LSU won’t be sending its new quarterback to SEC Media Days next week, and that’s the kind of choice that stands out immediately.
Sam Leavitt, the Tigers’ top portal addition and the No. 1 player in the country in the transfer market when he arrived from Arizona State last January, is not on LSU’s list for Tampa. Neither is Jordan Seaton, the No. 1 offensive tackle in the portal and Tiger Rag’s other pick for the event after he signed with LSU last January as the No. 4 player in the portal from Colorado.
Instead, LSU coach Lane Kiffin is bringing three different faces when he meets the media on Thursday morning, July 23, at the Marriott Water Street hotel in downtown Tampa: Whit Weeks, Trey’Dez Green and TJ Dottery.
Weeks was the one LSU did take from Tiger Rag’s selections, and he arrives as one of the SEC’s top returning linebackers. He also happens to be the boyfriend of Kiffin’s daughter Landry.
Green, a tight end, is also viewed as one of the nation’s top returning players at his position. Dottery, meanwhile, comes in as a transfer linebacker from Ole Miss and was the No. 13 linebacker in the portal.
SEC Media Days begin Monday, and Texas is already showing how it plans to play the game. The Longhorns are bringing starting quarterback Arch Manning.
For LSU, the full trio in Tampa will be Weeks, Green and Dottery. For the rest of the league, the player lists are set too, with Alabama sending Zabien Brown, Ryan Coleman-Williams and Bray Hubbard; Arkansas bringing Caden Kitler, Quincy Rhodes Jr. and Sutton Smith; Auburn with Champ Anthony, Byrum Brown and Alex McPherson; Florida with Jadan Baugh, Myles Graham and Vernell Brown III; Georgia with Drew Bobo, Gunner Stockton and Raylen Wilson; Kentucky with Ty Bryant, Kenny Minchey and Willie Rodriguez; Ole Miss with Trinidad Chambliss, Will Echoles and Kewan Lacy; Mississippi State with Anthony Evans III, Kelley Jones and Kamario Taylor; Missouri with Cayden Green, Jamal Roberts and Nicholas Rodriguez; Oklahoma with John Mateer, Eddy Pierre-Louis and Taylor Wein; South Carolina with Nyck Harbor, LaNorris Sellers and Peyton Williams; Tennessee with DeSean Bishop, Arion Carter and Jeremiah Telander; Texas with Trevor Goosby, Arch Manning and Colin Simmons; Texas A&M with Daymion Sanford, Marcus Ratcliffe and Marcel Reed; and Vanderbilt with Sedrick Alexander, Issa Ouattara and Junior Sherrill.
In Other News...
Brian Kelly Finally Admits The Staff Mistake That Doomed LSU
Brian Kellys reflection on his LSU tenure offered a rare bit of candor about how hard it can be to build a staff the way a coach wants to. He said the early stretch of his time in Baton Rouge was slowed because he could not bring the coordinators he had hoped to have with him from Notre Dame, and he pointed to the defensive side as an area that needed a reset after his second season.
The bigger picture is that Kelly was talking about more than one hire or one scheme. He also acknowledged the challenges that came with elevating Joe Sloan on offense after Mike Denbrock left, a reminder that staff continuity can be just as important as talent on the roster. Meanwhile, the two coaches Kelly once wanted beside him have gone on to build strong reputations elsewhere, which only adds to the what-if feel around how different LSUs arc might have looked. [Read more 🡒]
LSU May Have Found The Receiver Kiffin's Offense Needs Most
LSU goes into the 2026 season without a proven No. 1 wide receiver, but Lane Kiffins arrival has given the Tigers a fresh starting point at the position. The roster now includes a talented receiver group, and one name has already started to separate himself in the conversation because he brings something the offense can use right away: familiarity with Kiffins system.
Winston Watkins, the Ole Miss transfer and sophomore, has a built-in edge after following Kiffin and wide receivers coach George McDonald to Baton Rouge. He also turned heads during spring practice, which only added to the sense that LSU may have found a receiver who can quickly become central to what it wants to do. For a team still sorting out its passing-game hierarchy, that matters, especially with SEC expectations already placing LSU in the upper tier of the league race. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Just Got Hit With A Brutal Recruiting Reality Check
LSUs 2026 recruiting class took a hit in the latest Rivals update, and the timing makes it sting a little more for a program trying to build momentum early in the cycle. Several committed prospects slid in the rankings, while a few others held steady or nudged upward, but the overall takeaway was a class that got downgraded rather than strengthened. For a staff trying to sell progress and star power, that kind of movement changes the conversation fast.
The biggest concern is less about one individual ranking and more about what it says about the class as a whole. LSU still has talent committed and still has time to reshape the board, but the perception around the group has shifted, and those perception swings matter in recruiting. How the Tigers respond from here will say plenty about the urgency and polish of the first-year push on the trail. [Read more 🡒]