LSU has lost its defensive coordinator and the Tigers are losing starting defenders early to the draft, too.
Coordinator John Chavis is leaving for the same job at Texas A&M, and whoever replaces him will have to make do without linebacker Kwon Alexander, who announced Wednesday he was leaving, and cornerback Jalen Collins, who announced Thursday via Instagram that he would bypass his senior season. In addition, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports that safety Jalen Mills is telling players that he's going to leave early, too.
Collins' decision was not a surprise, though the Advocate reported that Collins said he was given a "stay-in-school" grade from the NFL Draft Advisory Board.
Mills (6-foot, 194 pounds), who has had legal trouble, started at cornerback for two seasons before moving to safety this season, and his versatility will be a selling point. Collins (6-2, 198) has excellent size. Both would seem to be candidates to be selected in the middle rounds, with teams likely higher on Collins than Mills.
LSU has lost 17 players in the past two drafts to early entry, more than any other school.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.