LSU Football: Jalen Mills' Injury Hurts, but Tigers Have Talent to Recover
It's the time of year where no news is good news, and unfortunately for LSU head coach Les Miles, he got some bad injury news on Wednesday.
According to Ross Dellenger of the Advocate, starting free safety Jalen Mills suffered a broken fibula that won't require surgery during Wednesday morning's practice. The injury could keep the Texas native out of action for a month-and-a-half.
LSU wouldn't confirm the specifics, but spokesman Michael Bonnette confirmed that the star safety did suffer an injury.
It's a huge blow to LSU's defense. Mills has started each of the last 39 games for the Tigers, first at corner and then at his new home at safety. He passed up a chance to jump to the NFL to return to Baton Rouge for his senior season.
To make matters worse, as Chase Goodbread of NFL.com noted, LSU visits Mississippi State on Week 2:
It would have been nice to have Mills around to help out in coverage against star Bulldog wide receiver De'Runnya Wilson and drop down into the box to slow star quarterback Dak Prescott on the ground.
What's more, the Tigers host Auburn—which was picked to win the SEC at media days in July—the following week. Even if Mills is back at that point, it's unlikely that he will be 100 percent against two offenses that can move the football up and down the field on anybody.
There are plenty of talented options for LSU, most of whom are rather unproven.
Junior Rickey Jefferson—the brother of former Tiger signal-caller Jordan Jefferson—has two picks and 29 total tackles over the last two seasons, serving mostly as a backup and on special teams. The 6'0", 209-pounder did see the field in dime packages at times last year and should be comfortable with the speed of the game and what's expected of him.
The Tigers could also slide corner Dwayne Thomas over to safety if needed. The 6'0", 186-pound junior was likely bound to start at nickel for the Tigers but has played all over the secondary during his career.
Freshman corner Kevin Toliver, a 6'2", 196-pound former 5-star prospect, enrolled early this spring and is battling 6'1", 210-pound Ed Paris for the No. 2 cornerback spot. Either has the size to move over to safety and the talent to play nickel, which could allow Thomas to move to safety.
The bottom line is, while there isn't a ton of proven depth at LSU to withstand Mills' injury, there's a boatload of talent for Miles and defensive coordinator Kevin Steele to work with.
If you watched the spring game, you saw the first-team LSU secondary play lights-out, while the "twos" struggled with communication and execution. Most of those players are incredibly young and will have to grow up in a hurry thanks to the tough September schedule and the news that Mills—one of their leaders—might be out for a few games.
It's "DBU," though, and if LSU knows how to do anything, it's how to replace star defensive backs with youngsters who are up to the challenge. After all, it was Mills who filled in for former Heisman Trophy finalist Tyrann Mathieu when Mathieu was dismissed in August of 2012.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports. Statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83.
Follow Barrett on Twitter: @BarrettSallee.
