SEC football 2019 season preview: Has Georgia closed the gap on Alabama?
By Matt Hicks
SEC Defensive Player of the Year
Grant Delpit, S, LSU
It has been eight seasons since a defensive back won SEC Defensive Player of the Year, so this pick may be a bit bold. The last time it happened, though, was when former LSU defensive backs Morris Claiborne and Patrick Peterson won the award in back to back seasons.
In 2018, he was a consensus All-American.
Delpit is a versatile athlete for the Tigers. He has the ability to lock down defenders in man or provide excellent coverage in zone coverage. He is an effective run-stopper too and can be a force to fear when in the box.
The biggest knock on his otherwise solid game is that he lacks consistent technique when tackling. Those critiques are fair, but he still recorded 46 solo tackles and 28 assisted tackles in 2018; a total of 74.
Running backs and wideouts are not the only ones who will fear Delpit in 2019, though. He also finds his way into the backfield a lot, causing chaos for quarterbacks. In 2018 he recorded five sacks. Quarterbacks will also be wary of him when throwing the ball. In 2018, he recorded five interceptions.
When Peterson won SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2010 he recorded 42 total tackles, four interceptions and zero sacks. When Claiborne did it in 2011 he had 51 total tackles, zero sacks and six interceptions. It’s likely Delpit will exceed both Peterson and Claiborne in each of those categories.
Awards, of course, are not given purely on stats. It will be critical for LSU to succeed on the field for Delpit to gain momentum in this awards race. Kentucky’s 2018 run helped Josh Allen finish at the top of the award race last season. It will be critical that LSU live up to their potential as the second-best team in the SEC West.
Other players to watch: Raekwon Davis (DL, Alabama), Derrick Brown (DL, Auburn), Dylan Moses (LB, Alabama), J.R. Reed (DB, Georgia)