PJ Woodland continues to impress, push for first-team reps at LSU

Blake Baker remembers watching PJ Woodland’s first few practices at LSU and seeing him navigate the mistakes and the struggles of an early enrollee freshman. Woodland went back and forth, winning some reps, losing plenty, but Baker continued to watch him work.

Woodland quickly rose up the ranks in a cornerback room that is anything but settled at this point in the year. When the media was able to watch a full practice a couple of weeks ago, it was Woodland on the second team defense consistently.

Now, on April 4, as the media was able to watch the first 20 minutes of practice, Woodland was running with the first team defense opposite of returning starter Ashton Stamps. Say by day, it appears Woodland continues to gain the trust of his new defensive coordinator and new cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond, and one redeeming quality has stood out consistently.

“Competitiveness. PJ Woodland is a competitor,” Baker said. “ He’s feisty, he’s physical, and he can run. More than anything, for a freshman, we’ve thrown him out there with the ones some and thrown him out there against our top receivers and he competes. That’s where it starts, but he has the physical tools. He has long levers, he’s physical and he can run, so I’ve been impressed with him. It wasn’t easy. Those first three days before spring break I guarantee you he was saying ‘what in the world did I do coming here early?’ but he’s been really impressive these last few days.”

Woodland checks in at 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds and was a modest 3-star recruit out of Mississippi, despite being a do-it-all playmaker as a senior and being one of the best players in the state of Mississippi. 

Still, he had plenty of work to do over the offseason to get on the field at LSU early in his career and he is off to a great start.

As for the cornerback room as a whole, there’s plenty of work to be done as Blake Baker and Corey Raymond reconstruct the room at LSU.

“The corners have grown more than any group from practice one to practice 12,” Baker said. “ They’ve gotten much better as a unit. We have guys playing more of their natural position on the back end than in the past. I’ve been pleased with it and we’ll continue to grow. We have good pieces and we have good depth as well. I’ve been pleased with that group.”

The scheme is expected to look drastically different from the 2023 season where the cornerbacks were often started in off-coverage and looking to bail to prevent getting beat over the top. Baker’s defense is far more aggressive and will require his cornerbacks to be tough, gritty, and ready to compete on every down. So far, Woodland and Stamps, two under-recruited prospects have shown the ability to compete and work every single day this spring.

“It’s based on personnel,” Baker said of potentially playing press man. “If you got two guys you can put out there on an island it makes life a lot easier as a defensive coordinator. It comes down to who you have personnel wise, then really trying to present the same picture to the quarterback and the defensive coordinator pre-snap and giving those guys an opportunity to not have to sit there and play press man every single snap because it does get tiring. We’re going to play a lot of man, but I also know we’re going to do what’s best for our guys back there as well.”