Top 101 LSU Football players of all time: No. 60-51

The countdown continues with some DBU greats and some old-time linemen.

The countdown continues as we complete the first half of the best 101 football players in LSU history.

As we get closer to the top spot, the players are getting better and better, and thus, harder to rank.

I have tried to avoid recency bias as much as possible. It can be hard to get enough information about older players, but I did my best to get them about in the ballpark of where they should be.

Anytime there’s a list this big, people will disagree. There’s so little that separates the 50th player from the 70th, and so on.

I tried to balance consistency over multiple seasons with some players that had one great year. Both have been rewarded here. With that in mind, let’s continue the countdown.

Tigers make the cut for 2024 5-star cornerback

Desmond Ricks is the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2024 cycle.

[autotag]Desmond Ricks[/autotag] is a 6-foot-1, 170-pound cornerback from Bradenton, Florida, where he plays for the highly esteemed IMG Academy.

He released his top 10 on Saturday, and LSU was among the teams that made the cut. A five-star prospect, Ricks is ranked as the No. 2 player in the 2024 recruiting class by every recruiting site, and he is the No. 1 player on the defensive side of the ball.

Ricks was previously crystal balled to Florida State by two different people, but the Seminoles did not even make his top 10, so that will certainly impact future projections. Alabama is a 43.5% favorite to land him per On3 recruiting.

LSU is widely referred to as DBU (Defensive Back University) because of how many draft picks have come from the LSU secondary. The pedigree of talented defensive backs is long and it grows every year. It includes [autotag]Tyrann Mathieu[/autotag], [autotag]Patrick Peterson[/autotag], [autotag]Jamal Adams[/autotag], [autotag]Morris Claiborne[/autotag], and [autotag]Derek Stingley Jr.[/autotag]

Who wouldn’t want to add their name to a list like that?

Still be thanking god that I made it this far 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/j0CVsQSzP6

— Desmond Ricks (@DesmondRicks2) July 9, 2022

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7 potential options for the cornerback-needy Giants

The New York Giants are starved for cornerbacks and here are seven free agents they should consider signing.

The New York Giants were prepared to enter the 2020 season relatively thin at the cornerback position, but they couldn’t have prepared themselves for what was to come.

DeAndre Baker found himself in hot water following an arrest for an alleged armed robbery in Florida, ultimately landing him on the commissioner’s exempt list, and then Sam Beal decided to opt out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

An already thin group became a dire cause for concern, and with training camps now underway, the Giants find themselves running out of time to locate reinforcements.

We’ve broken down similar lists earlier this year, but now is the time to do it again. Here are seven cornerbacks the Giants could potentially turn to in the coming days, weeks and months.

Logan Ryan

This will sound like a broken record, but Ryan is the most obvious choice for the Giants because he’s arguably the best cornerback remaining on the free agent market. He’s also been connected to the team quite a bit through rumor and speculation.

Back in March, Ryan praised Giants head coach Joe Judge, while Giants Wire also listed him as an under-the-radar free agent to sign around the same time.

The former Rutgers and New England Patriots star should be very high on the Giants’ shopping list. They need a veteran corner who knows the ropes and how to win and the connection to Joe Judge and Patrick Graham has to come into play here.

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How did former Jets fare in 2019 after leaving New York?

Here’s how some notable players performed a year after playing for the Jets in 2018.

The Jets had a lot of roster turnover between 2018 and 2019 — thanks in part to a lot of organizational turnover — which left a handful of players in new locations this past season.

There were an abundance of notable players from New York’s 2018 roster that were on different teams in 2019. That list includes Darron Lee, Mike Pennel, Morris Claiborne, Buster Skrine, Jason Myers, Leonard Williams, Andre Roberts, Josh McCown, Isaiah Crowell and Jermaine Kearse.

Let’s take a look at how those 10 players performed after leaving the Jets.

Super Bowl Champs

Three former Jets were were part of the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs: Darron Lee, Mike Pennel and Morris Claiborne.

Lee found himself in a backup role this season with the Chiefs after being a three-year starter for the Jets. After having three straight seasons of 40+ tackles, Lee only recorded 22 tackles in his first season in Kansas City.

Despite not playing a full season, Pennel had one of the better years of his career. In the Super Bowl, he was one of the players who caused Jimmy Garoppolo to throw his first interception. Pennel had 13 total tackles and one sack during the regular season.

Like Lee, Claiborne was also a backup player. He only played in eight games and had nine tackles to go along with no pass defenses. It was the first time in his eight-career that he didn’t record a breakup.

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Morris Claiborne enjoying small role in Chiefs secondary

The Jets didn’t want to keep Morris Claiborne in 2019, but he’s contributing in a small role on the Chiefs.

Cornerback was one of the most polarizing positions on the Jets roster this season. Between the ineptitude of Trumaine Johnson and Darryl Roberts and the rise and fall of Bless Austin and Arthur Maulet, the Jets rarely saw consistent play in the secondary.

One player who New York missed was veteran cornerback Morris Claiborne, who the Chiefs signed after the Jets let him walk this offseason. Claiborne had two solid seasons in New York as one of the team’s top outside cornerbacks, but the Jets wanted to go younger in their secondary and decided not to offer Claiborne another contract.

“I enjoyed it,” Claiborne said on his time with the Jets. “I felt like I had two solid years of playing, going out starting, being the No. 1 corner. … I feel like the two years I was there, my stats were career highs in both years there.”

He’s not wrong. Claiborne set career highs in interceptions, pass breakups and total tackles during the 2018 season and he finished his Jets tenure with 100 combined tackle, three interceptions and 22 pass breakups in 30 games. After watching Johnson and Roberts struggle throughout the season, Adam Gase and Joe Douglas probably wish they retained Claiborne for just another year.

Claiborne’s time in Kansas City got off to a rocky start. The Chiefs signed Claiborne to a one-year, $1.5 million contract on August 8, but he was suspended for the first four games of the season after violating the league’s substance-abuse policy and only played in a handful of games after being activated on October 3. He played in eight games, averaged 24.75 snaps per game and finished with 14 total tackles this season. Though he missed both of the Chiefs’ playoff games with a shoulder injury there’s a chance he suits up for the Super Bowl.

“It’s awesome,” Claiborne said about playing for a Super Bowl. “It makes everything worth it. When I look at all of these cuts on my knees and shoulders, this is what it was all for.”

Clairborne came with a ton of injury concerns after only playing half of his total games between 2013-2016. He shook off those concerns during his two years in New York, though, and appeared healthy in Kansas City until his most recent shoulder injury. Clairborne could get another shot with the Chiefs or another team next season, but he’ll turn 30 a few days after the Super Bowl and didn’t prove to be a huge contributor in 2019. If he doesn’t get another contract this offseason, there’s a chance the former first-round pick would retire.

3 Jets castoffs are heading to Super Bowl LIV

Morris Claiborne, Darron Lee and Mike Pennel are former Jets players who will be participating in Super Bowl XLV.

And then there were two.

The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will square off in Super Bowl LIV in Miami. Kansas City ended the Titans’ magical run with a 35-24 win Sunday, while the 49ers dominated the Packers, 37-20.

With these two teams one win away from winning a championship, let’s take a look at some former Jets players who will be participating in this year’s Super Bowl.

Morris Claiborne

This will be Morris Claiborne’s first Super Bowl.

Claiborne hasn’t been much of a contributor for the Chiefs, as he’s only been active in eight games. In both playoff games, Claiborne has been a healthy scratch.

Claiborne was with the Jets in 2017 and 2018 as the No. 1 cornerback. In two seasons, Claiborne recorded 78 total tackles, 22 pass defenses, three interceptions and a touchdown.

New York decided not to bring Claiborne back despite the team’s need for cornerbacks after he was suspended for the first four games of the season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

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Morris Claiborne, Mike Pettine among ex-Jets one win away from Super Bowl

Here are former Jets players and coaches that will be participating in Sunday’s AFC and NFC Championship games.

Rise and shine, it’s Championship Sunday.

The last time the Jets made it this far in the playoffs was the 2010 season. Rex Ryan was the head coach and the current Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator was leading New York’s defense.

Now, as the 2019 Jets sit at home, the six-seeded Titans are in Kansas City to take on the No. 2 Chiefs. Meanwhile, the No. 2 Packers are in San Francisco to take on the No. 1 49ers.

With these four teams just one win away from the Super Bowl, we thought we would take a look at a few ex-Jets participating in the second to last round of the playoffs.

Tennesee Titans

Anthony Firkser, who was originally signed by the Jets as an undrafted free agent out of Harvard, was part of final camp cuts for Gang Green in 2017.

Since then, Firkser has carved out a role as the third-string tight end for Tennesee. Over the past two seasons, Firkser has 33 receptions for 429 yards and two touchdowns. He had the game-winning touchdown reception for the Titans in their wild-card round win over the New England Patriots.

At wide receiver, Kalif Raymond had a cup of coffee with the Jets back in 2017. Raymond was with the Jets organization for a total of 23 days after the returner demonstrated poor hands on special teams.

In the Divisional Round of the playoffs against the Baltimore Ravens, Raymond caught one pass for a 45-yard touchdown during the Titans’ 28–12 win.

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