LSU Football Defensive Standouts Continue to Emerge at Fall Camp

First-year head coach Lane Kiffin has had so many wins at LSU before even playing a game, one of the biggest came in the form of retaining defensive coordinator Blake Baker and defensive backs coach Corey Raymond.

The defense was bolstered in the offseason with the additions of elite freshmen defensive tackles Deuce Geralds and Richard Anderson, along with five-star edge Lamar Brown. Geralds has been getting first-team reps since the spring, but Anderson is now emerging in fall camp.

The youth movement is all over the defense, with redshirt freshman safety Jhase Thomas also getting put into the first-team defense for the first time. The two have been looking the part of starters early in the fall.

Young Louisiana talent is making waves

Jhase Thomas celebrates in a 2025 game | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When LSU signed the No. 1 defensive tackle in the 2026 class in Anderson, he was expected to turn heads on day one. While he had a productive spring and began to look like a future star, fellow freshman Geralds started to take the spotlight. Anderson is taking it back.

During the two practice periods open to media viewing on Thursday night, Anderson was running with the first team offense in the pursuit drill to open the day. Then when the defensive tackles hit the sleds, he was looking just as powerful as anyone else in that group.

Thomas getting first-team reps this early in the fall is arguably the biggest surprise on the depth chart so far. He seldom saw the field on defense last year, and didn't record a tackle. But he did block a punt against Texas A&M when the game was still close in the first half.

"Jhase really has done a good job," Kiffin said after Wednesday's practice. "[He] can play multiple things, and so we rotate a lot of guys through early."

Baker is putting Thomas in the perfect position to learn and improve this spring. The other starting safety, Boise State transfer Ty Benefield, could be LSU's best player on the team this year. Thomas getting reps with Benefield by his side is going to grow him into a better player.

In-state connection

Jhase Thomas celebrates during the Texas A&M game in 2025 | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Both Thomas and Anderson come from Louisiana high schools that are known for producing elite football talent. Thomas was a standout on both sides of the ball at Destrehan High School, and Anderson threw opposing lineman around while at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans.

Anderson helped lead Edna Karr to two straight state championships in his final two years of high school. Thomas was on the 2022 Destrehan team that won state as well.

Winning in Louisiana is in the DNA of these players. Thomas was the No. 14 overall player in the state in the 2025 class, and Anderson came in at No. 2 in the state in 2026, only behind his teammate, Brown.

These two will be fun to watch as fall camp progresses and they get more reps in under their belt.

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