LSU’s potential at the quarterback position for 2026 took another massive leap on Wednesday afternoon with Lane Kiffin and the Tigers signing former 5-star recruit Husan Longstreet.
Longstreet is a USC transfer who decided to bolt to the portal when 2025 Trojans starting quarterback Jayden Maiava opted to return. That made Longstreet seek playing time elsewhere, and he hopes that will come this fall at LSU, with Kiffin, the former USC head coach, taking over with sudden riches at the quarterback spot.
The 6-foot, 200-pound Longstreet hoped to build his legacy near home at USC, but the star at nearby Corona, Calif., never got that shot with his home area powerhouse program. His meager numbers in limited playing time in 2025 were 13 completions on 15 pass attempts, with 103 yards passing and 1 touchdown. Longstreet also ran for 76 yards and 2 TDs, playing in just 4 games.
Now, Longstreet is LSU’s latest prized quarterback arrival from the portal. He’ll be competing for the starting job with high-profile Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt as well as Elon transfer Landen Clark.
With Leavitt, Clark and now Longstreet in the fold, Kiffin has totally transformed LSU’s quarterback room from 2025. The quarterback competition in Baton Rouge during the long offseason will be one of the juicier things to watch for LSU fans and college football fans in general.
Longstreet might have changed his locale from the Big Ten to the SEC, but he’ll have stiff competition for playing time at LSU as he tries to fulfill the big-time promise that he carried into college.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
