San Diego State must replace 4 starters in secondary after NFL Draft loss
It's never a bad thing when a school sees one of its players get taken in the first round of the NFL Draft, as the San Diego State Aztecs did with Chris Johnson, who went to Miami with the 27th overall pick.
It's just that after celebrating the school's first first-round draft pick since 2018, the Aztecs had to get back to work to fill not only Johnson's spot on the two-deep, but three other starting spots in the five-man secondary.
The only returning starter is Dalesean Staley, who started the entire season at strong safety.
Who's gone from the cornerback room
Johnson graduated after spending his entire career at SDSU, and fellow cornerback Bryce Phillips also used up his eligibility. Phillips went undrafted but signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Johnson set the bar high with one of the best seasons by a defender in Aztecs history. He was named the Mountain West's co-Defensive Player of the Year after piling up 49 tackles (36 solo), four interceptions for 146 yards and two touchdowns, nine pass breakups, three tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and two quarterback hurries.
Phillips started every Division I game he played in. After starting his career at Santa Ana College, he spent two years at Tennessee State and then his final two years at SDSU. He had one interception in each of the last two seasons at SDSU, as well as a forced fumble last fall.
Who's up next
SDSU won't release a new depth chart until after spring ball, which concludes with the spring game on Saturday.
The depth chart for the New Mexico Bowl against North Texas showed Prince Williams and senior Deshaun McCuin behind Johnson at left cornerback. and Isaiah Buxton and senior Eric Butler, who was the starting strong safety, behind Phillips at right cornerback.
With McCuin and Butler graduating and Buxton transferring, that leaves just Williams returning from that two-deep.
Williams played in 12 of 14 games as a redshirt freshman but had just nine total tackles, although he did force one fumble, in a wild loss to North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl. He appeared in three games the prior season, without recording any stats, before deciding to redshirt.
Portal guys
The Aztecs dipped into the transfer portal to bring in some experience at cornerback, including three who played in the FBS Big Sky Conference.
They are Mike Lindsay, who spent two seasons at Idaho State; Jason Oliver, who played three seasons at Sacramento State after starting his career at Colorado; and Caleb Ricks, who returned to his native Southern California after two seasons at Idaho. Ricks' brother, Elias, played at LSU and Alabama before catching on with the Philadelphia Eagles for three seasons.
Juco transfer Jamison Starks comes in from Foothill College in Los Altos.
Safety outlook
Staley brings some badly needed experience to the safeties room as he returns for his senior season after starting his first two seasons with the Aztecs. He was second on the team last year with 81 total tackles, including 40 solo, with one interception and one forced fumble.
Returning safeties Josiah Cox and Jelani McLaughlin both saw action as backups all last season.
SDSU tapped into the transfer portal for Solomon Davis from Oregon, Isaiah Green from Portland State and Jameson Thomeson of Ohio.
Davis saw extensive action during the final two of his three seasons at Oregon, mostly on special teams.
Green is coming off a big redshirt freshman season at Portland State, where he started at free safety in seven of the 11 games he played in, finishing with 50 total tackles to rank fourth on the team, an interception and three pass breakups.
Green had a big redshirt freshman season at Ohio, appearing in 13 games and piling up 86 total tackles, including seven for loss, while adding an interception and forcing and recovering a fumble.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/san-diego-state as San Diego State must replace 4 starters in secondary after NFL Draft loss.
Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 8:20 PM.