Sam Leavitt watched as his backups took rep after rep in the spring.
Those roles reversed this week as LSU began fall camp. Husan Longstreet and Landen Clark have taken a back seat to LSU’s high-priced, high-profile quarterback who is fully recovered from Lisfranc surgery last fall.
“Sam’s been moving around really well, and if you just went out today and saw him, I don’t think that you’d think there was an injury,” said LSU Head Coach Lane Kiffin. “I think he’s all the way back from that. Now it’s just getting up with the timing of everything.”
That can take time. Leavitt spent the summer working with his pass catchers, but fall camp will shift the focus toward preparing for the season. Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr. have a system proven to welcome new signal callers. It’s up to Leavitt to become immersed in it.
Part of that system is the quarterback using his feet to make plays. Trinidad Chambliss ran for 528 yards and eight scores a season ago for Ole Miss. Jaxson Dart ran for 1500 yards and 12 scores over three seasons as the starter in Oxford.
Leavitt ran for 816 yards and 10 scores at Arizona State. Is he ready to be that kind of threat on a surgically repaired foot?
“I don’t know that I have that answer right now for you,” Kiffin said. “I think that there’s so much that goes into the game plan of who you’re playing, what defense they play, how’s your running back or running backs running, what’s the exact situation in the game. So, that’s too hard to answer.”
What not hard to determine is that Leavitt needs to use his feet to an extent. It’s also likely the media won’t be granted access to any practice periods where that type of action happens. Through two workouts, the media has only been permitted to watch individual drills. No 11-on-11 or 7-on-7 where Leavitt could scramble to make a play.
Those outside the program will probably have to wait until Clemson lines up in Tiger Stadium to see Leavitt move.
By that time, Kiffin and Weis will have a month of practice reps to determine how to handle the junior signal caller. They’ll tailor things accordingly.
“We don’t just do what we do,” Kiffin said. “That’s not how we run systems, programs, whatever. It’s always evolving, changing to what is that team, what is the specific needs for who you’re playing, all those things. So, I can’t even tell you at this time of year what the team’s even going to look like…just because the variables that start to happen.”
Kiffin said Wednesday that he doesn’t think Leavitt is behind even though he couldn’t participate in much spring work. Leavitt has 20 starts under his belt and has played in the College Football Playoff. It’s not college football he has to acclimate to. It’s this new system.
While he stood to the side in tennis shoes during spring, he wasn’t just killing time.
“I don’t look at it that he was really far behind, because he did a lot of mental work, did a lot of throwing stuff in different situations even when he couldn’t move as well,” Kiffin said. “So, I think his progression’s been really good, and I think he’s right on pace.”
