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Kiffin’s next mission: Who should he get as LSU’s QB?

Dec 16, 2025 | 1:42 PM
Trinidad Chambliss

Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

By Chris Marler

The next phase of the Lane Kiffin era is a few weeks away. The transfer portal opens on January 2, and the number one destination for a lot of players will be right here in Baton Rouge. That’s especially the case at the quarterback position, as LSU has brought in the greatest offensive mind in the sport with what appears to be a blank check to get this roster right. That starts with a signal caller who fits his system and can lead this offense back to winning.

The Candidates 

Trinidad Chambliss 

Sam Leavitt

DJ Lagway

Bryce Underwood 

The case for Trinidad Chambliss 

The familiarity in the system goes a long way in favor of Chambliss over every other player in the country. Kiffin has turned every quarterback under him into a stud dating back to his days as the offensive coordinator at Alabama. Then, his biggest feather in the cap was turning Jake Coker into a national champion and 3,000 yard passer in one season, and converting a running back named Blake Sims into a then program record 3,400 yard passer in another. 

One thing the portal has done for coaches like Lane Kiffin is given almost an endless opportunity for diamonds in the rough. Chambliss was an afterthought when he got to campus for Ole Miss this summer. A Division II quarterback from Ferris State that nobody wanted. 

Kiffin turned him into an All-SEC level performer and one of 12 starting quarterbacks in the College Football Playoff. Convincing Chambliss to leave Oxford may be difficult with the amount of money I’m sure the Rebels NIL fund will want to throw at him. But there’s something to be said for playing at a better program, where the lights shine brighter, and for a coach that found and developed you already. 

The case for DJ Lagway 

I admittedly went into this piece way more excited for the potential of DJ Lagway to wear the purple and gold next year. Sadly, after looking at his past season, I’m not sure he’s the right guy for that offense. Lagway would succeed in a Kiffin offense for sure, but I’m not sure a Kiffin team succeeds to the level it should with Lagway at quarterback. 

He turns the ball over way too much, and there’s an argument to be made that no quarterback in America regressed as much from 2024 to 2025 as Lagway did. All the potential that so many people saw in the numbers we thought were scratching the surface of his ability seemed to fade away. The thing that excited me most about Lagway was the arm talent and deep ball ability from him in year one. Remember his freshman year he finished second in the SEC in passer rating (154.93) and yards per attempt (10.0). In 2025 he finished second to last in both categories. 

The biggest case against Lagway is his inability to run the football. In two years at Florida, he had less than 100 total rushing attempts. Quarterbacks in Kiffin’s offense have averaged around 120 rush attempts per season over the last four years. Lagway is also injury prone, and no matter what kind of talent LSU is able to bring in on the offensive line, it’s hard to imagine they’re going to consistently keep a clean pocket, or at least clean enough to keep him healthy for 12-16 games. 

The case for Sam Leavitt 

Leavitt will most likely be the most sought after player in the entire transfer portal. He burst on the scene in 2024 as a redshirt freshman leading Arizona State to the College Football Playoff. 

There are downsides with Leavitt, but they’re pretty scarce. One of the main negatives is his downfield accuracy and asking price. In two years in Tempe, Leavitt completed just 32.6 percent of downfield throws over 20 yards. That’s the lowest of any quarterback listed here. To be fair, it’s not exactly the most important prerequisite for being a Kiffin QB. Kiffin always finds ways to tailor his offense to the skillset of his quarterback. Case in point, only 12.4 percent of Trinidad Chambliss’ attempts this season were on passes of 20+ yards whereas Jaxson Dart’s number was over 22 percent in 2024. 

The other potential issue is price. While I don’t expect price to be an issue for LSU this upcoming portal cycle, there is something to be said for how much Lane Kiffin and the program will need to spend in order to compete. Again, this is a guy who just took a team led by a Division II QB to an 11-1 season and a No. 6 seed in the CFP. The two could be a perfect match, but I doubt you’ll see a power struggle back and forth in negotiations trying to land Leavitt. 

All that aside, the skillset fitting with past Kiffin quarterbacks is something to drool over. A dual threat, West Coast kid who is as tough as they come. Sam Leavitt feels like he could potentially be Jaxson Dart 2.0 in Baton Rouge. Leavitt’s completion percentage leaves something to be desired, but some of that was drops. His receivers combined for 20 drops on the season in 2024 making his adjusted completion percentage up to 72.3 percent. He’s also phenomenal the closer he gets to the goal line racking up 26 touchdowns to just two interceptions in the past two seasons in the red zone. 

The case for Bryce Underwood 

Can you imagine the full circle moment for LSU football if they were able to ultimately land what was supposed to be their prized recruit from a season ago? The loss of Underwood originally opened the door to spending $18 million on a roster that rivaled every team contending for a national title. However, the one in Baton Rouge somehow went 7-5. 

Landing Underwood, at a less toxic situation than the one Michigan is currently providing would be the shock of the century. 

Chris Marler

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