LSU’s defense may be crowded with new faces this fall, but the clearest voice in the room already belongs to Whit Weeks.
With the Tigers still two Saturdays away from kicking off the season, Weeks has emerged as the centerpiece of what could be a top-ranked defensive unit. He is drawing attention for the way he plays, sure, but just as much for the way he runs the show. On a defense that has added plenty of transfer portal talent, the linebacker has become the steady hand everyone else can lean on.
The accolades have piled up quickly this month. Weeks has landed on the Bednarik Award Watch List, the Butkus Award Watch List and the Nagurski Award Watch List, giving him more watch-list recognition than anyone else on the roster. He also recently earned preseason first-team All-SEC honors, another sign that he is set up for a season that will be closely followed.
This is Weeks’ fourth year with LSU, and he has already been named a permanent team captain before the 2025 season. Under head coach Lane Kiffin, that status only seems to have grown stronger. He is not waiting for permission to lead; he is taking charge in real time, directing traffic on the field and setting the standard for younger players to follow.
That has shown up throughout fall camp, where Weeks has been seen calling out assignments and steering the defense through its work. The goal is simple: eliminate the kind of mistakes that tend to show up when the games start counting.
A big part of that confidence comes from his time under defensive coordinator Blake Baker. Weeks has spent four years being coached by Baker, and that relationship has helped shape him into the pressure-driven linebacker he is now. Baker’s blitz-heavy approach has also helped turn Weeks into the kind of defender who can serve as the voice of the unit.
For LSU, that makes him a rare kind of piece - a player trusted by the staff, respected by the locker room, and already operating like the quarterback of the defense. With another year still ahead of him before the NFL Draft, Weeks has a chance to leave a major imprint on the program.
He has become one of the names to keep circling this season, not only because of how hard he plays, but because of the leadership he brings with him every day.
In Other News...
Jayden Daniels Finally Addressed The LSU Dispute As Week 1 Nears
Jayden Daniels finally got his first preseason snaps with the Washington Commanders in a loss to the Detroit Lions, a small but meaningful step as he shifts from camp work to game preparation. Even with the NFL spotlight starting to sharpen, Daniels has had one off-field issue lingering in the background: a legal dispute with LSU over the use of his name, image and likeness, tied to the school assigning his former jersey number to another player.
Daniels has now addressed the matter and, for the moment, his focus is where the Commanders need it most, on getting ready for the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. For LSU fans who followed his rise closely, the dispute adds another layer to a quarterback era that still resonates, even as Daniels moves deeper into his professional routine. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Running Back Battle Just Took A Turn Fans Didnt Expect
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The bigger takeaway for LSU is that the Tigers are still testing combinations all over the field, not just at running back. The starting offensive line has been taking shape, the second team has seen movement, and even the defensive backfield is showing some tweaks, with Jhase Thomas getting work ahead of Tamarcus Cooley at safety. For a staff trying to build clarity before the opener, the backfield battle now looks like one of several places where camp could keep shifting right up until the final week. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Saban Just Reinforced Why LSU Recruiting Never Slows Down
Nick Sabans latest reminder of why Louisiana matters in football circles traces back to the early 1990s, when he was an assistant with the Cleveland Browns and Bill Belichick asked him to figure out which state produced the most NFL talent per capita. The answer, Saban said, was Louisiana, and that view of the state as a deep well of football ability helped shape why he later took the LSU job. He has long tied that kind of talent base to what made recruiting in Baton Rouge feel different from other stops in his coaching career.
For LSU, the broader point is simple: the pipeline never really shuts off. The Tigers have stayed in the top 10 of recruiting classes in recent years, and Sabans remarks only reinforce the idea that Louisiana gives the program a built-in edge before the work even starts. Even as coaching staffs change and the recruiting landscape keeps shifting, LSU continues to benefit from being in one of the countrys most productive talent pools. [Read more 🡒]