Reevaluating LSU’s first transfer class under Lane Kiffin | LSU

It was always going to go back to the transfer portal.

Lane Kiffin’s success in Year 1 at LSU was always going to reflect the work he and his staff did when they overhauled the roster in December and January. The Tigers had to sign more than 40 transfers, which means they had to become what Kiffin calls a “portal team.”

And those teams don’t always succeed.

Will LSU wind up falling into that category? Or will it still find a way to overcome its two losses and sneak into the College Football Playoff field?

The Tigers have arrived at their open date, so it’s a nice time to reevaluate the transfer class Kiffin and his staff signed last year. Let’s dive in.

The stars

LSU needed its premier portal additions to deliver premier results, and so far, nearly all of them have.

It starts with quarterback Sam Leavitt, left tackle Jordan Seaton, defensive end Princewill Umanmielen and safety Ty Benefield. All four starters were some of the best players the transfer portal had to offer in 2026, so they were expected to become on-field difference-makers for LSU.

The numbers show that all of them are.

Benefield stepped into the Star position after Dashawn Spears suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 3, and now the Boise State transfer has pressured opposing quarterbacks more times (seven) than all but three FBS safeties, per Pro Football Focus data. He’s also missed only three tackles, and in coverage, he’s allowed just nine catches for 77 yards on 19 targets.

Umanmielen has 8.5 sacks this season, which ranks third among FBS pass rushers. He needs only four more to break LSU’s single-season sack record.

Although PFF says that Seaton has given up 11 pressures, which is four more than he surrendered all last year, none of them have affected the offense so far. They’ve resulted in zero sacks and one hit.

Leavitt is the SEC’s leading passer. He’s completed 70% of his passes, averaged 8.5 yards per attempt and thrown more than twice as many touchdowns (17) as he has interceptions (eight). The Arizona State transfer is starting to take better care of the ball now, too: He hasn’t tossed a pick in two weeks after doing so at least once in each of LSU’s first six games.

Those positions are four of the most important on the team, and after eight games it’s clear that the Tigers have NFL-caliber players at each spot.

The misses

LSU didn’t hit on all its transfer signees, though.

Kiffin and his staff haven’t gotten much production from one of their top portal wide receivers and two of the tight ends they signed to play reserve roles behind Trey’Dez Green.

The Tigers are also a bit thin on reliable offensive linemen. Baylor transfer Sean Thompkins couldn’t supplant incumbent starter Weston Davis at right tackle, and Ole Miss transfer Devin Harper couldn’t push for snaps at either spot on the interior — even though LSU made a change at left guard after it lost to Ole Miss in Week 3.

Now, the Tigers have transfers at both left guard and right.

“I think our guards play inconsistent,” Kiffin said Oct. 18. “They play well at times, and then they have some poor plays.”

But at least those transfers are starters. The same can’t be said for Jayce Brown, a Kansas State transfer wide receiver who has only eight catches for 89 yards this season after piling up 1,900 receiving yards throughout the first three years of his career.

“It just happens sometimes,” Kiffin said Oct. 12, “and everybody doesn’t get to play. We still have high hopes for (Brown). He’s working really hard out there, and if chances come, we expect him to make the play.”

At tight end, Kiffin tried to sign an NFL training camp player named Dae’Quan Wright in August, and when the SEC thwarted that effort, he moved wide receiver Roman Mothershed to that position. Those decisions were signs that LSU doesn’t trust either of its two transfer tight ends: Malachi Thomas (Pitt) and Zach Grace (Oregon).

The under-the-radar finds

What’s more important, arguably, is finding players who exceed expectations. Where would LSU be without running back Dilin Jones, wide receiver Jackson Harris or defensive end Jordan Ross?

All three transfers are enjoying career years, which makes each one of them a few of Kiffin’s latest transfer-portal success stories.

Ross recorded 1.5 sacks across the first two seasons of his career. This season, the Tennessee transfer already has five, which is tied for the sixth-most in the SEC. He, alongside Umanmielen and freshman defensive tackle Deuce Geralds, has helped elevate an LSU defense that couldn’t get more than four sacks from its most productive pass rusher last season (Harold Perkins).

Harris has been an even bigger revelation. He leads SEC receivers in touchdown catches (seven), and he ranks fourth in receiving yards (634). The redshirt junior broke out last season, but he was playing at Hawaii. Now he’s a No. 1 wideout in the SEC, as he showed when he erupted for nine catches, 178 yards and two touchdowns against Auburn on Saturday.

And then there’s Jones, one of LSU’s indispensable players. The Wisconsin transfer wasn’t considered one of the portal’s 50 best running backs, but Kiffin and his staff scooped him up and made him their lead ball carrier, entrusting him with one of their most important roles.

Jones takes handoffs, runs routes and blocks for Leavitt. He’s the only SEC running back who’s piled up at least 600 rushing yards and 200 receiving yards this season, and he’s forced 39 missed tackles, according to PFF. Only six FBS tailbacks have broken more.

That’s the kind of portal find that can define a transfer class.

So it’s safe to say that LSU built a pretty good one for Kiffin’s first year in charge. Now it’s time to see just how far the group can go.