Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
By Hunt Palmer
The Texas Bowl is in the rearview, but the college football calendar never stops.
The time to build the 2026 roster is now, and Lane Kiffin is in complete control of the operation. Saturday night’s loss was the final audition tape for the Tigers, and the vast majority of the participants in the Texas Bowl are eligible to return.
Six defensive starters opted out of the bowl game, and Bernard Gooden was injured in the first half.
Pro Football Focus graded the Tiger defense, and the high marks came from young players with potentially bright futures in Baton Rouge.
Among defensive players who played at least 20 snaps, PJ Woodland topped the list with a 73.5 overall defensive grade. He was targeted four times in coverage and only allowed two catches for 10 yards.
His classmate Dashawn Spears was the second highest graded defender, posting a 72.3 on defense. Spears made seven tackles, had a quarterback hurry and graded an exceptional 81.1 against the run. With AJ Haulcy moving on, Spears is the clear favorite to win that safety spot for next year, and his performance in a reserve role all season showed that. His overall defensive grade for the year was 90.1 thanks to a pair of interceptions, only one missed tackle and a 53 percent completion rate against him.
While the Tiger defense struggled against the run, sophomore linebacker Davhon Keys graded highly, a 71.1 overall. He made 13 tackles and graded 76.0 against the run and 85.3 in tackling. He did allow all six of his targets to be caught, but they only went for a total of 26 yards which is under five yards per catch. Depending on Whit Weeks’s decision and what the transfer portal brings, Keys could be LSU’s most veteran linebacker.
Offensively, Michael Van Buren was finally able to put together a productive game. He was LSU’s top graded overall player at 90.1. After the game, he suggested, “Baton Rouge is where I want to be. Whatever happens after that happens.” Keeping a quarterback with 12 career starts in an SEC uniform should be a priority for Lane Kiffin who currently doesn’t have a quarterback other than Van Buren on the roster.
6’7″ Trey’Dez Green came down with this 😳 pic.twitter.com/eqGd8Uj38f
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 28, 2025
Unsurprisingly, Trey’Dez Green was the second highest graded Tiger. Green dazzled on Saturday night and is LSU’s best returning player in 2026. He graded 89.5 on Saturday with four catches for 80 yards and two touchdowns. He made a pair of contested catches, including the ridiculous one-handed fade grab while a Houston defender draped him for what would have been an obvious pass interference. Green played 31 snaps, 22 were passing plays he was in the route for. He was in for pass protection twice and blocked for the run the other seven. That’s about the split LSU needs. Green is never going to be an elite blocking option, but he’s such a game changer in the passing game.
On the negative side of things offensively, LSU’s bottom five players were all involved in the running game.
Tyree Adams was at the bottom of the list with a 50.6. Caden Durham was next at 53.2. Then Harlem Berry who only played six snaps, none after he fumbled. I probably would have given the player with a 36 yard run to his name another shot in the game, but that didn’t happen. Paul Mubenga (56.0) and Coen Echols (56.1) rounded out the list.
All three of those offensive linemen have been reported to have transfer portal plans. That’s going to be part of a massive overhaul at the position for Kiffin and new offensive line coach Eric Wolford.
Week after week I posted these grades, and week after week the offensive line showed up at the bottom. In the season finale, LSU did not have a player grade 61 or higher in run blocking. That’s a program failure that has to be corrected moving forward by the new staff.
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