By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
ESPN writer Dave Wilson, who covers Texas A&M and Texas among other Texas teams, dropped a bombshell on Tiger Rag Radio Tuesday night.
LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt, who has struggled at times so far this season, resembles the iconic dual-threat, former Aggies quarterback named Johnny “Football” Manziel.
No. 10 LSU (2-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) hosts No. 23 Texas A&M (2-1, 0-1 SEC) on Saturday in Tiger Stadium (6:30 p.m., ABC).
“I think Leavitt is such a dynamic player, almost underrated,” Wilson, who will be at the game Saturday, said on Tiger Rag Radio. “I talked to one coach last off-season (in December). I asked, ‘Is Brendan Sorsby the best quarterback in the portal?’ And he said, ‘Oh, no. Sam Leavitt could be Johnny Manziel, if you put him in the right offense.’”
At the time, Sorsby (6-foot-3, 235) was the top rated prospect in the 2026 transfer portal after his junior season at Cincinnati, according to many outlets, including ESPN. And he was LSU coach Lane Kiffin’s first portal choice after his former quarterback at Ole Miss, Trinidad Chambliss, turned him down.
Leavitt later took that No. 1 spot on both on3.com and 247sports.com’s portal class rankings and No. 2 on ESPN.com’s after Sorsby was named in a major gambling scandal in which he allegedly bet on his team and other games while at Indiana in 2022 and ’23. Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech, but left because of the scandal and tried to enter the NFL, which banned him until the 207 season.
But forget Sorsby. Manziel? Leavitt has shown he can run and get out trouble much like the whirling dervish that was Manziel. Leavitt has 198 rushing yards on 40 carries this season and six touchdowns and can throw well on the run.
Manziel, of course, won the Heisman Trophy in 2012 and and was the top quarterback in college football in 2012 and ’13. He passed for 3,706 yards and 26 touchdowns to nine interceptions and ran for 1,410 yards and 21 touchdowns in the Heisman year and returned in 2013 to throw for 4,114 yards and 37 touchdowns while rushing for 759 and nine TDs in 2013.
Put simply, Manziel (6-0, 210) was one of the most electric and polarizing playmakers to touch a college football field. One of the driving factors of his success was what he could do with his legs. That is where the comparison to Leavitt (6-2, 216) starts.
Leavitt has shown through his first three games at LSU that he can be as dynamic a runner as any quarterback in the country. He ranks eleventh among FBS quarterbacks in rushing yards (198) and is tied for third in the nation with six rushing touchdowns. Leavitt has paired those rushing statistics with 732 yards and three touchdowns through the air on 57-of-93 passing. But he has also thrown five interceptions and is ranked 97th in the nation in passing efficiency.
In Leavitt’s only full season as a starter – 2024 at Arizona State – he passed for 2,885 yards, 24 scores and six interceptions and rushed for 443 yards and five touchdowns and took his team to the College Football Playoff. Those numbers are obviously nowhere near Manziel’s nor do they have to be for the comparison to be made.
“If you put him in the right offense,” Wilson’s source said.
The “right” offense could mean anything. If this season doesn’t work out as expected and LSU offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. leaves, should Kiffin consider Manziel’s coach at Texas A&M for offensive coordinator? That was Kevin Sumlin, who is the head coach of the Houston Gamblers in the United Football League.
Or it could mean the vastly successful offense of Kiffin and Weis, who built the best offenses in the country at Ole Miss from 2020-25.
While Leavitt has not put up “Johnny Football” numbers so far, there is no reason to believe that Kiffin and Weis cannot develop their quarterback as they did a string of quarterbacks at Ole Miss, particularly Chambliss.
A Division II transfer from Ferris State, Chambliss became the nation’s No. 3 passer at Ole Miss last year and appears better this season. The echoes of the Kiffin-Weis system are obvious in new Ole Miss offensive coordinator John David Baker’s attack as Chambliss appears on his way to the Heisman Trophy.
And Chambliss’s elevating success in year two brings up another consideration. Leavitt is only a redshirt junior.
There may not be any objections to a progression and performance from Leavitt that leads to his name being called in the first round of the 2027 NFL draft, but his development does not need to be constrained to just one season in Baton Rouge. Even if concerns around his accuracy, decision making and supporting cast persist throughout this season, that does not necessarily mean they will carry into the next.
Whether or not the unnamed coach’s claim comes to fruition, it reflects the raw talent Leavitt brings to LSU.
He has all of the physical attributes a coach could want from a quarterback: a strong arm that can make off-balance throws, breakaway speed, jaw-dropping elusiveness and a toughness that is put on display every time he tucks the ball. And that has been a lot as he badly needs better play from his offensive line.
And it will be up to his coaches to refine that talent with proper technique, timing and savvy.
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