Football Lose Two DBs

With spring practice approaching, LSU is already down a pair of players

Spring football practice is a few weeks away and LSU’s going to head into March down two defensive backs.

Sixth-year corner Sevyn Banks “quietly” declared for the NFL Draft while incoming freshman safety Michael Daugherty withdrew from school and entered the transfer portal.

Let’s start with Banks, the known commodity. First off, if you’re wondering “wait didn’t the deadline to declare for the Draft pass already?” that’s true but since Banks is a graduate that rule didn’t apply to him.

Banks came out of the 2018 recruiting class as a four-star corner from the Orlando area. Banks played in every game for Ohio State as a sophomore and was an All-Big 10 Honorable Mention in 2020. He entered 2021 on the Nagurski and Thorpe Award watchlists.

But injuries, both at Ohio State and at LSU, have limited the first-round potential Banks flashed early in his career. A knee injury forced Banks to miss the first two games of the 2021 season and a hip caused him to miss the final three games. That hip injury followed him to LSU and limited him last spring, and then a knee injury caused him to miss the first three games of the 2022 season. Banks was then lost for the season after the opening kickoff in the Auburn game when he suffered a scary bruised spinal cord injury making a tackle. When Banks participates in LSU’s Pro Day that will be the first time we see him perform since being stretchered off the field.

Banks had one more season of eligibility remaining, but like we saw last year with Myles Brennan sometimes it’s just time to move on. Remember LSU’s also bringing in four transfer corners plus incoming freshman Javien Toviano and Jeremiah Hughes are already enrolled. Banks is 23-years-old and would have been entering his sixth season of college football. Go have a good Pro Day, earn an invite to a team’s training camp and try to make a roster.

While one player is forgoing their sixth year of football, another is making a big change before their first practice even begins.

Michael Daugherty announced over the weekend he would be withdrawing from school and entering the portal.

Daugherty was one of the first to commit to LSU’s 2023 class and I believe the first one to send in his LOI during the early signing period. Daugherty enrolled in January but after about two months he’s looking for his new home.

It’s strange but certainly not uncommon for a player to do something like this. Remember Jalen Shead? An incoming tight-end from Mississippi that LSU signed in 2021? Shead came in the summer of ‘21 and left after one day because of homesickness. These things happen and I wish nothing but the best for Michael Daugherty.