the other safety spot, and Donte Jackson, a second-rounder in last year’s draft, was a part of the cornerback rotation along with Kevin Toliver. Dwayne Thomas, Rickey Jefferson and Battle were also pieces shuffled in and out of the lineup that season.

“This year is probably one of the deepest units we’ve had,” said Battle. “The 2015 year when we had Jalen, Jamal, but this is probably the deepest we’ve been. It keeps guys fresh. Now, having depth, it makes sure you keep the other guys off your back. It makes everyone step up their games more because there’s competition in our room every day to see who gets the most picks or the most PBUs.”

On paper, LSU’s defensive back core stacked up to the 2015 crew, but following an eyebrow-raising victory over Louisiana Tech in Week 4, there was reason for concern. The secondary surrendered 330 yards through the air that game, including three late touchdowns that allowed Tech to cut the score to 3 early in the fourth quarter. It was the only the second occasion in which an Aranda-coached defense had surrendered more than 300 yards passing in his three-year tenure in Baton Rouge.

It’s no coincidence that Bulldogs quarterback J’Mar Smith did most of his damage while Delpit was sidelined momentarily with an undisclosed injury. He’s the catalyst for the Tigers’ secondary and the defense this season.

LSU’s deep and talented secondary rebounded last Saturday in a showdown with the high-flying Rebels, holding Jordan Ta’amu and Co. to 178 yards through the air and without a passing touchdown, which ended an eight-game stretching dating back to October 2017. Five games in, the unit is just beginning to come into its own.

“About four or five games into the season, things start clicking,” Battle explained. “Kristian’s developed. You can tell his confidence is there now. Todd’s confidence is going up. I think Kary had his best game so far (against Ole Miss). He flew to the ball, was coming downhill and attacking. Kelvin, being a freshman, is now being more physical and trusting what the coaches are teaching.

“Everybody is starting to click right now,” he added.

Advertisement