Sam Leavitt barely cracked Joel Klatt’s QB top 10. Here’s why that still matters for LSU.

LSU football kicks off its 2026 season in September, and for the first time in a while, the quarterback situation is both a little exciting and a little uncertain. Sam Leavitt, the Arizona State transfer, is the guy taking over for Garrett Nussmeier, who’s now in Kansas City as a Chief. And according to Fox’s Joel Klatt, Leavitt just barely snuck into his top 10 quarterbacks for the upcoming season.

Klatt put out his list recently, and Leavitt landed at No. 10. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, but it’s not nothing either. Coming off an injury, there are obvious questions. But Klatt’s point was that when healthy, Leavitt was legit — 2,885 yards, 24 touchdowns, six picks, a 61.7% completion rate, plus 443 rushing yards and five more scores on the ground. That was two years ago, when he led the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoff.

And now he’s in Lane Kiffin’s system. That part matters.

Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU in a move that still feels weird to say out loud, but here we are. He’s got a reputation for getting the most out of quarterbacks, and Leavitt is the kind of dual-threat guy who could thrive in that offense. The last two national championship quarterbacks — Fernando Mendoza and Will Howard — were both transfers who landed at the right school at the right time and won it all. Leavitt already has playoff experience. He knows what it takes to get there.

But there’s also the question of health. He’s coming off an injury that cut his 2025 season short, and nobody really knows how he’ll look in Week 1. The Tigers open against Clemson on September 5, which is a pretty tough test right out of the gate. If Leavitt is rusty or not quite 100%, things could get messy fast.

Then again, if he’s healthy and Kiffin’s scheme clicks, LSU could be dangerous. Klatt didn’t put him in the top 10 for nothing. Leavitt is one of those guys who might not blow you away on paper, but he makes plays when it counts. He did it at Arizona State when nobody expected them to be in the playoff conversation, and now he’s in Baton Rouge trying to do it again.

One thing is for sure: the QB room at LSU feels different than it did a year ago. Nussmeier was steady but never really electrifying. Leavitt has a higher ceiling, maybe a lower floor. We’ll find out which one shows up come September.