BEAUMONT, Texas – Over the course of the past couple weeks LamarCardinals.com has been breaking down the 2022 LU football team, position-by-position, heading into the season opener at Abilene Christian, Sept. 1^st.
 
Today LamarCardinals.com will continue with a look at the LU defensive backs.
 
Quick Facts:
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 5/5
 
Starters Returning/Lost: 0/4
 
Newcomers: 10
 
Stats: The 2021 Cardinal secondary was responsible for 245 tackles on the season, 8.5 tackles for losses, 1.5 sacks, eight interceptions and 17 pass breakups.
 
The Storyline
I'm sure the average fan will read those stats and have a snarky reply something similar to "why list those stats when none of our starters are returning in the secondary?" While it is true the four starters from last year have moved on, that doesn't mean the Cardinals are void of experience in the back end of the defense. The Cardinals return players with some starts during their career, they just weren't the primary starter. In addition to all of that, it's not just about the starters but also the depth created at each position.
 
The Cardinals return three players at corner with in-game experience, and include a fourth who has made the transition from the offensive side of the ball (Canden Grogan). LU returns Ramond Stevens (5-10, 160, So., New Orleans, La.), DeMarco Roberts (5-8, 170, So., Aledo, Texas) and Damian Alexander (6-0, 160, So., New Orleans, La.) to go along with the aforementioned Grogan. This group alone has combined to play in 24 games with seven starts and recorded 56 tackles (with one interception). While Grogan is a former receiver, what he lacks in experience he makes up for in size, speed and having a receiver's instincts.
 
This group will be pushed by three young players in Aaron King (5-10, 170, Fr., Garland, Texas), Mike Thomas (5-11, 175, Fr., Texarkana, Texas) and Sir Zollocoffer. All three were added due to the coaches' efforts on the recruiting trail and are pushing for heavy playing time this season (side note, Zollocoffer should be a unanimous first-team pick for the All-Name team. He's a true freshman and everyone has to call him Sir).
 
LU returns three players at safety – Austin Goffney (6-0, 203, Sr., Cypress, Texas), Seth Johnson (5-10, 170, So., Houston, Texas) and Antorius Hambric, Jr. (5-11, 183, So., Forney, Texas). All three gained valuable experience last season combining for 18 games played with a start and 58 total tackles and a pick. While Goffney will be a senior (transferred in from Abilene Christian prior to 2021), Hambric is just moving into his sophomore season and Johnson officially redshirted the '21 campaign (after playing in just three games).
 
The returnees at safety will be pushed by three true freshmen – Kristian Pugh (5-11, 160, Beaumont, Texas), Du'Wayne Paulhill, Jr. (6-1, 197, Bryan, Texas) and Zyon Clark (6-3, 180, Anahuac, Texas). All three additions have come in and played well during fall camp and could work their way into the rotation early this season.
 
The list of returning players in the defensive secondary provides the Cardinals with quite a bit of stability in the defensive backfield. That to go along with the amount of incoming talent at the position trends toward a very bright future at the position.