Lane Kiffin's transfer portal additions give the LSU Football program plenty of hype entering his first season in Baton Rouge. Kiffin signed the No. 1 transfer portal class in the country according to 247Sports, and the class is headlined by QB Sam Leavitt, OT Jordan Seaton, and EDGE Princewill Umanmielen.
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Another player who figures to have a significant impact for the Tigers from Day 1 is LB TJ Dottery. The former Ole Miss Rebel followed Kiffin from Oxford to Baton Rouge, and could be in line for a monster season. There is a lot to like about Dottery's skill set, but one eye-popping stat shows how Kiffin and the Tigers struck gold with bringing him to LSU.
TJ Dottery brings elite durability to LSU in 2026
According to PFF, Dottery played a total of 958 defensive snaps for Ole Miss this past season. That was the most among all linebackers in the country, and the second-most among anyone in college football.
That kind of elite durability gives LSU's linebacker room a lot of potential for 2026. Star LB Whit Weeks is among the best tacklers in the country, but he missed significant time with multiple injuries this past season. Getting a guy like Dottery in the mix to play alongside Weeks is a great move by Kiffin.
Working on a TJ Dottery deep dive...
— Carter Bryant (@PowerHourLSU) February 27, 2026
One quick nugget: He played 958 snaps for Ole Miss in 2025.
- The 2nd most in CFB
- The most by any LB
- Only two other LSU players have had 900+ since 2014 (Stingley & Stevens in 2019)
- TJ also played 648 snaps in 2024
Data via… pic.twitter.com/SyPgaKA57F
Dottery's reliability has the potential to set records at LSU. Since 2014, only Derek Stingley Jr. (2019) and JaCoby Stevens (2019) have eclipsed the 900-snap mark for the Tigers. If he stays healthy, it seems likely that Dottery flirts with that number in 2026.
Dottery comes to LSU after starting 27 games for Ole Miss over the last two seasons. He played a vital role in the Rebel defense, and is coming off a 2025 campaign in which he led the SEC in tackles with 98 (48 solo). He also collected a pair of forced fumbles, a pair of pass breakups, and 1.5 sacks.
The redshirt senior linebacker figures to take on significant role in Blake Baker's defense this season. The Tigers lost Harold Perkins Jr. to the NFL Draft, but the Dottery/Weeks combination could yield tremendous results for LSU.