Lane Kiffin and LSU hauled in one of the nation’s best quarterbacks in Sam Leavitt from Arizona State.
However, he has received mixed reviews from several people, including coaches. ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg interviewed coaches from all four Power Four conferences about the top quarterback from each conference. Of course Leavitt was one of the signal-callers who was featured.
Leavitt excels at extending plays with his feet and his ability to push the ball down the field. However, he’s a gunslinger at heart, and he will make an ill-advised decision because he thinks he can or it’s a high-pressure scenario. Essentially, he’s a more athletic Garrett Nussmeier.
The numbers show Sam Leavitt deserves more credit for last season
Leavitt’s breakout at Arizona State made him one of the transfer portal’s top quarterback targets after he led the Sun Devils to a Big 12 championship and a College Football Playoff berth in 2024. In two years in Tempe, he totaled more than 4,500 passing yards, 34 touchdown passes, and nine interceptions, while adding 749 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. His ability to extend plays and attack downfield fits the quarterbacks who have powered Kiffin’s most productive offenses.
Last season, completed 145-of-239 (60.6%) of his pass attempts for 1,628 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions while rushing 73 times for 306 yards and 5 scores in seven games. One SEC coach thought he played better than his numbers indicated and his athleticism will make a difference at LSU the same way it did at Arizona State.
"He played better the year before than he did last year," said a defensive coordinator set to face LSU. "He was really impressive during [Arizona State's] playoff run the year before. So, just sneaky athletic, really way more elusive than you would think, just one of those make-something-out-of-nothing kind of guys. He's a good, solid passer. He'll miss on some throws that you expect him to make it to be that high-level guy. But where he gets you is when he extends plays."
One SEC coach doesn’t think Sam Leavitt has that dog in him
While Leavitt has generated plenty of optimism at LSU, there are still questions about how his individual talent stacks up against the program’s usual standard at quarterback. One SEC defensive coordinator believes Leavitt’s success could depend more on how effectively Lane Kiffin’s offense maximizes his skill set than on overwhelming opponents with pure ability.
"He's not the talent level that a normal LSU quarterback would be," an SEC defensive coordinator said. "If they [have success], it's going to be because they got him going in the system. He doesn't freak you out when you watch him, but he is dangerous at times. I would rather play him than Diego Pavia."
While this statement is either disagreeable or downright laughable, one of the major concerns is how his play will adjust to better defenses around the SEC. We saw a sample size of that in Arizona State’s loss to Mississippi State last season, when he completed just 10 of his 22 passes (45.5%) for only 82 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions. That was by far the worst game of his career.
It gets even worse when considering he also has a similar stat line in 2023 against the Bulldogs, when he completed 50% of his passes for 68 yards and no touchdowns, but he did have 11 rushes for 68 yards and two touchdowns.
Against Texas in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal game in the Fiesta Bowl, Leavitt completed 24 of 46 passes (52.2%) for 222 yards and an interception.
While I heavily disagree with his observation, considering Leavitt has also shown flashes, there is enough evidence to back his claim. However, I firmly believe Leavitt will reach another level, as history has also shown that quarterbacks improve over time under Kiffin. Just ask Matt Corral, Jaxson Dart and Trinidad Chambliss.
It should be noted that Chambliss played Division II football for Ferris State. While Ferris State is a powerhouse at that level, it is several notches down from where Arizona State plays.
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