LSU Football: 5 Takeaways from 2019 spring football

4. Derek Stingley and Apu Ika impress

Two of LSU’s most prized recruits in the 2019 cycle certainly looked the part during the spring. Five-star cornerback Derek Stingley and four-star defensive tackle Siaki “Apu” Ika were two of only four early enrollee’s in the Tigers’s recruiting class, and both look like they are going to be instant contributors.

Stingley was the nation’s top cornerback prospect, and continues the long line of elite defensive backs finding their way to Baton Rouge. With Greedy Williams leaving for the draft, there was a spot open opposite Kristian Fulton at corner, and Stingley appears to already have the inside track on the starting job.

With Stingley/Fulton at corner, and Grant Delpit and Kary Vincent at safety, along with several other talented players, LSU’s secondary will unsurprisingly once again be one of the nation’s best.

Ika wasn’t as highly touted as Stingley, but he was still a blue-chip player in his own right and looks like he’ll carve out an early role in LSU’s defensive line rotation. Ika’s performance, albeit against the second team offensive line during the spring game, was eye-opening, and his emergence is probably even more important than Stingley’s.

Orgeron has talked for a couple of years now about the importance of bulking up the lines on both sides of the ball, and LSU’s depth has been lacking the last couple of seasons on the defensive line. Orgeron and his staff have attacked the recruiting trail trying to remedy that, but it’s a process that takes several years.

The easiest way to accelerate it is to uncover a couple of players who are able to contribute as freshmen. Ika should give them at least one of those.