A popular, cute and smart question leading up to and after LSU’s opener against Clemson on Sept. 5 centered on LSU coach Lane Kiffin trying to get a pair of his former Ole Miss players who “had cups of coffee” with NFL teams during training camp over the summer.
“Is the juice worth the squeeze?”
That was the question posed often as Kiffin’s legal battle with the NCAA and holier than thou Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey raged over former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who practiced with the Cleveland Browns at camp before being cut, and former Ole Miss defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, who was with the Saints very briefly in camp.
After LSU’s 51-10 win over Clemson, ESPN’s Heather Dinich asked Kiffin a version of that question – “Is it still worth pushing for it?”
Kiffin answered sharply, “I knew you’d have something like that ready. Appreciate it. I’m not getting into it. But I appreciate the question.”
That was a good and timely question professionally asked by Dinich, and I will answer it for Kiffin now a few weeks later with a resounding, “YES.”
Kiffin ended up cooperating with his sanctimonious superior Sankey and not rostering Wright after Wright practiced with the Tigers during the week leading up to the Clemson game. In the end, Kiffin left both Wright and Harris off his roster for the season, never mind that a local judge ruled against the NCAA and Sankey before the Clemson game that they could both join LSU’s roster and play.
Interestingly, both Wright and Harris remain on Kiffin’s No. 1 ranked portal class of 2026 as “commitments” on the 247sports.com website. The NFL has barred each of them from returning to the NFL this season. Both were cut weeks before the regular season, but at times during a regular season NFL teams pick up players cut from the previous season. As of Wednesday, both can play in the United Football League (UFL) that starts in April, according to a report by Front Office Sports.
It remains a bit of a surprise that no NFL team picked up Wright. He was invited to the NFL Combine early this year. And Wright (6-foot-4, 255 pounds) did catch 39 passes for 635 yards and five touchdowns at Ole Miss for Kiffin last season. He is familiar with Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. He caught 27 passes for 394 yards and four touchdowns at Ole Miss in 2024 after Kiffin got him to transfer from Virginia Tech after the 2023 season.
I think Wright makes that catch that LSU tight end Zach Grace (6-2, 236) could’ve made of another errant pass by quarterback Sam Leavitt. But he didn’t on third-and-goal from the Ole Miss 6-yard line with 1:03 to play and LSU down 32-24 Saturday night at Ole Miss.
Wright would have had the juice to squeeze that touchdown. Then Leavitt could have run into the end zone for a 2-point conversion, and LSU-Ole Miss 2026 would have ended up where it was always destined – OVERTIME.
“Why is Kiffin trying to get Dae’Quan Wright?” a journalist friend asked me in August. “He’s got the best tight end in America.”
I agreed and had said that myself.
Well, LSU HAD the best tight end in America in beefy 6-foot-7, 240-pound returning junior Trey’Dez Green, who led the Tigers in receiving yards at 222 on 14 catches through parts of three games this season. He had the juice and then some to make that catch, too.
Ole Miss defenders struggled to tackle the rumbling Green on a 23-yard catch and run to the Rebels’ 23-yard line on a third-and-11 play in the third quarter Saturday. They were bouncing off of him. It reminded me a little of that run by Leonard Fournette against Auburn in 2015. Green looked like the late, great John Mackey of the Baltimore Colts.
Three plays later, Leavitt found Winnie Watkins for a 26-yard touchdown – possibly because Ole Miss defenders were worried about Green – to put LSU within 24-21 with 3:05 to play in the period.
LSU’s Trey’Dez Green is helped off the field Saturday night at Ole Miss. (Tiger Rag photo by Michael Bacigalupi).
On the second play of the fourth quarter, Green caught his last pass – a short one, but he Mackey-rumbled for a 19-yard gain to the Rebels’ 31-yard line. But the tackle injured his knee, and it took two trainers to help him off the field. He will not be back on Saturday when No. 10 LSU (2-1, 0-1 SEC) hosts No. 23 Texas A&M (2-1, 0-1 SEC) at Tiger Stadium (6:30 p.m., ABC). And is expected to miss a game or two more after that.
“I feel like I could’ve got an extra block.”
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) September 23, 2026
-LSU WR Winnie Watkins Jr. on play in which Trey’Dez Green was injured at Ole Miss.https://t.co/tAJTt1hF91
Over the next four plays, Leavitt did not pass, including a second-and-six and a third-and-two – perfect Trey’Dez situations. And LSU settled for a 23-yard field goal and 24-24 tie. Ole Miss took a 32-24 lead with 6:14 left. Leavitt drove LSU to the third-and-goal at the 6-yard line, threw poorly to Grace, who didn’t make the catch, then Leavitt was intercepted on the next play. And it was over.
Green’s replacements – Grace, a transfer from Oregon, and redshirt junior transfer Malachi Thomas (6-3, 242) of Pittsburgh – left a lot of juice to be desired. Neither caught a pass. Grace had the one target misfire.
“Well, you kind of saw what it looks like there,” Kiffin said after the loss when asked about his tight end depth without Green. “It’s different, obviously. We even used Roman Mothershed (6-5, 212 receiver) a little bit. So, it is what it is.”
Kiffin wasn’t just chasing Wright because he was there last summer and because Sankey previously told him not to. He wasn’t just being a rebel to be a rebel, or just being Lane to be Lane.
“There’s a reason why we had Dae’Quan on our roster,” Kiffin said after the Ole Miss game. “Not on our roster – practicing, ready to play, knowing that this potentially could be an issue.”
He was right. An issue developed. Tough break. But Kiffin has no excuse. He signed 41 portal players in January, including the two previously mentioned tight ends. He should’ve gotten a better one in the portal or found a really good wide receiver or two there instead of nine average ones, other than Watkins.
The depth issue Kiffin faces at tight end and at the star position with the loss of Dashawn Spears for the season with a knee injury at Ole Miss as well and the mediocrity at wide receiver proves again what has always been true.
The NCAA Transfer Portal is often fool’s gold, no matter how large or expensive the class, such as Kiffin’s in 2026.
If Kiffin wins national championships at LSU, it will largely be via traditional high school recruiting that is supplemented by the portal (without NFL roster members in it please) – not the other way around. That will show depth in more ways than one.
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