BATON ROUGE – On-the-field work to begin the fix for LSU football's historically bad defense from last season had to start in the defensive backfield.

Opposing teams had fields days against LSU's pass defense in 2023 and head coach Brian Kelly set out to right the ship but first, letting go of last season's entire defensive staff. He brought in Blake Baker as defensive coordinator and for the corners, brought back beloved position coach Corey Raymond from Florida to retake over that group.

The Tigers do return four guys that have garnered plenty of playing time over the last couple of seasons, experience the coaching staff hopes can lead to far better results in 2024. Junior Sage Ryan, who has lined up at safety the last couple of years at LSU, will work with the cornerbacks during preseason practice.

Sophomore Ashton Stamps, senior Zy Alexander and sophomore and sophomore Javien Toviano all got snaps last season.

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Guys like former Ohio State pair J.K. Johnson, who's coming off a season-ending injury last season, and Jyaire Brown are intriguing players to watch during fall camp to see where they might can find roles, as well as freshman standout P.J. Woodland, who had a solid spring after enrolling early.

LSU football cornerback options

Projected starters: Sage Ryan, Jr.; Ashton Stamps, Soph.

Reserves: P.J. Woodland, Fr.; J.K. Johnson, Jr.; Zy Alexander, Sr.; Jyaire Brown, Jr.; Javien Toviano, Soph.; Michael Turner Jr., Fr.; Bernard Causey III, Fr.; Wallace Foster IV, Fr.; Craig Walton Jr., Fr.; Justin Echols, Jr.

LSU's problem has never been lack of depth at the corner position. What bit the Tigers last season was development and consistency as each guy that went out there couldn't stack good plays together.

The prospective full-time move of Ryan to cornerback from safety gives the room a player that's played a ton of games in his career. Ryan repping at corner always adds another layer of depth at both secondary spots.

But overall, LSU's corner room is in a much better place than it was at this time last season with the Alexander, Stamps, Toviano, Johnson and Brown. The addition of Woodland has been valuable and the wiry 5-11, 165-pounder could play his way onto the field as the coaches believe he's that talented.

The upside

The truth is the cornerbacks really only have one direction to go from last season and that's up. With Johnson fully healthy and Woodland in the mix, LSU has nearly four full tandems it can run in practice together. And there's been a few others that have ran with the first teamers at points in their careers.

LSU's corners have the ability and Kelly hopes with Raymond guiding that group, that can be the missing piece to set the position back on the right course.

If the cornerbacks can improve, even if it's slight, the bump the defense as a whole would see would be much greater.

One question or corcern

In Baker's scheme, he'll want his cornerbacks to play plenty of man coverage. Last season, LSU's cornerbacks couldn't line up in man as they mightily struggled in isolation situations on the outside.

Will this group be able to handle the amount of one-on-one scenarios they'll find themselves in? Or will Baker have to adapt some of his philosophy to the personnel he has?

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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz atbdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: What LSU football's CB room looks like heading into fall camp