LSU’s path back to the top may come down to a number that doesn’t always get the spotlight: blue-chip ratio.
That’s the backdrop for a roster that has been turned over in a big way, yet still carries national championship expectations in Baton Rouge. The Tigers won it all in 2019, but the climb back has been uneven, with disappointing seasons stacking up since then. Now the hope is that Lane Kiffin can steady the program and push LSU forward.
The blue-chip ratio idea is simple enough. Bud Elliott of CBS Sports has pointed out that teams signing more four- and five-star recruits than two- and three-star players across the previous four recruiting classes have generally had the best shot at winning a national title. Ohio State, Michigan, and Georgia all fit that mold in recent seasons, with blue-chip ratios of 90 percent, 54 percent, 77 percent, and 90 percent across those examples.
Then Indiana went and broke the pattern.
The Hoosiers showed that a championship-level roster can also be built through the transfer portal, even if many of those players didn’t come from the biggest stages in college football. They brought experience, and that mattered. Kiffin seems to be leaning into that same approach at LSU.
He has added familiar names from Ole Miss, including Princewill Umanmielen, TJ Dottery, and Winston Watkins Jr. He also brought in players such as Ty Benefield from Boise State and Jackson Harris from Hawaii, guys who didn’t arrive from a P4 program but do bring plenty of experience.
Kiffin has not been shy about using the portal to reshape the roster. LSU landed Sam Leavitt, the highest-rated quarterback in the portal, along with Jordan Seaton, the highest-rated offensive lineman. At the same time, Kiffin is still building for what comes next, with one of the top recruiting classes in the country for 2027 already secured.
That makes this feel like a possible one-year experiment, even if it could end up being something bigger. Either way, it will be worth watching to see how quickly the pieces come together, especially with a tough schedule looming.
On paper, LSU looks talented enough to belong in the championship conversation. The real question is whether all of that turnover and the lack of continuity from last season will slow things down once the games start.
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The clock is part of what makes this such a tense spot for LSU. Cleveland does not have much room to maneuver in its bonus pool, and Schmidts options are straightforward even if none of them are simple: sign with the Guardians, head to junior college and try the draft again next year, or make it to campus and keep LSU in play for a future run at him. For Jay Johnson, landing a front-of-the-rotation type would be a major win, but for now the Tigers are still in the waiting game. [Read more 🡒]
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Leavitts path also helps explain why LSU is betting big here. He has already played at Michigan State and Arizona State, and he helped lead the Sun Devils into the College Football Playoffs in 2024, giving him experience in exactly the kind of pressure games LSU expects to be playing. For the Tigers, the appeal is obvious, but so is the stakes attached to it: landing a quarterback with this kind of pedigree can raise the floor in a hurry, and it can also make every future roster move look a little more consequential. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Playoff Hype May Hinge On One Unsettled Preseason Question
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The opener against Clemson will offer an early measuring stick, but the bigger question hanging over Baton Rouge is how quickly the new pieces can settle in around quarterback Sam Leavitt and the rest of the offense. LSU has the look of a team built to chase a long postseason run, yet the difference between being merely intriguing and truly dangerous may come down to how one unsettled preseason issue gets answered once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]