There’s been a lot of chatter about which school claims the “Defensive Back U” moniker over the course of the spring. Florida and Oklahoma State threw their hats into the ring, but in the SEC and around the nation, the title belongs to LSU.

The Tigers secondary will have a chance to reaffirm its claim to that title early this fall.

After opening the season against McNeese State, LSU’s next two games — the first two SEC games on the schedule — come against two players who will likely be dueling for the first-team All-SEC quarterback nod. In Week 2, LSU will travel to Starkville, Miss. to take on Mississippi State and Dak Prescott, followed by hosting Auburn and early Heisman contender Jeremy Johnson in Week 3.

While both games are possible revenge games for the Tigers — MSU shocked LSU in Death Valley last year and Auburn wiping the floor with the Bayou Bengals — they’re also going to test LSU’s secondary as much as any tilt in the SEC.

LSU is still working its way into Kevin Steele’s defense. While the front seven will likely experience the most changes, with Steele coming from a 3-4 defense at Alabama, the defensive backfield players will still have to adjust to new terminology and coverage schemes that may still be a bit foreign to them early in the season.

The Tigers are replacing three starting members of the secondary from last year: safety Ronald Martin and cornerbacks Jalen Collins and Rashard Robinson. Robinson ascended to the starting role after a few games before being suspended, and was replaced by Collins in the lineup, so truly LSU is only losing two full-time starters.

Tre’Davious White, one of the best cornerbacks in the SEC, is back for his junior year. He’ll have talent across from him in Ed Paris, as well as freshman Kevin Toliver II.

Jalen Mills decided to return for his senior year at safety, and he’ll have one of the SEC’s ascending stars playing alongside him in Jamal Adams. As a freshman last year, Adams was an excellent reserve who showed a nose for the ball and an eagerness to hit, two things that’ll be needed against Auburn and Mississippi State.

We all know what Prescott can do with his legs; LSU certainly knows it well after Prescott torched them last year. Johnson will have plenty of running lanes in Auburn’s zone-read attack, although he seems to be more of a straight-line runner than one that can juke you out of your shoes like Prescott or his predecessor, Nick Marshall.

LSU had trouble stopping those two quarterbacks when they got to the second level last year, but Adams could shift that paradigm (as could having Kendell Beckwith fully entrenched at middle linebacker). Even as a backup, Adams had the most tackles for loss in LSU’s secondary last year, and he looks to be the type of player that offenses need to be account for on every play.

The corners will be tested early as well, matching up against two of the most physically dominant receivers in the conference in MSU’s De’Runnya Wilson and Auburn’s D’haquille Williams. Paris, White and Toliver all have excellent size, but matching up with Wilson and Williams athletically is no easy task.

Most expect Mississippi State to have a down year, but they still have the best incumbent quarterback in the league and one of the best in the nation. Auburn is an SEC favorite heading into summer, despite the turnover in its offensive core, and Johnson is an early Heisman favorite.

Of course, the run game is just as vital for both of those early opponents. But if LSU can shut down both of those potent quarterbacks, there won’t be any question about who DBU really is.