The 2026 LSU roster is starting to look like a team built to win in a lot of different ways, and that’s why the comparison that keeps coming up is the 2007 national championship group.
That’s a strong standard to attach to any LSU team. The Tigers have stacked four championships and some of the sport’s best rosters over the years, so matching up with one of those title teams says plenty about where this group stands on paper. It may not be fair to compare this edition to the 2019 juggernaut, but 2007 fits the shape of what Lane Kiffin’s first LSU team is becoming.
The 2007 squad finished in the top 20 nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense. LSU averaged 38.6 points per game, which ranked 11th in the FBS, while opponents were held to 19.9 points per game, good for 17th. Those are numbers the 2026 team can realistically chase, especially with an offense that should play at a faster pace and has a chance to score even more often.
That 2007 team also made history as the first two-loss team to win the national championship, something that is far less unusual in the 12-team College Football Playoff era. Matt Flynn, a senior, was the quarterback who guided LSU to the title after the win over Ohio State. He completed 202 of 359 passes for 2,407 yards and 21 touchdowns, averaging a little more than 200 yards per game.
But LSU also had another quarterback waiting in the wings. Sophomore backup Ryan Perrilloux was billed as the next big thing in Baton Rouge, coming in as the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in his class, and he still got meaningful work in 2007, completing a quarter of the passes Flynn did.
That kind of setup is part of what makes the 2026 roster feel familiar. LSU brought in Sam Leavitt and Husan Longstreet from the transfer portal, with Leavitt positioned to start and potentially push the Tigers back toward the top. Longstreet gives LSU a backup option that can matter if needed, and if the season goes the way the Tigers want, he should also see plenty of snaps once games are decided.
The backfield comparison is just as striking. In 2007, Jacob Hester capped his LSU career with a national championship and Second Team All-SEC honors after rushing for 1,103 yards.
He was the headliner, but LSU had plenty of help behind him. Keiland Williams, Trindon Holliday and Charles Scott each ran for at least 300 yards, while Richard Murphy and both quarterbacks added around 200 yards apiece.
LSU’s 2026 backfield doesn’t have a clear-cut No. 1 yet, but it does have the kind of depth that can make the run game a real problem for defenses. Sophomore Harlem Berry and Wisconsin transfer redshirt sophomore Dilin Jones are expected to lead the way, and either one has the ability to become a 1,000-yard runner. That matters in Kiffin’s offense, which depends on big rushing production to keep the chains moving.
Junior Caden Durham brings a different kind of value as a power back who can also catch the ball out of the backfield. Transfers Stacy Gage and Rod Gainey Jr. add more size and physicality, giving LSU more options in short-yardage situations.
Defensively, the Tigers are leaning into the kind of identity that has long defined LSU football. That edge showed up again in 2025 under defensive coordinator Blake Baker, and he enters 2026 with a loaded unit in his third year.
The 2007 defense was driven by its front seven, with Ali Highsmith, Glenn Dorsey, Kirston Pittman and Darry Beckwith forming the core. LSU has a chance to build something similar with Whit Weeks and T.J. Dottery at linebacker and Princewill Umanmielen, Dominick McKinley and Jordan Ross up front.
There’s even a case that the defensive line could end up stronger, depending on how quickly the three-star freshmen Lamar Brown, Deuce Geralds and Richard Anderson can contribute.
The secondary may be the most exciting part of the roster. The 2026 defensive back group is being talked about as potentially better than the one that helped LSU win the BCS championship. That 2007 unit produced 26 interceptions and featured Craig Steltz, Danny McCray, Curtis Taylor, Chad Jones, Jonathan Zenon and Tyson Jackson.
This year’s group has its own star power. Boise State transfer safety Ty Benefield could be LSU’s best player, and he leads a safety room that also includes Dashawn Spears and Tamarcus Cooley. At cornerback, DJ Pickett returns for his sophomore season and has a chance to establish himself as one of the best in the country by 2027, while PJ Woodland fits smoothly into the position group.
On paper, there’s a lot to like here. The 2026 Tigers have a high bar in front of them, but the pieces are in place for them to clear it quickly.
In Other News...
Ex-LSU Coordinator Joe Sloan Is Suddenly Drawing Serious SEC Buzz
Joe Sloans name is back in SEC conversation for a very different reason than the one that sent him out of Baton Rouge. After being promoted to LSU offensive coordinator in 2024 and helping pilot a passing game that ranked among the nations better units, Sloan was dismissed in 2025 as the Tigers overall production slipped. Now he has landed at Kentucky, where first-year head coach Will Stein has put him in charge of the offense and the play-calling duties for a staff trying to make an immediate imprint.
Stein has been openly bullish on Sloans communication and recruiting chops, and that part of the hire is already resonating in Lexington. Kentucky portal quarterback Kenny Minchey said Sloan was one of the main reasons he chose the Wildcats, a sign that Sloans influence is being felt before the season even gets rolling. The next interesting checkpoint comes on October 10, when LSU and Kentucky meet and Sloans new role will be measured against the program he just left. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Just Took Another Painful Recruiting Hit In The Secondary
A major 2027 secondary target is off the board, and the ripple effect reaches well beyond Athens. Four-star safety Adryan Cole of Douglasville, Georgia, had been one of the names LSU and Florida were tracking closely, but his early decision gives the Bulldogs another important win in a cycle that is already starting to take shape around elite defensive talent.
Cole enters the class as the No. 4 safety and No. 76 overall prospect in the Rivals 300, and his pledge adds to Georgias growing haul of blue-chip commitments. For LSU, the miss is part of a familiar fight in the Southeast recruiting lanes, even as the Tigers continue to work on the back end with additions like Jayden Anding and the flip of Greedy James. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Most Dangerous 2026 Road Test Is Already Coming Into Focus
SEC Media Days will keep LSU in the spotlight Thursday morning, when Lane Kiffin is set to go with Whit Weeks, TreyDez Green and TJ Dottery at 8 a.m. CT. It is the kind of summer checkpoint that offers a first real look at how the Tigers want to frame the season, and it comes as attention already starts to shift beyond the headlines and into the grind of the schedule.
One of the first pressure points is easy to spot: a trip to Tennessee on Nov. 21, which opens a series on LSUs five toughest games in 2026. The Volunteers look more formidable on defense after adding Jim Knowles and linebacker Amare Campbell, and the timing does LSU no favors either, with that road test coming after back-to-back meetings with Alabama and Texas. Even the roster trivia has a little intrigue, with two Tigers wearing No. 47, a reminder that depth and detail may matter as much as star power by the time that stretch arrives. [Read more 🡒]