LSU’s quarterback conversation has only gotten louder, and Sam Leavitt keeps landing at the center of it.
The latest jolt came with the preseason All-SEC teams, where Leavitt was nowhere to be found among the three quarterbacks selected. Texas’ Arch Manning, Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss and Georgia’s Gunner Stockton got the nod instead, a trio of returning starters who already have the league’s trust.
For LSU, though, the omission hit harder because Leavitt is widely viewed as the program’s most important offseason addition. It also stands out because FanDuel has him at No. 10 nationally in Heisman odds, which puts him third among SEC players behind only Manning and Chambliss.
That snub landed only days after LSU left Leavitt off its roster for SEC Media Days, turning his arrival in the league into one of the summer’s most talked-about storylines around the Tigers.
LSU sent linebackers Whit Weeks and T.J. Dottery, along with tight end Trey'Dez Green, to Tampa instead of bringing Leavitt to the conference’s preseason kickoff event with Lane Kiffin. For a quarterback expected to be the face of the offense, that choice drew plenty of attention, especially with the injury questions hanging over him.
Leavitt, the highest-touted transfer from Arizona State, missed most of spring while recovering from foot surgery and only recently got the green light for full summer work. Kiffin said the program didn’t want that injury to become the main story of Leavitt’s first public appearance.
Still, the decision looked to many like a missed opportunity to introduce one of college football’s biggest unknowns on a bigger stage. LSU’s group in Tampa was strong, and Kiffin said Leavitt probably would have been the next player chosen if there had been room for a fourth.
Kiffin also made clear in Tampa that he’s no longer concerned about Leavitt’s health. His focus, he said, has shifted to Leavitt learning LSU’s system and building chemistry with new teammates through live game reps. In Kiffin’s view, the All-SEC omission says more about unfamiliarity than ability.
He pointed to Chambliss as the example, noting that Chambliss became a star without spring reps or first-team work in the summer. The message was simple: preseason recognition is nice, but it doesn’t decide what happens once the games start.
At the podium, Kiffin repeated that he believes Leavitt is recovered and emphasized that the quarterback and coach still have time to grow together.
The coach’s line has stayed the same since he got to LSU: the questions are about reps, not health.
Green backed that up Thursday, praising Leavitt’s competitiveness and leadership while calling him “a real quarterback” who wants to be first in everything.
That kind of support runs against the outside buzz that’s built up around Leavitt after being passed over again and again this summer.
Kiffin also said Leavitt has already been clocked at 21 mph since spring camp and has started to flash in workouts. LSU is now just over 40 days from opening the season against Clemson, and the Tigers don’t have much time left to show that all this preseason noise was just that - noise.
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Whit Weeks Just Put LSU Fans On Notice About TJ Dottery
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Weeks has already made it clear he likes what Dottery adds, not just in practice but in the way he carries himself around the program. The two have grown closer away from football, and that kind of connection matters for a unit LSU will lean on heavily, especially with both linebackers expected to be central figures in what could be one of the more experienced groups in the country. [Read more 🡒]