AJ Haulcy jumped off the statistics page when he committed to LSU out of the final ever spring portal window in 2025.
Then fall camp came, and it was evident early that he was going to be a presence in the secondary. That turned out to be the case. Haulcy played at an All-American level according to Sporting News (First Team) was a First Team All-SEC pick by the AP and the coaches.
The Colts’ third round pick made 88 tackles, second on the team, and led the defense with three interceptions. He was a ball hawk in the truest sense of the cliche.
As Haulcy moves on, LSU’s numbers look very healthy, and there’s another transfer headed in that could have a very similar impact.
WHO’S BACK: Tamarcus Cooley (Jr.), Jhase Thomas (rFr), Dashawn Spears (Jr.) CJ Jimcoily (Soph)
WHO’S NEW: Ty Benefield (Transfer- Boise State), Faheem Delane (Transfer- Ohio State), Aiden Hall (Fr.), Isaiah Washington (Fr.), Jackson Williams (Fr.)
WHAT WE KNOW
Haulcy leaves quite a hole, but two returners played a lot of football last year.
Tamarcus Cooley has started 22 games including all 13 for LSU last season after coming in from NC State. He’s played safety and nickel, making 70 stops last year with a pair of interceptions. He’s 6-foot and 206 pounds and played extremely hard play in and play out. Pro Football Focus dinged Cooley for 16 missed tackles and a tackling grade of 55.4. That brought his overall defensive grade down to 56.1.
Spears broke out in the Florida game with a pair of interceptions including one for a touchdown. He only played 255 snaps for the season which was less than Whit Weeks (309) and Ahmad Breaux (291). Weeks was hurt all year, and Breaux transferred. Spears is sticking it out in hopes of earning a starting job. He graded second highest on the defense last year. No one was catching Mansoor Delane. But Spears graded 90.1 overall including 85.7 versus the run and 90.3 in coverage. He made 19 tackles and only missed one.
Dashawn Spears is my #1 breakout candidate for the 2027 NFL Draft
6’3, 210lb safety who flashed a TON in just 250 snaps last season pic.twitter.com/XCxtGGv1TM
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) May 7, 2026
Jhase Thomas is 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds from Destrehan. He played 33 snaps on special teams last year including the punt he blocked against Texas A&M. He was only out there for one defensive snap versus Southeastern. Thomas was a four-star recruit and ran the 100m in high school.
CJ Jimcoily is probably a linebacker. He’s listed that way on LSU’s website, but he’s worked a ton at STAR alongside Dashawn Spears, so I’ve included him here. He’s a 6-foot-3, rangy defender who was all over the special teams as a freshman. He played 187 snaps across all units. He did make a pair of defensive tackles against Houston in his most extensive defensive playing time.
Ty Benefield should not be fifth in the pecking order here, but we started with the returners. Benefield was an early take out of the transfer portal, and Lane Kiffin hasn’t stopped raving about him since. He’s 6-foot-3 and 208 pounds, and he absolutely stuffed the stat sheet at Boise State. He started 33 games for the Broncos including the last 28. As a junior, he made 107 tackles including 8.5 tackles for loss. He picked off a pair of passes and broke up three more. In his career, those totals are 235 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 16 pass breakups and five interceptions. He was the Mountain West Championship Game MVP.
Faheem Delane’s name should sound familiar. The Ohio State transfer follows his brother’s footsteps to Baton Rouge at a different position. Delane was a four-star recruit when he got to Columbus. He’s 6-foot-2 and 213 pounds having seen action in 13 games his freshman season. He played 81 snaps on defense and 88 more on special teams, so he got some seasoning in his first year.
Aiden Hall comes over from Edna Karr. He was a consensus four-star recruit at 6-foot-2 and 193 pounds. He was present for spring workouts.
Isaiah Washington from Haynesville was not. Washington was a little bit off the radar when LSU offered him out of the north Louisiana small-town powerhouse. He played quarterback and defensive back for the Tornados and was named the 1-A Most Outstanding Player on defense for his 14-0 state title team. Washington is 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, so he’s smaller than his positionmates.
Jackson Williams, like Hall, is a New Orleans native who comes from Shaw. He played in back-to-back state title games for Shaw and starred on the basketball court. He was a three-star recruit.
HUNT’S TAKE
I won’t list Benefield fifth here. He may be LSU’s best player.
The Boise State transfer is going to start at safety and should make a similar impact to Haulcy in terms of downhill tackling and ball skills in the middle of the field.
New LSU Safety Ty Benefield (#0) has excellent size at the position (6’3” 205) and will be an excellent pairing with a personal favorite of mine in Dashawn Spears. pic.twitter.com/lltNG6lVMO
— Panthers Pulse (@PanthersPulze) July 6, 2026
I expect Benefield to make 75 or 80 tackles and nab a handful of interceptions, call it three. The linebackers in front of him are going to clean some things up, so he probably won’t lead LSU in tackles, but he very well could. He’s got the potential to be a first round pick.
Cooley will flank him. Though a touch undersized, Cooley will give you effort. He’s not afraid to tackle and plays aggressively.
Spears will finally get his shot this year. He was reduced to a Dime role a season ago. This year, he’ll move to the STAR where Major Burns and Harold Perkins have played in Blake Baker’s defense. I think he’s a great fit there with his 6-foot-3, 209 pound frame and ability to tackle and cover. Spears has considered transferring but should have his best season as a Tiger.
The rest of the group is fighting for backup time.
Delane and Thomas are the next two up in the back end, and Jimcoily has gotten a lot of looks at STAR where he’s battling with some of the reserve linebackers. I think Delane has a really bright future. There’s a chance Benefield, Cooley and Spears are all gone for 2027 while all three have eligibility remaining. Benefield almost certainly is, and Cooley will have played four years. Spears is a potential breakout player that has NFL size and speed.
This position group is in a really good spot for 2026 and feels pretty healthy moving forward. Jake Olson decided to stick around after some NFL overtures. DBU is in good hands.
