2020 LSU Football Position Breakdown Part 9: Safety
Losing a two time All-American in Grant Delpit would probably make for a downward spiral from the safety unit on almost any other team in college football.
After all that's 199 career tackles, 17.5 tackles for a loss, seven sacks, eight interceptions and two forced fumbles to replace in the secondary. But luckily for LSU, the Tigers return a group of safeties led by seniors and filled out with sophomores that made big impressions on the coaching staff during their first season with the program.
How defensive coordinator Bo Pelini and safety coach Bill Busch divide the snaps at safety with such strong depth will be the main problem they'll have to tackle, but that's a good problem to have as a coach.
Projected Starters: JaCoby Stevens (senior), Todd Harris (redshirt junior), Kary Vincent Jr. (senior)
Perhaps the best news for Ed Orgeron and company received after winning the national championship on Jan. 13 was hearing safety JaCoby Stevens would be returning for his senior season. As a junior, Stevens had a breakout year, racking up 92 tackles, nine tackles for a loss, five sacks and three interceptions.
Stevens established himself as a leader of the defense in 2019 and will immediately continue to be the vocal voice that makes the defense run.
The senior also seems likely to receive the No. 18 jersey, given to a member of the team that encompasses what it means to lead not only on the field but off it as well. If he can continue to show improvement in his coverage skills, there's no reason why he can't have an All-American type season for the purple and gold and dramatically improve his draft stock.
Stevens will have help as the safety position is probably the most veteran unit on the team with starters Kary Vincent Jr. and Todd Harris back for another season. Harris will return as a redshirt junior after tearing his ACL against Northwestern State in September.
Harris will likely pick up his role at deep safety which will allow Stevens to play closer to the line of scrimmage, an area that he excelled in during the championship run.
Vincent has locked down the nickel safety position the last two years and should continue in that role for his senior season. It was an up and down season for Vincent in 2019 but he did come up with some big plays down the stretch including an interception off of Jalen Hurts in the Peach Bowl and did perform well against Clemson with three tackles.
A look at the depth chart: Maurice Hampton (sophomore), Marcel Brooks (sophomore), Jordan Toles (freshman), Eric Monroe (senior)
LSU would ideally like to be able to get Hampton and Brooks on the field as much as possible in 2020 as the two showed much promise as freshmen. The only problem is there simply are too many bodies for positions on the field, which is a good problem to have from a coaching perspective.
Hampton started in the Tigers' final two regular season games against Arkansas and Texas A&M and was trusted in spots during the postseason as a deep safety so Stevens and Delpit could play closer to the line of scrimmage.
LSU could decide to rotate Hampton with Harris in 2020 but there also is a chance Harris couldn't be the same player he was before the injury, which could leave a door open for Hampton.
Brooks is also an interesting case as he made a move to outside linebacker during his freshman year but is reportedly switching back to safety to fill a 'JaCoby Stevens' type role closer to the line of scrimmage. The only issue is Stevens is still on the team and will command a majority of those snaps.
It will be interesting to see how Pelini plans to use Hampton and Brooks as they are the future at the safety position and need all the reps they can handle.
Freshman Jordan Toles is a four-star recruit and No. 76 overall player in the 2020 class that is full of potential and will want to compete for snaps as well.
With an abundance of bodies and too few positions to fill, LSU finds itself with a good situation as safety is the deepest position on the team. How Pelini and the defensive staff divvies up the snaps will be truly fascinating to witness.
