Which Member of the LSU Football Secondary Helped Himself Most During Spring Camp?
Heading into the spring, Derek Stingley and Elias Ricks proved that they could be an elite cornerback duo on the outside and the two All-Americans figure to play significant roles in a rebound season for the defense in 2021.
But with Ricks limited most of the spring due to an injury, it opened a window for Dwight McGlothern. The rising sophomore grew as the freshman season went along as Stingley missed the final few games with a minor injury.
That confidence in McGlothern only grew with Ricks out this spring and he responded in a big way, capping it off with a stellar spring game where he recorded four tackles, a tackle for a loss and team high four pass breakups with the first team.
"I'm proud of Dwight. He grew up every day. Like I said, he's going against Kayshon, Jaray, Koy, he's going against those guys like that. Those guys going to get him ready," linebacker Damone Clark said. "Every day we watch the 1-on-1s that they have with each other and they're battling with each other. Offense up, good on 1-on-1s one day. Defense good on 1-on-1s one day. It's just like today, he put it all together. He had so many pass deflections I don't even know how many he had.
While it's hard to imagine McGlothern surpassing Ricks on the depth chart, he does provide valuable depth for a unit that was injury plagued throughout the 2020 season. Cordale Flott seems to have a pretty secure lock on the slot corner position as well but with McGlothern's spring performance, he should at the least make a push to earn some rotational reps in 2021.
At 6-foot-2, he's got the height and size to be an impact player and throughout the spring game he was not only keeping up but excelling in coverage against some of LSU's top offensive weapons. It wouldn't be a bit surprising to see him earn reps in the non-conference slate of the schedule.
New defensive coordinator Daronte Jones has no preconceived notions about what this secondary rotation should look like, something that bodes well for a player like McGlothern if he conitnues to impress.
"He came down and when he had to come down and hit, he was doing that. Breaking up passes. Just seeing him from the growth he had from last year, I'm proud of him because around this time last year, he was coming in," Clark said. "The Dwight we see now is the Dwight that we know. He can ball because he can just continue to keep working."
