Every Position Battle That Will Define LSU's Season

Lane Kiffin's first fall camp in Baton Rouge arrives shortly with more roster turnover than LSU has ever seen. Nearly every unit on this LSU team features a new face fighting for a starting job, and how those battles shake out will determine whether the Tigers live up to their playoff expectations in 2026.

The quarterback room alone tells the story of an offseason built on aggressive change. Three transfer passers with no shared history are finding themselves together and battling different things in order to lead an offense that Kiffin has completely rebuilt from scratch.

But the defense is the safety net for this team while the offense sorts itself out, and even there, injuries and new bodies are reshuffling the depth chart. Spring camp answered some questions and raised just as many heading into fall camp.

Quarterback

LSU turned the quarterback room completely over in January, bringing in Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt, USC transfer Husan Longstreet and Elon transfer Landen Clark to its quarterback room.

Leavitt's limited spring reps while recovering from a Lisfranc injury opened the door for a real competition between Longstreet and Clark, even though Leavitt is expected to be full go for fall camp after the injury cut his 2025 season short.

Longstreet and Clark came to LSU with expectations that they would be competing for the second-team reps and a chance to take the starting job, should anything not go according to plan with Leavitt. But by the spring's final scrimmage, Longstreet had pulled ahead of Clark and is expected to serve as Leavitt's primary backup once Leavitt returns for fall camp.

Wide Receiver

The wide receiver competition may be the fiercest on the roster, with LSU adding nine transfers and three high school recruits to a room that returns only redshirt freshman Phillip Wright from 2025.

Kansas State transfer Jayce Brown looks like the safest bet to start after averaging 44 catches over his past two seasons, while Hawaii transfer Jackson Harris, a 6-foot-3, 202-pound junior who averaged over 15 yards per catch in 2025, is expected to emerge as a key outside threat.

To add to Leavitt's options, LSU added Old Dominion transfer Tre Brown as another explosive option with Eugene Wilson, a highly desired transfer from Florida, and Winston Watkins Jr., one of a handful of players who followed Kiffin from Ole Miss, to a group that has largely rebuilt its identity through the portal rather than continuity.

There will be a lot of shifting and substitutions throughout the season, so the initial winner of the position battles will not be the final decision.

Offensive Line

Sep 27, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes offensive tackle Jordan Seaton (77) pass protects on Brigham Young Cougars defensive end Hunter Clegg (90) in the second quarter at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Kiffin's offensive line enters fall camp with arguably its biggest question marks at right tackle and both guard spots, even with some pieces already penciled in up front.

At right tackle, returning lineman Weston Davis and freshman Brysten Martinez are expected to go toe to toe for the job, but the surprises would emerge at each guard spot.

The left tackle spot is secured. That's easily Colorado transfer Jordan Seaton's, and the center spot will be retained by retunrer Braelin Moore, one of the only bright spots on LSU's offensive line last season.

Transfers like former Ole Miss lineman Devin Harper and another Tennessee transfer, William Satterwhite II, add more fresh competition as well.

Corner Back

Even LSU's usual calling card, defensive back, hasn't been immune to camp shakeups. Sophomore cornerback Aidan Anding tore his Achilles during a spring camp scrimmage and will miss the remainder of the offseason and the entire 2026 season, forcing the staff to shuffle its depth chart on the fly.

DJ Pickett and PJ Woodland have worked with the first-team defense throughout the offseason and have locked down the boundary spots. But the nickel and second-team spots are wide open with Anding's injury.

That's where Ja'Keem Jackson and Michael Turner Jr. have rotated with each other throughout the remainder of the offseason that Anding has missed so far.

This battle isn't about starters, but simply about the second options and subs for those starters. Something that defensive coordinator Blake Baker holds equally as important as his high-volume sub strategy.

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