Before we move on to previewing the LSU-Alabama matchup that is a potential playoff elimination game, let’s take our weekly post-game piece and turn it in to a mid-season check in. Yes, the Tigers have played 8 out of 12 games, so it’s past the “midway” mark, but it will still be a fun exercise.
Normally, I list three Tigers and three Cubs, with an occasional exception. It would be downright impossible to list only three Tigers for the full season, though, so I went with three each on offense and defense.
Cubs remains just three players overall, but it was fun to break down a few more players and how they’ve excelled on each side of the ball.
Tigers (offense)
Sam Leavitt
Despite a shaky start to the season that included a 3 interception game against Louisiana Tech, some accuracy issues, and being frantic in the pocket, Leavitt hasn’t just gotten it together. He’s become potentially the best quarterback in the SEC. His growth and improvements as a passer can not be understated.
After starting two seasons at Arizona St, everyone knew he was athletic and could make plays with his legs. The big question was could he be the thrower that he needed to be to excel in Lane Kiffin’s offense. That’s beyond certain through 8 games.
What’s more impressive is that all of this refinement has come while nursing a hamstring injury. He and Kiffin have actually credited the injury, saying it’s forced him to stay in the pocket and trust his progressions.
To this point, he’s only 16 passing yards behind Trinidad Chambliss for second most passing yards in the SEC. He sits at 3rd in completion percentage and 2nd in passing touchdowns in the conference.
Despite having two losses as they enter the final stretch, LSU is sitting with better than 50% odds to make the College Football Playoff and that’s largely thanks to Sam Leavitt.
Dilin Jones
The Wisconsin transfer has been fantastic as the unquestioned RB1 for the Tigers. LSU had fought hard to get Harlem Berry and Caden Durham to return, but Jones came in during spring and fall camps and took the starting job. It’s been clear why.
Jones sits with 657 yards rushing, averaging 82.1 yards per game. Those numbers are both 4th in the SEC. He’s added 6 touchdowns on the ground, as well. The most impressive stat, though is that 445 of his 657 rushing yards have come after contact. The average run blocking grade of the five starters on the offensive line is 59.4. That isn’t very good, especially for an offense that wants to run the ball like Kiffin’s. Most of what Jones has had to do is thanks to his own efforts.
As if what he’s done on the ground hasn’t been enough, Jones has stepped up in the passing game over the past 3 games. Through the first 5 games, he totaled just 11 receptions for 48 yards. Since then, he’s hauled in 19 receptions for 169 yards. His emergence out of the backfield as a pass-catcher has helped take the offense to another level.
Jackson Harris
Speaking of slow starts in the passing game, Jackson Harris was essentially non-existent through the first 3 games of the season with just 5 receptions for 117 yards.
That third game was at Ole Miss, which is when Trey’Dez Green went down with his knee injury. LSU needed someone to step up for Leavitt and that’s exactly what Harris did.
A 6 reception, 163 yard and 2 touchdown performance the following week kickstarted his emergence and he’s been fantastic ever since. His 634 yards receiving is 5th in the SEC, while he’s tied for 1st in touchdown receptions with 7. His 17.6 yards per receptions is 4th highest.
Harris has simply been everything you want out of a WR1. Consistent, catches everything that comes his way, and produces every single game.
Tigers (defense)
Princewill Umanmielen
There’s just no way to quantify how important of an addition that Umanmielen has been to Blake Baker’s defense. The defensive units for LSU have been solid the past two years with steady improvement, but the one thing they were missing was a pass rush.
The 5th-year transfer from Ole Miss has delivered just that. He has 9 sacks with 4 games to go and is rapidly approaching Arden Key’s LSU single-season record of 12. Although LSU has played 8 games, Umanmielen has essentially only played 7. He sustained a head injury that knocked him out of the Mississippi St game after just 7 plays.
The defensive end is the unquestioned MVP of the defense so far in 2026.
TJ Dottery
Also an Ole Miss transfer, Dottery has been fantastic at linebacker. Not only has be played exceptionally as the 3rd highest graded defender with a 85.9 Pro Football Focus grade, but he’s given much-needed leadership and experience.
Whit Weeks fractured his leg against Texas A&M in the 4th game of the season and he was the play-caller with the green dot communication helmet. Thankfully, LSU had Dottery, who filled that role with the Rebels in years past. He’s helped keep that defense performing at a high level, which is impressive when you take away a star like Weeks. He leads the team by a wide margin with 60 total tackles this year.
DJ Pickett
Coming to Baton Rouge as a consensus 5-star out of Florida, Pickett was able to get his feet wet and gain loads of experience as the nickel corner behind Mansoor Delane and PJ Woodland in 2025. With Delane moving on to the NFL, the question became would Pickett be ready to become a full-time boundary corner across from Woodland.
Not only has Pickett proven capable, he’s become a stud. With a PFF grade of 81.1, he’s 5th highest on the defense and #1 among members of the secondary. His coverage grade of 81.2 is outstanding, especially for a second-year player.
Pickett has been targeted 29 times, but has only allowed 17 receptions for 137 yards in 8 games. He has yet to allow a touchdown. He’s tied for the team lead with 7 pass breakups and is one of 6 players with an interception.
His aggressiveness and physicality as a tackler is fun to watch, as well. He’s been everything and more that Baker and Corey Raymond could have envisioned and he’s only going to get better.
Cubs
Weston Davis
While the offensive line as a whole hasn’t been great, Davis has been very underwhelming. As one of the few returnees from a bad unit in 2025, the hope was that Eric Wolford could reach some of the untapped potential that many thought he had coming out of high school.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case and he’s been average, at best. While his 2 QB hits allowed are tied for most, he leads the team in every other pressure stat. His 14 hurries and 18 QB pressures are by far most on the team, while he’s the only lineman to allow multiple sacks.
The run blocking hasn’t been much better, grading out at 49.8, the lowest of any offensive lineman on the entire team.
Jayce Brown
There’s not a whole bunch of stats or grades to throw out for Brown, because he’s simply just not played very much. It’s perplexing. Through fall camp, he seemed like a sure bet as one of the top receivers on the team and even if he didn’t lead the team in any individual categories, the thought was that he’d be out there and produce in some sort of way.
Shockingly, he’s only appeared in 5 games and most of his 157 offensive snaps have come late in blowout games like Clemson, LA Tech, and McNeese. He’s only been able to haul in 8 receptions for 89 yards. He dropped an easy touchdown against McNeese and just has not been able to find any success in limited opportunities.
Why is this the case is the massive question that none of us outside of the program have been able to fully answer. All we can do is assume that he has not practiced and performed up to the standards of the team and thus has been buried on the depth chart behind rotational receivers like Malik Elzy, Tre Brown, Corey Barber Jr, and Roman Mothershed.
It’s certainly disappointing.
Dahvon Keys
This one is a little bit of a reach, because Keys has been solid overall and has been asked to fill giant shoes in the absence of Whit Weeks.
He’s second behind Dottery with 42 tackles and a few of his grades have been phenomenal. He has a grade of 85.0 in run defense and a 82.2 in tackling, which is 2nd and 5th, respectively.
His one issue continues to be his pass coverage. It’s a tough ask of any linebacker, but it’s the one thing keeping Keys from being one of the best LBs in the SEC. His coverage grade is 43.4, by far the lowest of any starters or rotational players on Baker’s defense. Of the 32 players that have been in coverage for at least one play, enough to earn a grade, it’s 31st behind only CJ Jimcoily.
The hope is that he can make slight improvements, because it would be interesting to see his potential if he could.
