Sam Leavitt was the No. 1 quarterback in the January transfer portal, the centerpiece of Lane Kiffin’s first LSU roster, and, at $4.5 million on On3’s deal based valuation, the fifth highest paid player in college football. He makes his LSU debut against Clemson on Saturday night, one year after a foot injury ended his Arizona State season and started the most chaotic quarterback recruitment of the cycle.
| Born | December 20, 2004 (age 21) |
| Hometown | West Linn, Oregon, just south of Portland |
| Size | 6 foot 2, 216 pounds |
| Class | Junior, two seasons of eligibility remaining |
| Schools | Michigan State (2023), Arizona State (2024 to 2025), LSU (2026) |
| Honors | 2024 Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, second team All Big 12, 2025 Big 12 preseason Offensive Player of the Year |
| Family | Father Jared played at BYU; brother Dallin was an NFL safety for six seasons with the Raiders and Packers |
The NIL Number
On3 lists Leavitt at $4.5 million under the deal based model it adopted on July 1, 2026, which counts what a school and its collective are paying rather than endorsement value. That puts him fifth among all college football players, behind Darian Mensah, Dante Moore, Jeremiah Smith and Trinidad Chambliss, and first at LSU, ahead of Jordan Seaton at $4 million. The reported figure is higher: On3’s Pete Nakos surveyed 14 Power Four general managers in February and one SEC GM said Leavitt “got $6 million,” a number that would put him at the very top of the market. Reports at the time of his commitment had the deal at up to $5 million. Treat the range as $4.5 million to $6 million, with the gap explained by incentives.
Whatever the exact number, the money is why he is at LSU. Arizona State was not spending its full revenue share allotment, his market was projected at $3 million to $5 million before the portal opened, and Kiffin’s LSU had committed $25 million to $30 million a year to the roster. How that roster stacks up is on LSU NIL; the full national list is on highest NIL valuations.
The Stats
| Season | Team | Passing | Rushing | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Michigan State | Limited action | Backup as a true freshman; transferred after the season | |
| 2024 | Arizona State | 2,885 yards, 24 TD | 443 yards, 5 TD | Big 12 champion, first ASU playoff berth, school freshman record 3,328 total yards |
| 2025 | Arizona State | 1,628 yards, 10 TD, 3 INT | 306 yards, 5 TD | Seven games; foot injury, surgery October 31 |
Career highs: 319 passing yards and 28 completions vs. No. 7 Texas Tech in 2025, a game he won a week after returning from the injury; four touchdown passes vs. Kansas in 2024. He threw a touchdown pass in 17 of his 20 Arizona State games.
How He Ended Up at LSU
The portal recruitment took a month and several turns. Leavitt entered in early December with LSU, Oregon (the hometown option) and Miami as the early frontrunners and visited Kentucky and Tennessee along the way. LSU briefly pivoted to Washington’s Demond Williams Jr., whose own transfer collapsed inside 24 hours when he could not get out of his Washington contract, and Kiffin and the LSU staff flew to Knoxville to re engage Leavitt while he was on his Tennessee visit. He signed with LSU on January 12, 2026. Arizona State’s own staff reviews of him were mixed, according to CBS Sports, which is part of why a 16 and 4 starter with a playoff run was a divisive evaluation for the schools bidding.
The Jayden Daniels Comparison
LSU fans have heard this story before. Jayden Daniels transferred from Arizona State to LSU in 2022, won the Heisman Trophy in 2023 and went second overall in the NFL Draft. Leavitt is the second Arizona State quarterback to make the same move in five years, and he arrives with better numbers than Daniels had in Tempe. The comparison is unfair and unavoidable, and it will follow every Saturday of 2026. His Heisman price sits at +2000, tenth on the board, on our Heisman odds page.
The Bottom Line
Sam Leavitt is a 21 year old junior from West Linn, Oregon, with a 16 and 4 record as a starter, a Big 12 title and a playoff trip on his résumé, and a $4.5 million valuation that could be $6 million in practice. He left Arizona State after a foot injury cost him most of 2025 and chose LSU over Oregon, Miami and Tennessee in a month long recruitment that nearly went sideways. Kiffin’s offense and the Daniels precedent are the reasons he is the most interesting new quarterback in the SEC. Live score: LSU football score.