Lane Kiffin’s first fall camp in Baton Rouge is arriving with LSU looking almost nothing like the team that finished the spring. The Tigers have rebuilt across the roster, and the jobs up for grabs now will go a long way toward shaping whether this group matches the playoff expectations hanging over 2026.
The quarterback room is the clearest example of how much change LSU has embraced. In January, the Tigers completely remade that group by adding Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt, USC transfer Husan Longstreet and Elon transfer Landen Clark. None of them came with any shared history, and each has had to settle into a competition that looks different depending on the player.
Leavitt’s spring was limited because he was coming back from a Lisfranc injury, and that opened the door for Longstreet and Clark to get a real run at the backup job. Leavitt is expected to be full go once fall camp begins after the injury ended his 2025 season early.
Longstreet and Clark both arrived with a chance to push for second-team reps and, if things went sideways, even the starting job. By the final spring scrimmage, though, Longstreet had moved ahead of Clark and is expected to be Leavitt’s primary backup when camp opens.
Wide receiver may be the most crowded fight on the roster. LSU brought in nine transfers and three high school recruits to a room that returns only redshirt freshman Phillip Wright from 2025, so the pecking order is still being sorted out.
Kansas State transfer Jayce Brown appears to be the safest bet to start after averaging 44 catches over his past two seasons. Hawaii transfer Jackson Harris, a 6-foot-3, 202-pound junior who averaged over 15 yards per catch in 2025, is expected to become a major outside target. LSU also added Old Dominion transfer Tre Brown as another big-play option, along with Florida transfer Eugene Wilson and Winston Watkins Jr., one of the players who followed Kiffin from Ole Miss.
That kind of turnover means the first answer at receiver may not be the final one. There will be plenty of shuffling and substitutions once the season starts.
Up front, the offensive line still has some unsettled spots heading into fall camp. Right tackle and both guard positions are the biggest question marks, even though a few pieces are already set.
Weston Davis and freshman Brysten Martinez are expected to battle at right tackle. The left side is much clearer, with Colorado transfer Jordan Seaton locked in at left tackle. Braelin Moore, a returner and one of the few bright spots on LSU’s line last season, is set to stay at center.
The Tigers also added more competition with former Ole Miss lineman Devin Harper and Tennessee transfer William Satterwhite II.
Even LSU’s defensive back room, usually one of the team’s strengths, has been hit by a major setback. Sophomore cornerback Aidan Anding tore his Achilles during a spring camp scrimmage and will miss the rest of the offseason and the entire 2026 season.
DJ Pickett and PJ Woodland have handled the first-team boundary spots throughout the offseason, but the nickel role and the second-team jobs are now open. Ja'Keem Jackson and Michael Turner Jr. have been rotating there since Anding went down.
This is not a battle about the starters. It is about the next men up, and Blake Baker’s defense treats those spots as just as important because of his high-volume sub strategy.
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 🡒]