Figuring out LSU's Defense: Snap counts, changes needed?

The LSU football team was on the wrong side of history on Saturday night in Oxford, which leaves more questions than answers as the Tigers fall to 3-2 on the season.

LSU allowed a school record 706 total yards to the Ole Miss offense, and 55 points were enough to outlast a Tigers offense that posted an impressive 637 total yards and 49 points.

Where does LSU go from here?

“We need to be pissed off about what happened and have some resolve about our circumstance,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said after the loss. “That’s not a standard of play that’s acceptable.”

The Bengal Tiger staff reviewed the film, and here’s a breakdown on what the Tigers have at each position – and which players LSU defensive coordinator Matt House and his team could lean on moving forward.

Safeties

Starters vs. Ole Miss: Major Burns, Andre Sam, Sage Ryan (nickel)

Major Burns (94 snaps)

Andre Sam (93 snaps)

Sage Ryan (90 snaps)

Ryan Yaites (6 snaps)

Shea’s Take: Let’s make one thing clear. The loss of Greg Brooks is a major hit to the safety position. He’s the best defensive back on roster, let alone the best safety. I said this offseason that LSU couldn’t lose Burns or Brooks because there wasn’t depth behind them. To lose Brooks, the best talent in the defensive back on roster, puts LSU behind the eight ball from the start.

After Ole Miss accounted for 88 plays on offense, and the starters took nearly every snap at the safety and nickel positions. Yaites, a true freshman, saw six snaps, and he had a big moment when he came on a blitz and batted down a fourth down pass from Jaxson Dart that gave the Tigers the ball back and set up the Brian Thomas Jr. touchdown that put LSU ahead 49-40 with eight minutes left in the game.

If LSU’s fine with playing Burns, Sam and Ryan on every snap, it shows there’s not much trust at this stage in what’s behind them. Yaites could see his playing time increase after he’s appeared in both SEC road games this season. Could the Tigers also turn to another true freshman in Javien Toviano? Matthew Langlois has battled injuries in all three seasons in campus, while it appears Yaites has passed up second-year safety Jordan Allen at the safety spot.

Cornerbacks

Starters vs. Ole Miss: Ashton Stamps, Zy Alexander

Denver Harris (67 snaps)

Laterrance Welch (46 snaps)

Zy Alexander (41 snaps)

Ashton Stamps (33 snaps)

Shea’s Take: Stamps and Alexander were the first two cornerbacks on the field, but Welch quickly stepped into action early and often. He made some nice plays to start, but his inexperience showed as the game played out. Welch played primarily on special teams as a true freshman in 2022, so this was his first SEC game experience at cornerback. LSU brought in Harris after the first quarter and he led the way in snaps. Alexander made a couple nice plays, but also had letdown moments. Stamps clearly has promise, but he’s a safety signee transitioning to cornerback and having to learn on the fly.

When Kelly was hired, I called it a multi-year rebuild at the position. The staff went heavy on the transfer portal out of necessity, then did the same this offseason when the Tigers returned only one scholarship cornerback in Welch. Now, it’s at least a three-year rebuild at cornerback. Mekhi Garner and Jarrick Bernard-Converse stepped up in a big way as transfers a year ago, and Jay Ward – now on the Minnesota Vikings – gave them position-versatility to move pieces around. Without Greg Brooks, the Tigers don’t have that luxury anymore.

Syracuse transfer Duce Chestnut didn’t travel for the Ole Miss game, though his playing time had already drastically increased following the Florida State opener. Ohio State transfer JK Johnson is out for the season with an injury, and the lone other scholarship cornerback on roster is true freshman Jeremiah Hughes.

After the game, Kelly was asked about the state of the position.

“One is a true freshman (Ashton Stamps),” Kelly said. “One is playing for his first time in Laterrance Welch, ever, and on the road. I could go on. We are playing with inexperienced young players. That’s who we have. There’s nobody else walking through the door. We don’t have another corner.

“These are the guys that have to play for us. We have to continue to develop them. They have to continue to work at getting better each and every week, and that’s where we are at. We have to keep rolling them out there, and they have to get thick-skinned and keep working on tackling and leveraging the football and keep working on getting off blocks. Zy made a couple nice plays on the ball, got the ball out. But we just have to keep working on it and getting better.”

LSU’s worked through the past few weeks largely leaning on Alexander and Harris. Facing the Rebels, they looked for any new sparks from Stamps and Welch. Beyond tossing Chestnut back into the mix, there’s not many other avenues to take roster-wise, even more so with Ryan – who the Tigers tried at cornerback in Week 1 – having to play nickel with Brooks out.

Will they continue to rotate the 4-5 cornerbacks or stick with Harris and Welch? No matter, the results have to improve.

EDGE/JACK LB

Starters vs. Ole Miss: Harold Perkins

Harold Perkins (68 snaps)

Ovie Oghoufo (20 snaps)

Bradyn Swinson (16 snaps)

Shea’s Take: LSU went with three down linemen, an edge rusher in Perkins, a pair of middle linebackers and five defensive backs to start the game against the Rebels. Perkins got the nod on the edge, and he finished with nine tackles (4 solo) and a tackle for loss. The Tigers need his production to go up, and that’s on the coaching staff to figure out the best path. Beyond that, LSU has leaned on a starting JACK linebacker during defensive coordinator Matt House’s first two seasons on campus. It’s clear the Tigers have trusted Ovie Oghoufo in a starting spot, then spell him with Swinson. Based on early season production, it won’t be a surprise to see Swinson start to play more. He’s been productive in spots. The other JACK linebackers on roster are both true freshmen in Jaxon Howard and Dylan Carpenter. Howard has seen time on special teams in each game, while Carpenter is on track for a redshirt.

Linebacker

Starters vs. Ole Miss: Greg Penn, Omar Speights

Greg Penn (91 snaps)

Whit Weeks (54 snaps)

Omar Speights (41 snaps)

Shea’s Take: There’s certainly a debate raging here. Omar Speights had been injured the past two games, and true freshman Whit Weeks stepped in and played very well in back-to-back SEC games. At Ole Miss, Speights returned and got the start. Weeks ultimately took more snaps (54-41), but it also seemed evident to the untrained eye that Weeks makes more plays. It could be that Speights does more for LSU in certain areas the position requires executing. The coaches would know more than me there. But from an impact perspective, it’s clear that whatever the Tigers are doing when Weeks is on the field, he looks like someone who can’t sit on the bench much each game. Penn led the way in 91 snaps, and while there were struggles, it’s been clear for two seasons that House and Kelly both trust Penn as the preferred piece at the position. The question now becomes do we see more of West Weeks? He’s looked solid in spots when he’s gotten a chance in his two seasons in Baton Rouge. That’s the lone other option given true freshman Christian Brathwaite has yet to take a snap this season as he’s set to take a redshirt.

Defensive Line

Starters vs. Ole Miss: DE Saivion Jones, DT Maason Smith, DT Mekhi Wingo

Mekhi Wingo (80 snaps)

Maason Smith (78 snaps)

Saivion Jones (72 snaps)

Jacobian Guillory (15 snaps)

Jordan Jefferson (15 snaps)

Paris Shand (12 snaps)

Jalen Lee (2 snaps)

Shea’s Take: For all the depth LSU built through the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason, the snap counts against the Rebels felt a lot like the load carried by guys like Mekhi Wingo and Jaquelin Roy a year ago. Wingo, Smith and Jones were the starters and all played at least 72 snaps. The next-most snaps went to defensive tackles Jacobian Guillory and Jordan Jefferson, who got just 15 snaps each. Jefferson, who has flashed a number of times this season, saw a snap count that’s lower than his average snap count through five games this season. With Kelly admitting Smith is slowly recovering from his season-ending injury and subsequent surgery a year ago, why not give Smith some rest and Jefferson extra responsibility?

Shand saw 12 snaps as a backup defensive end to Jones, who is clearly the player they want to lean on most at defensive end. That said, Smith told media this week that he’s still adjusting to the added weight the staff wanted from him this offseason. Smith said it’s helped hold up in the run game, but it feels as if he’s lost a step in the pass rush. The only other player to get reps was nose tackle Jalen Lee, who saw two snaps.

The biggest question for me – beyond how poorly the defensive line played – is one that might not have impacted the outcome, but still leaves me wondering. Where was freshman and former five-star Da’Shawn Womack? He’s played minimal snaps this season, but he’s logged a pressure in every snap he’s played. Womack even had a huge hit on special teams for his first career tackle, and his first career sack came against KJ Jefferson and Arkansas a week ago. Kelly said to expect to see more and more from Womack as he develops, but it’s clear he can be viable on obvious passing downs. Perhaps he was sitting out for a reason, because not logging a single snap might be one of the biggest head-scratchers for a defensive line that made little impact in a game when the starters carried nearly all the snaps – something Kelly said the staff was trying to avoid for a second season in a row by stacking up on talented freshmen and transfers this offseason.