The transfer portal officially opens up in a week’s time, and it will be the biggest in college football history.
What started as a policy that saw mostly fifth-year seniors and underdeveloped bench players attempt to find a program that could help bolster the ranks of a team has now turned into a mini-NFL free agency, where players picked up not only help a team but can transform it.
No transfer personified that more last year than when Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers picked up Fernando Mendoza from the Cal Bears and now sit as the top seed in the College Football Playoff with the quarterback recently named the Heisman winner.
Lane Kiffin, whose saga of leaving Ole Miss to LSU almost burned down both cities in the process, will look to do the same as he steps up to the portal in the coming weeks to see which quarterback will lead the Tigers into the 2026 season.
Although there’s a possibility of a player in-house, like sophomore Michael Van Buren Jr., taking over the reins, the Tigers and Kiffin have already been linked to multiple quarterbacks who have declared their intent to enter the transfer portal.
It has already been reported that Kiffin has contacted one prized transfer quarterback, former five-star recruit DJ Lagway of Florida.
Lagway would bring immense star power and overall raw ability to LSU’s locker room if he were to come in. The quarterback with possibly the highest ceiling of any player in the nation, if Kiffin could harness and develop Lagway, it could be a one-two punch that leads the Tigers to the CFP in 2026.
For me, though, I don’t see Lagway becoming the next LSU starting quarterback. I have Kiffin landing another QB, one who has already played in the College Football Playoff back in 2024.
More news: Ranking the Top 5 Quarterbacks in the College Football Transfer Portal
More news: James Madison Loses 6,000-Yard Star QB to Transfer Portal Post Coach Change
Prediction: Sam Leavitt (Arizona State) signs with the LSU Tigers and head coach Lane Kiffin
Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt might not be stealing the headlines currently due to his missing a majority of the 2025 season due to various injuries, but he’s the type of player who we’ve already seen excel under Kiffin at Mississippi.
A devil-may-care, in-your-face style of playing the ball with his arms and legs that helped him win a majority of his games for the Sun Devils over the past two years.
Leavitt, who is projected to be a future first-round NFL draft pick if he can stay healthy, saw what Kiffin did with Jaxson Dart. The pairing between the two not only will set up Leavitt for professional success but also will give him a chance for redemption after barely falling to Texas in the CFP quarterfinals.
