BEAUMONT, Texas – Another offseason has come and gone, and the calendar has turned the page for August which means players have reported back to campus for preseason camp. It also means LamarCardinals.com will once again be posting its annual position-by-position breakdowns leading up to the team's season opener Saturday, Aug. 30^th at North Texas.
 
Today LamarCardinals.com will break down the LU defensive backs.
 
LB Quick Facts:
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 5/10
Starters Returning/Lost: 2/3
Newcomers: 9 (five transfers and four signees)
 
Stats: The Cardinals ended the 2024 season ranked second in the Southland in scoring defense (22.8 ppg), fifth in total defense (367.2 ypg), fourth in rushing defense (138.8 ypg) and seventh in passing (228.3 ypg). The Cardinals also ranked seventh in the league in sacks with 23 and interceptions (11) and recorded 60 tackles for losses.
 
Key Player: Kristian Pugh (12 games/11 starts - 72 tackles, 44 unassisted, 4.5 TFLs, 7 PBU, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery) – even with just two returning starters this wasn't an easy choice. There is a case to be made here for Ronnie Hamrick, but Pugh is the team's top returning tackler, and he is a 409 guy. In our humble opinion, if all things are equal then the tie will always goes to the 409.
 
The Storyline
By now, it cannot come as a shock for fans to hear us say the Cardinals took a hit at this position after reading the position stories on the defensive line and the linebackers. It is what it is, the Cardinals' defense will be young this year – based on snaps taken at Lamar – but there is experience in the Cardinals' secondary.
 
While it is true that the Cardinals lost starters Ramond Stevens, Codey Martin and Damian Alexander – key pieces over the course of the past 2-3 seasons – we should not forget that in head coach Pete Rossomando's short time in Beaumont he has struck gold in the transfer portal a lot, especially in the secondary. Names like Josh Ofili, Codey Martin and DeJuan Lewis should ring a bell – guys that came in and won starting jobs and never looked back. In all honesty, a more legitimate concern should be what the weather will be like on gameday more than this staff's ability to hit on portal.
 
As we've mention earlier, Pugh (5-11, 182) is the leader here. A local product who had options coming out of high school, but he elected to stay home play for the hometown school. The best way to describe Pugh is he's a dog. He doesn't care about the glitz or glamour, only to go make plays and to win. The team's top returning tackler, he is a leader on this team and brings a big-time level of production at the safety position.
 
The Cardinals other returning starter is Hamrick (6-0, 201) who started 11 of 12 games at the rover position last year. Another one of Rossomando's "hits" in the transfer portal, Hamrick is the squad's second-leading returning tackler and there is no reason why he won't put up similar numbers this year.
 
For those cup half-empty folks who are concerned about the lack of returning veterans I would like to help ease those fears with the incoming transfer class which consists of Paul Omodia (6-2, 198, Illinois State), De'Kelvion Beamon (6-1, 206, Oklahoma State), Demarcus Rankin (5-11, 198, Wake Forest) and Kevin Thomas, Jr. (6-0, 205, Grambling State) to go along with JUCO transfer Sean Connor (6-0, 199, Trinity Valley CC). For those of you who get excited seeing FBS schools as where guys are transferring from, that is fine and it is your prerogative, but I want to focus on their attributes. Each one of these players are at least 6-0 (save for Rankin who is 5-11). My point is these guys are lengthy. Their size, wingspan and speed will make it harder for receivers to get open and be seen by quarterbacks. As a group, they average just over 6-0 tall and 201 pounds. I must admit we here at LamarCardinals.com have failed the fans in one area. It never dawned on us to reach out for the group's average 40 times. So, I can assure that by dawn on Monday we will be hearing about that from our boss (have no fear, I'm working on a plan to pass the buck).
 
Without going any further down the roster, the previous information should help put aside any fears of a drop off this year and maybe get fans thinking the secondary could be even better. If I have not yet accomplished this, then let's continue.
 
The remaining newcomers include true freshmen Caleb Holmes (5-8, 157, DeSoto, Texas), Hezekiah Dantzler (6-1, 180, Baton Rouge, La.), Ean Carr (6-1, 172, Frisco, Texas) and Calvin Morris (6-1,180, Port Arthur, Texas). That group joins redshirt freshmen Zaylon Stoker (6-0, 163), Nicholas Brown (6-0, 170), Jordan James (6-1, 194), Edward Gilds (6-0, 194), Mar'Shawn Richardson-Giddings (5-10, 195) and Jarrett Mitchell (6-2, 186). Coach Rossomando touched on a lot of these names during the team's media day press conference and his excitement level for the potential.
 
We've dropped a lot of names on you for this post and those names did not include returning letterwinners Mar Mar Evans (6-0, 182, So.), Anthony White (5-11, 171, So.), Jade Harding (5-10, 179, Sr.), Tre Turner (6-2, 188, So,) and Brenden Bradshaw (6-1, 202, So.). Similar to the LU linebackers, the Cardinals have options at the corner and safety positions. Yes, we do have to replace two starters at corner and one at safety but there is a high-level of talent here. Fans should sit back, relax and let it all play out because the 2025 season is less than a week away!