Lane Kiffin is maximizing the transfer portal in his first year at LSU, as he already landed the nation’s No. 1 portal player in Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt on Monday. He also previously boosted the Tigers’ quarterback room by bringing in Elon transfer Landen Clark.
If it seems like Kiffin is finished adding quarterbacks through the portal, think again.
Lane Kiffin’s LSU Reportedly Exploring Move for Former Colorado QB
LSU’s coaching staff is expected to bring in at least one more scholarship player to the roster. Louisiana Sports’ Matt Moscona reported on Tuesday that Kiffin is set to host former Colorado quarterback Ryan Staub for a visit later this week.
On3 initially reported Staub’s planned trip to Baton Rouge, which is scheduled for Thursday, one day after the NCAA recruiting dead period ends. Staub has two years of eligibility remaining and is projected to serve as a backup quarterback in Kiffin’s system.
“Certainly not a guy that you’re looking at coming in to compete for the starting job, but as you’re looking for arms and depth and quality depth, this would make sense,” Moscona said.
“You’re looking at him more on par with Landon Clark. There you have comparable players, size, skill set, and ability, who might be able to come in and battle for the backup job. But I think if nothing else, what this illustrates is the very real and strong desire from this staff to add another quarterback. Leavitt, Landon Clark, Emile Picarella, clearly they want one more.”
According to Moscona, Staub has also attracted interest from Ohio State, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Cincinnati. He spent three seasons at Colorado before entering the transfer portal last month.
Coach Prime experimented with a quarterback rotation in the 2025 season featuring Staub, Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter, and five-star freshman Julian Lewis, who owns a 64.1 rating in the PFSN College Football QB Impact Metric. Staub saw limited action, throwing for 427 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions, while adding 30 rushing yards and a score on 19 carries.
As the backup quarterback to Shedeur Sanders in the 2024 season, Staub played in four games and completed 0 passes out of 4 attempts. He also played in three games in 2023, earning his first career start in the regular-season finale against Utah, where he completed 17 of 24 passes for 195 yards and his first college touchdown to Travis Hunter.
Staub completed 53.5% of his passes for 681 yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions throughout eight games across three seasons at Colorado. He was a consensus three-star recruit out of high school and was ranked by Rivals as the No. 22 quarterback in the 2023 class and the No. 45 overall prospect from California.
