LSU Football: Three sleeper players for the Tigers in 2023
By John Fye
LSU Football Sleeper: Sage Ryan
Position: Safety
Class: Sophomore
Ht/Wt: 5’11”, 202 lbs.
Hometown: Lafayette (La.)
LSU Football will rely on Sage Ryan to contribute significantly in 2023. Fans must consider Jay Ward’s importance to the Tigers’ secondary a year ago. For those who forgot, Ward entered 2022 as a safety who played snaps at cornerback and nickel because of LSU’s depth issues in the secondary.
LSU Football has similar secondary shortcomings this season. However, Brian Kelly has much faith in Ryan to step up and leverage his versatility into a vital defensive role.
Ryan was excellent during LSU’s fall camp by all media onlooker accounts. From his post-practice remarks, we also know that Kelly is high on the sophomore redshirt. The safety was injured during the Tigers’ final scrimmage but suffered a shoulder stinger that will cause any missed time this week.
Sage Ryan earned himself some playing time in a depth role last season. His best game was a four solo performance against Purdue in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.