The One Former LSU Star This Team Wishes It Had in 2026

If LSU had this guy on the roster, a national championship would be almost guaranteed

Devin White runs on the field during the 2019 Fiesta Bowl against UCF | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It's not easy to find a place in this roster that would be totally changed from a former legend coming in.

But if linebacker Whit Weeks got to team up with another former team captain in Devin White, this defense would be unstoppable. White is arguably the best linebacker to play at LSU and is the highest-drafted linebacker in program history, being the fifth overall pick in 2019.

He signed with LSU as a running back but converted to linebacker and was named the best linebacker in college football in 2018 when he became the first LSU player to win the Butkus Award.

The man who once rode his horse into Tiger Stadium finished his three-year career at LSU with 286 tackles, 29.0 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, and was responsible for nine turnovers.

Why is White such an LSU legend?

Devin White looks on during a 2018 game against Florida | USA TODAY Sports

In White's sophomore and junior years, he was named permanent captain as well as winning the Charles McClendon Award, an in-house award given to LSU's most valuable player.

During those two years, 2017 and 2018, he was also named to the first-team All-SEC, and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week six times, with four coming in 2017 and two in 2018.

It's difficult to grasp just how good White was on the field, but his consensus All-America honors in 2018 and second-team All-America honors the year before help express how separated he was from other linebackers and defenders across the country.

White has his place cemented as a top-5 defensive player all time for LSU, something that is difficult to be topped, even by someone like Weeks.

Weeks has the chance to be a game-wrecker for LSU in 2026, but it's unlikely that he reaches where White was at his peak, but he could get to the point White was at in his sophomore year.

Weeks received first-team All-SEC honors in 2024, but was riddled with injuries last year. In Weeks' three years, where he has started 22 games, he has made 205 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss and five sacks.

This isn't to discount Ole Miss transfer linebacker TJ Dottery, either. Dottery is going to be a solid linebacker for LSU after his three years with the Rebels, where he started his last 27 games.

As a starter, Dottery had 174 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and was responsible for four turnovers. But, no one yet is who White was at LSU.

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