LSU football freshman making plays, other notes from fall camp
· Yahoo Sports
BATON ROUGE — LSU football hit the practice fields for the second time for fall camp on Aug. 6.
First year head coach Lane Kiffin and his staff continued to the preseason work with the Tigers before they take on Clemson in the 2026 season opener at Tiger Stadium Saturday, Sept. 5. Media got to view two periods of Thursday evening's session in which the team wore shoulders pads for the first time this preseason.
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After two days, here are a few things that have stuck for LSU at fall camp.
Sam Leavitt and the deep ball
From day one to day two, LSU junior starting quarterback Sam Leavitt looked better in the deep ball department. On Wednesday, some of the deeper throws were a shade off target. But Thursday evening, the deep shots were on target, completing a nice over-the-shoulder throw to Winston Watkins on a go route.
The intermediate and short throws have been near perfect for Leavitt so far, so to see some improvement in the timing and placement of deep throws is a positive sign for the quarterback who is making his way back from foot surgery.
LSU football running back rotation
Sophomore tailback and Wisconsin transfer Dilin Jones continues to lead the running back group during drills at practice. Behind him are sophomores Caden Durham than Harlem Berry.
Jones has been consistent since he's arrived on campus before spring ball began and he's having a solid start to fall camp. Expectation remains as of now that he'll be LSU's starting tailback come September.
Freshman defender making plays
Lamar Brown is making himself get noticed out there. In the 12 minutes media were able to watch practice, the Baton Rouge native and freshman defensive end made a tackle for loss in a drill that featured the full 11 on defense.
Kiffin said following the team's opening practice Wednesday that the coaches anticipate the speed of game and learning the playbook and all to take some time for Brown, but there's excitement because he can do a number of things.
But like he showed Thursday, in the instinctual department, Brown has the skill and ability to make plays. Brown is currently lining up at defensive end with the defense's second team.
Jhase Thomas still lining up at starting safety spot
For the second straight day, freshman Jhase Thomas lined up at one of the starting safety positions. Junior Tamarcus Cooley, who started all 13 games for the Tigers a season ago, worked with the second unit again.
Thomas is surprising media members by overtaking Cooley for the position to this point. The question is will be maintain it and earn the start against Clemson.
Backup QBs still working
Behind Leavitt, there's still some work to be done for Husan Longstreet and Landen Clark. Through two days of fall camp, both have been hit-and-miss in the intermediate and deep shots down the field.
In red zone work Thursday, both were off target on some easy throws. On the deeper throws, Longstreet has been more accurate, especially on throws over the middle of the formation. Longstreet has been working as the primary backup to Leavitt in fall camp so far.
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football freshman making plays, other notes from fall camp