Lane Kiffin’s first fall camp at LSU arrives with the spotlight turned all the way up, and the biggest questions are still waiting to be answered.
The Tigers are working through the early stages of building out a roster that carries a $40 million price tag, and the offense is the center of the conversation. LSU has a mix of transfers, returning players and veterans who already know Kiffin’s system, but the key issue is simple: is this group ready to go when week one arrives?
The depth chart will take shape later in camp, but a few position battles and usage patterns are already worth tracking closely.
At running back, 2025 stood out as a strange year for a Kiffin offense. Kewan Lacy handled an unusually heavy load in the backfield, far more of a one-man operation than what Kiffin typically prefers. That makes LSU’s current backfield one of the more interesting pieces to watch.
Dilin Jones, a transfer from Wisconsin, turned heads in the spring and picked up first-team reps, which made him look like a real candidate to open the season as the starter. Still, the label matters less than the workload distribution. Jones, Harlem Berry and Caden Durham are the three primary backs, and the real story is how LSU uses them on different downs and how long each stays on the field.
The Tigers also brought in Stacy Gage, Raycine Guillory Jr. and Rod Gainey Jr. through the portal. All three have enough ability to push for snaps, so camp should start revealing how Kiffin wants to sort through that group.
Up front, LSU’s offensive line remains a major area to monitor after it was one of the team’s biggest problems in 2025. Some important pieces are back, and they’ll be asked to carry a lot of the load.
Braelin Moore is back for his fifth year of college football at center, where his strength should allow him to bully younger defensive linemen. Weston Davis struggled at right tackle last season, but he improved during the spring, and camp will show whether that progress holds.
The rest of the starting five still has to come together. Colorado transfer Jordan Seaton has the left tackle job secured.
At right guard, Aliou Bah and Ja’Quan Sprinkle are both in the mix. Bo Bordelon, now a fifth-year Tiger, took starting reps in the spring, but Ole Miss transfer Devin Harper could eat into his time at left guard.
Eric Wolford has a reputation for sorting out offensive line combinations, so the most important thing to watch is which players separate themselves once the pads come on.
Special teams, meanwhile, is getting less attention than it probably should. LSU has multiple players with All-SEC recognition in that group, even if it’s easy for it to get buried behind the bigger storylines.
Grant Chadwick is back as the punter and holder after earning third-team All-SEC honors last year. He averaged 45.7 yards per punt in 2025, the third-best single-season mark in LSU history.
The Tigers also added kicker Scott Starzyk from Arkansas. He earned Freshman All-SEC honors in 2025 after going 14-of-18 on field goals and making all 47 extra points. His one rough outing came at Ole Miss, where he missed multiple kicks and shanked two.
The return game is still the biggest unknown in that phase. LSU has so many fast players that picking the first punt returner is close to impossible right now.
Jayce Brown, Winnie Watkins and Phillip Wright would be the favorites among the receivers, while Harlem Berry also has the speed to handle the job. LSU could even turn to Ty Benefield or PJ Woodland on the back end.
For now, that part of the game remains a mystery, and the Tigers still need somebody who can change field position in a hurry.
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