LSU is about to snatch former Ole Miss defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, and this is happening less than two weeks before the season even kicks off. Seriously, how often do you see a team pull in a standout veteran this close to the opening game? It’s wild, but it looks like the Tigers are doing it not once, but twice, thanks to a Louisiana ruling that allows Class of 2022 athletes a fifth year of eligibility.
NFL Stint to SEC Return: Harris’s Wild Ride
Harris was a four-star recruit back in the 2022 signing class, and he really blew up in his senior year last fall. He was an absolute menace in the middle for the Rebels, racking up 58 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, and 3.0 sacks. That kind of production got him an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine. In his whole college career, Harris appeared in 52 games, with 123 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, and 5.5 sacks. After going undrafted in 2026, he had a brief stint in training camp with the New Orleans Saints before getting waived on August 8. He hasn’t landed with another NFL team, so now he’s heading back to college. And get this: LSU is also expected to add tight end Dae’Quan Wright, another former NFL rookie who was waived by the Cleveland Browns. Lane Kiffin clearly isn’t shy about bringing these guys back into the college game.
The D-Line Desperation Was Real
Let’s be real: LSU had some serious question marks on their interior defensive line heading into 2026. This is a team seen as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender, and they’ve got what might be the most expensive roster in the sport. Kiffin and his staff have dropped some serious cash trying to turn things around fast, but even with all that spending, the D-line was still looking shaky. They’re only returning 31% of their defensive line snaps from last year, which ranks 79th in the entire country. Yeah, you read that right. While freshmen Deuce Geralds and Richard Anderson are highly-touted players expected to get reps, relying on freshmen in the trenches in the SEC is a huge gamble. Blake Ruffino from 247Sports told the “Cover 3 Podcast” that the LSU D-line was a “big question mark” after watching them get pushed around in spring practice. He said, “It gets to a point where, those last two weeks, it was at will. I do worry about that defensive line.” Harris’s return is a massive, immediate answer to a problem that was looking like it could sink LSU’s playoff hopes before they even started.
So, Harris is expected to reunite with his former coach, and the Tigers are about to get a serious shot in the arm for their D-line. With the season just around the corner, LSU fans have to be hyped to see if this last-minute addition is the missing piece for their College Football Playoff dreams.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
Leave a Reply