Sam Leavitt’s surge has become hard to ignore, and CBS Sports noticed in a big way.
After a pair of sharp outings against Mississippi State and Auburn, the LSU quarterback climbed seven spots in David Cobb’s latest college football quarterback power rankings, jumping from No. 24 to No. 17. The move reflects how quickly Leavitt has steadied himself after a rougher start to the season built around turnovers.
Over the last two games, Leavitt has put up 677 passing yards and seven touchdowns without throwing an interception. For a quarterback who was among the sport’s most interception-prone players in the first half of the year, that’s a major turnaround.
Slowly but surely, the No. 1-ranked transfer quarterback of the offseason is beginning to look the part as he develops chemistry with a new group of receivers and limits mistakes like the ill-advised throw against Auburn that got overturned. Leavitt isn't a finished product, but he's clearly making strides under LSU coach Lane Kiffin, who told Leavitt that he was "lucky" to get away with his early miscue against Auburn.
"This is where we planned on being," Kiffin said. "Would have loved to be that way every game, but realistically, it was going to be a little bit slower with Sam missing all his spring."
Leavitt’s spring was limited by health, and he still isn’t fully healthy now. Even so, the progress is showing up where it matters most, and that’s enough to push him upward in the rankings.
CBS Sports slotted him at No. 17, behind quarterbacks such as Darian Mensah of Miami, Braden Atkinson of Oregon State and Gio Lopez of Wake Forest. The rest of the top 10 also featured Drew Mestemaker, CJ Carr, Trinidad Chambliss, Conner Weigman, Bear Bachmeier, Keelon Russell and Kenny Minchey.
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