LSU Will Be More Effective Against Mobile QBs in 2026

Stopping a mobile QB takes the entire defensive unit. The 2026 LSU defense is far more suited to stopping a mobile QB at all three levels than the past five years.

Stopping mobile QBs starts with the defensive line. Mobile QBs exploit the gaps between D-linemen, and the QB only needs one exploitable gap. Edges cannot widen or run deeper than the QB. Tackles have to push up field and collapse the pocket. Gap integrity and strict lane containment are vital to keep the gaps between D-lineman small.

Chavis used a mush rush to shutdown Manziel. Mingo and Montgomery were ordered not to rush past Manziel and instead build a wall with the DTs to keep Manziel from finding a gap. Manziel's main escape move was a hard step forward followed by a deep spin backward to roll out of the pocket to his right. The mush rush anticipated this move, holding the edge so that if he spun backward, he ran directly into a waiting defender or out of bounds.

Aranda went the opposite way to stifle Lamar Jackson. Rather than a methodical mush rush, Aranda used an aggressive, highly disruptive attack to "tee off" on the pocket using exotic pressures. LSU's D-Linemen aggressively blew past Louisville's struggling offensive line, attacking vertically, resulting in constant interior pressure that never allowed Jackson to settle. Because LSU possessed elite, sideline-to-sideline team speed, Aranda trusted his athletes to chase Jackson down if he did escape. Players like Arden Key didn't mirror Jackson at the line of scrimmage; they actively hunted him into the backfield.

The two important differences between 2026 and the last five years is that there really is no weak link in the D-Line to create a gap, and the D-Linemen are far more athletic than prior five years. Umanmielen and Ross are far less likely to get stoned or beat on the edge, and their pressure will reduce horizontal space and minimize Chambliss's time to pick a gap or throw the ball. Geralds and McKinley have shown a far greater capacity to pressure the QB and push the pocket in which will minimize the vertical space between DTs and Edges.

The speed and athleticism of Weeks and Dottery far exceed our LBs of the past. Weeks is better than he was. He's healthy; he's quicker; and he penetrates better. Dottery is night and day better than West Weeks, Keys, or Singleton. Dottery is a FORCE. At star, Spears seems to make plays when Weeks and Dottery don't, which hasn't been a lot. Perkins never really followed up his spy excellence after his freshman year, and Gilbert was a tackling liability at Star.

Finally, Burns, Ryan, and Gilbert were terrible at tackling. It seemed like every mobile QB slipped by them, mostly untouched/unfazed, on the way to the goal line. Haulcy was a huge upgrade, but as good as he was, the combination of Benefield and Cooley instills total confidence at the safety position. I not only expect them to be in the right position to make a tackle, something that was in short supply in years past, I expect them to make it.

I don't know how Baker plans to limit Chambliss's rushing yards, whether by mush rush, exotic pressures, spy, a trap defense, something else, or, more likely, a combination. I do know that LSU has the players this year at all levels to execute any of those schemes.