Which Schemes Make the Most Sense For LSU Football in 2021?

Tigers will need to take next step up front, be diverse with coverage

LSU needs to change its defensive mindset and scheme completely this offseason to be more competitive during the 2021 campaign. There's just no way around it and by bringing in Daronte Jones as defensive coordinator, Ed Orgeron shows that he's making an effort to dramatically improving the secondary.

Yesterday we tackled what the secondary must do to show growth now that new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones is officially on board. Today, we take a dive into how the defensive line can take the next step and which schemes make the most sense for this unit.

Front Four Needs to Take the Next Step

After a great freshman campaign, BJ Ojulari is a key component to the 2021 LSU Tigers. Along with senior Ali Gaye, he’s a threat to come off the edge and change a game. Now, can the Tigers consistently place both of these young men on the field at the same time?

If LSU can do that, watch out. It’s hard to stop a really good pass rusher, but two is another level of difficulty. If that happens it widens the playbook for Jones and the defensive coaching staff. Defensive tackle is also important.

There were times where the LSU interior defensive line played well, but overall they did not pressure the quarterback nearly enough. Which players step up and provide that push in the middle this next season?

Which Zone Schemes Make the Most Sense?

Finally getting into the schemes themselves, the best guess will be a combination of Cover 2 with Man Under. This simply means there are two high safeties that split the field in half in terms of responsibility.

All the cornerbacks and linebackers are in man. It’s pretty simple. Why is this coverage a big part of LSU’s 2021 defense? It allows LSU to be a little more conservative in reference to not giving up too many big plays like it did in 2020, plus it’s still a lot of man coverage which the cornerbacks and linebackers are certainly used to doing.

LSU showed some coverage like the one mentioned above last season, but if it’s a focal point, there’s a good chance LSU can really play it well.

Being Diverse With Coverage

At some point, LSU is going to need to disguise coverage against top-notch teams. That’s when combination coverages, fire-zone blitzes and changing coverage after the snap all come into play.

Again, how much can LSU get installed this spring? That theme will not go away. It’s really important. With that, a couple of concepts to consider.

Against a talented offense such as Ole Miss, Cover 3 makes a lot of sense. Why? There’s always a safety in the middle of the field that can come down late in the run game or blitz, plus he can also do the reverse and drop into the deep middle.

Ole Miss is going to run the ball with an electric quarterback. The goal is to make him turn it over much like he did in 2020. At the college level, when teams consistently move their safeties after the snap, many quarterbacks make horrible decisions.

That’s why so many teams will play Cover 3 despite its propensity to give up out routes and plays to the perimeter. If a quarterback gets greedy or simply misreads the safety, boom! Turnover.

There will be some other combination coverages to consider like Cover 4 (basically a safety man coverage, generically speaking) and Cover 6 where it’s two separate coverages on each side of the field, but those are probably more suited to passing teams like Mississippi State that really try to throw the ball just about every down.

Bring The Blitz

Finally, with LSU’s cornerback talent, the Tigers need to be more effective with their blitz packages. The Tigers only recorded 24 sacks this past season. That number needs to hit 35 next season, and that’s a conservative estimate.

The cornerbacks are really talented, and that adds to the possibility of coverage sacks. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of LSU’s 2021 defense will be the blitz packages. Cornerbacks off the edge -- such as Cordale Flott from the slot cornerback position -- could be really impactful.

Very few college quarterbacks read zone blitzes very well. LSU needs to take advantage of this fact, especially with Texas A&M, Alabama, and Arkansas all breaking in new quarterbacks this next season.

Final Thoughts

LSU has a ton of talent to work with moving forward. It’s up to the Tigers to come up with some bread and butter schemes that work, while mixing in different schemes for a team like Mississippi State that throws all the time.

This spring practice will be very interesting for the LSU program. A big part of that intrigue stems from the new coverage schemes that  Orgeron already stated he will look into implementing.