{"id":14432,"date":"2023-08-23T01:35:23","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T06:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=14432"},"modified":"2023-08-23T01:35:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T06:35:23","slug":"brian-kelly-believes-zy-alexander-has-been-trustworthy-on-lsu-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/brian-kelly-believes-zy-alexander-has-been-trustworthy-on-lsu-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Kelly believes Zy Alexander has been \u2018trustworthy\u2019 on LSU defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

LSU<\/strong><\/a> was active in the transfer portal on defense this offseason, using it to shore up a few spots. The addition of Zy Alexander<\/a><\/strong> in the secondary has proven a big one.<\/p>\n

Alexander is competing for playing time in the secondary this fall after arriving by way of Southeastern Louisiana<\/strong>, about 30 minutes east of LSU\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the first thing is he\u2019s a guy that\u2019s trustworthy,\u201d coach Brian Kelly<\/a><\/strong> said. \u201cDoes the little things the right way. He\u2019s a guy that takes care of his work off the field on time, reliable. Those traits, as we know, they\u2019re transferable. So at that position that\u2019s what you\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander was a first-team All-Southland Conference selection for the Lions in 2022, while he was a third-team FCS All-American by the Associated Press in 2021.<\/p>\n

He appeared in 31 games for the Lions, racking up 97 tackles, nine interceptions and 12 pass breakups.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s shown enough that LSU feels comfortable with him in the back end of the defense, an area they sought to shore up this offseason via the transfer portal.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe brings length, athleticism and we\u2019ve seen him be a guy that\u2019s not afraid to stick his nose in there,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cEven though he played quarterback in high school, he is physically developing and getting stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

LSU wasn\u2019t terrible in the secondary a year ago; the Tigers finished ranked 32nd nationally in passing defense. But for the team to achieve its goals this season \u2014 potentially repeating as SEC West champions and earning a College Football Playoff berth \u2014 the Tigers will need to be even better.<\/p>\n

Moreover, turnovers are an area where LSU can improve.<\/p>\n

LSU finished ranked 43rd last season in takeaways, with 20 total. Only nine were interceptions, though, which ranked 79th nationally.<\/p>\n

The good news? Alexander<\/a> has shown the ability to go up and get it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe like his willingness to go in there and want to tackle, and I think we saw on Saturday he\u2019s got the nose for the football too,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cWhen it\u2019s in the air he\u2019s going to go up and find it, and he can catch it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander will make his LSU debut on Sept. 3, when the team takes on Florida State<\/strong><\/a> in a highly anticipated rematch of top-10 teams.<\/p>\n

The post Brian Kelly believes Zy Alexander has been \u2018trustworthy\u2019 on LSU defense<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LSU was active in the transfer portal on defense this offseason, using it to shore…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}