LSU Spring BUZZ: Kiffin Raves About Green, Seaton & Benefield

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Lane Kiffin singles out three players as Ultra Elite.

You'll hear them next, Lockdown LSU.

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So LSU has wrapped up its first week of spring practice under Lane Kiffin three thrills.

They practice Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.

We've had practice sports after each, and we've let you hear from Lane Kiffin and players

after each as well.

What I thought was interesting, and I wanted to do in this episode as the Tigers are getting

ready to start week two of spring, was revisit what I thought was maybe the most single

most interesting comment that Lane Kiffin made during his media availability earlier in

the week.

And some action subsequent that validate that, I'll explain what I mean, but first, this

was Kiffin.

So Kiffin was asked about trade-as greens specifically, and what makes trade-as greens so special.

Well, Kiffin talks about trade-as, but he also mentions two other prospects.

His skill set is ultra elite, okay?

But so is his mindset, and that's really, really unique to have, because they usually

don't coincide.

You know, tie the safety has it too, and Jordan seems to have it, not to just signify

those three guys, but if you were a scout out there watching, you know, those three

guys would stand out from a skill set of ultra elite.

But then to know, too, what the scout doesn't know, just watching, you know, if you're just

watching like how they work in their mindset, and he just, I mean, though, he doesn't even

have another speed, he doesn't have another, you know, thought besides, this is how you

do things.

We talked to our guys about the standards of standard, like the standard, what you work

shouldn't change because what network the game's on, shouldn't change because now everyone's

out there watching practice first Sunday when nobody was watching.

And he has that, and again, that's really important, because a lot of times you've got

to bring players in that, but in your first year to inherit a player that has that, he's

really, really unique that way.

And that's really critical for him in this system, because the way he works and how he's

moved his condition allows you to play more in our system and not have to rotate as much,

and like what we talked about at a running back spot, so now you can have a really big

type of year.

Okay, so you heard a lot there.

He meant he was asked about trade as, but he mentioned tie, benefit, and Jordan, seat

and two transfers, but want you to hear from in just a minute.

And I think that's impactful because so Lane Kiffin met with reporters on Tuesday.

On Thursday, it was player availability.

And the media doesn't choose which players they bring out.

Do you know what players were brought out?

Well, Whitwick's was there, but so were trade as green, tie, benefit, and Jordan, seat.

I don't think that's a coincidence.

Again, you're going to hear from those guys in just a quick second.

But let's focus on trade as here for a second, because we all know trade as his story,

right?

He was a five star, he was a phenomenal basketball player, didn't start playing football

until late in his high school career.

At a great senior season became a recruitable athlete by everybody.

Goes to LSU as a two sport player, plays football as a freshman, plays basketball as

a freshman as well.

Back as a sophomore, football field does not play basketball in his sophomore year.

Clearly understands what his future in athletics is and it's on the football field.

So a year ago when we talked to trade as what was so interesting, not even a full year before

the season starts, had to sit down within what you heard right here on locked on LSU.

And I asked trade as going from year one to year two at LSU, it's the biggest thing you're

trying to work on and he said, blocking, blocking. You wanted to become a better blocker.

Most guys in his position would be route running, hands, rapport with the quarterback,

knowing the system, he said blocking.

The physical part of the game, by the way, which is what got him hurt in 2025.

He was engaged, someone went low, that's when he sprained the knee ligament that kept him out

for a few games. But the point is, you heard Lane Kiffin call him ultra elite, not just because

of the skill set, like you can't coach a player to be 67240 with incredible athleticism.

You can't coach that. God bless some people with that ability. Not me, trade as green, yes.

But he said, it's the ultra elite mindset. And when you blend the skill set and the mindset,

that's when you have a great player. Now trade as on the field as a freshman caught 13 passes

for 101 yards for touchdowns. This past year, 33 receptions, 433 yards, seven touchdowns,

as a freshman averaged seven yards of reception, as a sophomore, 13 yards per reception.

Like he's coming into his own and is poised for a monster season. Now the other thing you heard,

Lane Kiffin say there is how he fits sort of in this offense, right? The more the better his

conditioning is, he doesn't have to rotate as much. That's because they go very fast.

It's something we've talked about a good bit so far already this year. Well, think about

the tight ends that Lane Kiffin's had. Just this past year, Dayquan Wright had 39 receptions

on the season for 635 yards and five touchdowns. Caleb Odom had 19 receptions on the season,

Blue Caws, the transfer of Arkansas, injury prone, only had three catches on the year,

and then there was a trace Brookler who had five, but the point is you're talking about the

possibility of being a 50 catch guy potentially for trade as green if he lives up and maximizes

the physical and the skill set and the mindset in this offense. So it was great to hear Lane Kiffin

say that about trade as green, not just the physical ability, but also mentally what he's bringing

to the team. Now Lane also mentioned the other two guys in Benefield and Seaton and have specific

things I want to talk about with each of them and you're going to hear from each of them here

in just a quick second when we come back. It's locked on LSU your team every day.

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the show notes. If you want to claim your free month. So you heard Lane Kiffin mentioned trade.

It was that's about trade as green and said trade as green tie benefit and Jordan seed.

All three of those players along with Whitwick's met with reporters on Thursday during the first

media availability for players of spring. I could pick anything that any of these guys said and play

it, but let me just start with tie benefit when he was asked about Blake Baker and it playing for

Blake Baker. And I don't know that's necessarily so much what he says, but how he says it. Anyway,

give a list. Coach Baker has a similar approach to coaches that I've dealt with,

you know, in the past and and that's that coach that that's hands on and not afraid to, you know,

really, you know, get in there and let you know how he feels and how he how it should be.

You know, just it's a great coach who wants who like truly loves you, you know, he's going to get

on you, but that's because he loves you and that's how all the coaches, you know, are and I'm just

I'm very excited to play under all these coaches. Okay.

Um, tie benefit took a visit to LSU in January, the portal open January second that first weekend

tie benefit was on campus. Remember Jackson Harris from Hawaii was the first commit.

Tie benefit was the second. So he was early in the process, but again, you're still talking

about early January. So we sit here now at the end of March as we're recording this, okay,

as LSU begins spring. So you're talking about basically three months, three months since

tie benefit showed up on campus for that visit, committed, signed, enrolled, going through

classes, net workouts, now spring football, three months, roughly 90 days and he's sitting there

saying about Blake Baker, how much he loves you. Do you know how difficult it is in 90 days when

there are 85 scholarship players of all different and give or take right of all different age levels

for a coach to impress upon his players in 90 days that he loves them and have them believe it

like this isn't a guy who went through a two year recruiting process through his junior and senior

years of high school then signed and showed up. I don't know that tie benefit knew the name Blake

Baker until three months ago. Think about how much that relationship has developed, but then listen

to how cerebral and thoughtful tie benefit field is and then when you think about that component of

the ability to think and communicate which is so important for any defensive leader, right,

to know what an offense is trying to do and how you that you can attack them.

And then you look at the fact that this dude is 6-3-208, by the way, go to my social media at

Matt Muscona. I have a video of tie benefit doing the interception drill and walking right in front of

me like 6-3-208, he's every bit of it. That dude is a physical freak show. And then you look at

what he's done in his career. He started 33 games including 28 straight at Boise State

from 23 to 25. First team all conference this past year. He was the MVP of the Mount West.

Championship game is a junior in 2024. He's got 41 career appearances and he has made two

hundred and 35 tackles. Y'all, two hundred and thirty five tackles over three years in college.

You're talking about 75 tackles a year on average. 6-3-208, super productive, veteran, smart,

communicative. I mean, when I thought up, when I was listening to that thinking of it,

I couldn't help but go back to the conversation we had so much throughout the portal process.

And one of the things that, no, look, I was not able to go into football ops and talk to

Kiffin or Glasscock or any of those people during the portal, right? But I did talk to players,

players families, assistant coaches, administrators, boosters, people all over that war in that

room. High school coaches, whose players are recruited. And what was sort of reiterated over

and over and over again, the word that was said to me over again was evaluation. If you again,

if you're in every day or you remember this, if you're not, that's okay. So I'll give you sort

of the clips notes. But basically Lane Kiffin and Billy Glasscock had developed this evaluation

process for their players. And it's not, and it's sort of this manifesto. It's not,

and I haven't seen it, but I'm telling you what was told me by so many different people

independent of each other. And it wasn't just, oh, that guy had 12 sacks last year. It's, okay,

what positions do we prioritize, rank them? Where do you rank quarterback, running back receiver,

offensive line, defensive line, tight end, cornerback safety, right? Ranked positions by level

of importance. And then what physical skill set do you want for that position? And then how do you

evaluate football IQ? How good of a teammate you are? What's your character? All of that went into

the evaluation that spit out a grade, a number for how they rated this player, this prospect,

and what value they put on them. So they could put it then associated monetary value to them.

So they know where to invest their money, right? Well, you listen to tie benefit, and you go,

man, knowing they were all in on benefit, and they were. He was their one safety prospect,

they were after. Like he was the, I know later they added faheem delay, but my point is among

starters, they were, that he was the one guy. They were all in on tie benefit. I had this from

everybody on set that I talked to. He was their guy came in, blew him away,

checked every box, and he was their guy, and they ultimately got him. But you can see just from

the physicality, the production, and then you listen to him and you go, okay, I get it. Like

that evaluation of that guy makes a ton of sense. And then there's Jordan Seaton. Well, Jordan

Seaton is the, the five star offensive tackle, potential first tackle in next year's graft,

you know, six foot six, three hundred and twenty pounds. You know, this incredible physical specimen.

And then, and again, he's another one that Kiffin talked about. Well, he was asked about

playing for Lane Kiffin. Keep it in mind that Seaton just came from playing for another super famous

coach in Deon Sanders. It's a different vibe, man. Like,

it's just different. Like, you know, y'all probably may see him. Like he said the other day,

like, you may see him do a little activities like yoga and all that other stuff. But when it comes

to work, it's, that's what this place is about. Like, you don't come here to do nothing else,

but work. And like, that's what you're signing up for. And that's what he's going to let you know,

like, if you're coming here to work, he'll take you if not, it's probably going to spot for you.

One of the questions we have every year around the NFL draft is, how will money change someone?

It's, it's the biggest question that NFL teams don't know the answer to that if they had a

magic eight ball or a crystal ball to look into, that's what they want to know. You can be a great

player in college. You can be a great teammate all that's up. But when you get paid, how does that

change you? Your work ethic? Are you satisfied? It's the thing you can't know until it happens.

That's why that's why evaluation is so important. Well, listen to how thoughtful

Seaton was there, taking that big deep breath, talking about Lane Kiffin and the one to work.

By the way, about working, listen to this. So one of the big storylines is that Seaton has,

has transformed his body. And you look at him, you can see he's lost about 20 pounds. He looks

like a unit right now. And he talked about this conversation that he had with Trader's Green

about running the levy. So it was, it was a random person who was running hills, right? So

Trader's was like, Hey, man, you trying to run hills on Saturday? I'm like, I'm down. I was like,

I already thought about it because I just seen somebody randomly running hills. I'm like, I just,

it just made me feel like he was out working me. So I was like, we've got to run hills.

So we were on the same page if I don't even know him, which was crazy.

Made me feel like someone was out working me. That's a dude that left Colorado,

laid in the portal, landed at LSU, got a multi seven figure deal, broke off at this point in

his life. In the member like he flew here, who's on the multi day visit was supposed to go to

Oregon, never went, went back home to Atlanta, Kiffin went and saw him there.

There's pictures of him at the Miami Heat Games down court side posing with cars and you might

think, man, this guy just got broke off. How's it going to go? Well, you've gotten your answer

so far. He's thinking about the next level. By the way, he was also asked about playing with Sam

Levin. Remember, Colorado, Arizona State, both big 12 schools. So these guys played against each

other. Listen to him talk about Levin. Sam, it was crazy. This wasn't playing that we were supposed

to go together, but, you know, during the recruitment process, you know, wanted to make sure he had

to tackle. So when he came here and I came here, it's kind of no brainer for us. We both have the

same intentions. We both want to be that high pick. We both want to win a national championship.

So everybody here has the same mindset. Doesn't sound like a guy who has been changed

by money. And that is a great sign and a fat tip, a check mark in the hit on the evaluation,

a validation for the evaluation for Lane Kiff and Billy Glasscock. And all when you talk about

those guys, Trader's Green, Ty Benefield, Jordan Seaton. Oh, by the way, Whitwick's also met with

reporters. He was one of the big retention pieces for LSU houses injury. And what can we expect

you'll hear from Whit next? It's locked on LSU your team every day.

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Whitwick's met with reporters and gave an update on his injury that's kept him out so far in spring.

I mean overall it's been really good. Just trying to get healthy right now. I mean,

been grinding in the weight room. I mean, I don't like not being out there with the guys,

but the number one goal for me right now is just to get healthy to be able to roll into fall camp.

For what it's worth, I am completely on board with that. I had someone on my show text line

asked me, should we be concerned about Whit that their three practices in and he hasn't been out there.

No, not at all. Whit didn't participate last year in spring. Don't care. Harold Perkins did

participate much last year in spring. Don't care. Jardin Gilbert had off season shoulder surgery

last year didn't go through spring. Don't care. That's the objective is if you're a veteran player,

you don't need spring. Whitwick's has been a three year contributor in this defense with Blake Baker

each of the last two years, now going to his third year with Blake. He is a day one starter. He was

the second leading tackler on the conference two seasons ago when he was healthy. He and TJ

daughtery are going to make up what could be the best linebacker tandem in the SEC. What you need

from Whitwick's is not to be out there running cones and shuttles during spring, which you need for

Whitwick's is to be healthy September 5th when LSU plays Clemson and Tiger Stadium. That's all

that matters. By the way, mentioned Blake Baker's defense. Earlier, you heard Ty Benefield talk about

Blake Baker kind of raved about it, but he loves his players. Well, Whitwick's was also asked about

Blake Baker and the influence he had on his decision to return. I love that dude to death. I mean,

he's he's one of my favorite humans in the world. So for us bringing him back, that was honestly like

once I knew he was coming back, that's when I was like, all right, I'm coming back too.

I mean, the retention of this defensive staff, I don't think can be understated.

Blake Baker is a great defensive coordinator. I love the fact that he rolls out there and

cleats and actually participates in drills with his guys. It motivates him. They love him. I mean,

you heard I, Benefield, who's not even a a linebacker, not even in Blake Baker's position group.

They are talking about the impact that Baker's having on him so far already. You love to hear that.

Now, I will tell you this week, a few things that I'm looking for as LSU begins the second week

of spring. I am definitely looking forward to seeing this team in full pads. And because now we feel

like we've got a pretty good sense of the rotation with the ones in two so far anyway. I am going

to be interested now in watching the 11 on 11 sequences. And I'm going to pay more attention to

the offensive line. And hopefully we get to see more. I will tell you, I did have an offensive

staff member tell me that this offensive line unit so far is the most improved aspect of the team.

The mate, it's basically a makeover minus Braille and more in Western Davis depth is better.

Said effectively last year, the first three players were SEC good, but the depth wasn't there.

Right now, they have eight or nine that have a chance to be starters and SEC good.

And then like 10 to 18 in that unit are very good scout team and developmental guys that

are way better coached. So as much of a challenge as it was last year on the offensive line,

from a staff member already telling you, the talent upgrade is better. The coaching has been

upgraded and that unit should be the most improved on the team this year. So the Tigers will be

back on the practice field Tuesday Thursday Saturday. We do have media availability. Be on the lookout

for our practice reports each day after the Tigers hit the practice field. Hey, we thank you so

much for tuning into locked on LSU. Make sure you subscribe, follow locked on LSU so you get all the

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