Whit Weeks has spent the past three seasons becoming one of the most recognizable players on LSU’s defense. He has been a tackling machine, a team captain, an emotional leader and the kind of linebacker who seems to find his way to the football on nearly every important play.

Now he has another distinction. LSU has selected Weeks to wear No. 7 for the 2026 season, placing him in a tradition that includes some of the greatest playmakers in school history. Tight end Trey’Dez Green will also wear No. 7 this season, giving LSU a No. 7 on offense and defense.

For Weeks, the move from No. 40 to No. 7 carries expectations that go far beyond a uniform change. At LSU, No. 7 has become the number associated with the player who can change a football game.

From Georgia to Baton Rouge

Weeks came to LSU from Oconee County High School in Watkinsville, Georgia. He was rated as a consensus four star linebacker in the On3 Composite and was listed as high as the No. 11 linebacker nationally and No. 10 overall prospect in Georgia by 247Sports.

He showed the versatility that would later become one of his strengths at LSU. As a senior in 2022, Weeks recorded 104 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, two sacks and three interceptions. He also contributed on offense at running back and wide receiver, rushed for 396 yards and scored 16 total touchdowns as Oconee County reached the Georgia Class 3A state semifinals.

Football was already part of the Weeks family. His father, David Weeks, played offensive line at Georgia, and Whit eventually shared the LSU roster with brothers West and Zach. In 2025, the three brothers made LSU history against Western Kentucky when all three appeared on the field together during a defensive series, the first time three brothers had been on the field together at the same time for LSU.

An Immediate Impact at LSU

Weeks did not need much time to prove he belonged in the SEC. As a true freshman in 2023, he appeared in 11 games with three starts and led all LSU freshmen with 49 tackles. He also recorded 3.5 tackles for loss, half a sack and four quarterback hurries while contributing extensively on special teams.

His first career start came against Mississippi State, and he responded by leading LSU with eight tackles. He also started victories over Arkansas and Missouri, giving LSU an early look at the instincts, effort and sideline to sideline range that would soon make him one of the most productive linebackers in the conference.

That freshman season established Weeks as a player to watch. His sophomore season turned him into a star.

The 2024 Breakout

Weeks produced one of the best seasons by an LSU linebacker in recent years in 2024. He played in all 13 games with 11 starts and finished with 125 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, one interception, six quarterback hurries and three pass breakups.

His 125 tackles ranked second in the SEC and ninth nationally. The total also ranked eighth on LSU’s single season tackles list. Weeks earned First Team All SEC honors from both the Associated Press and the SEC coaches.

His performance against Ole Miss became one of the defining games of his LSU career. Weeks recorded a career high 18 tackles with two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble in LSU’s overtime victory. On the final play of regulation, Weeks sacked quarterback Jaxson Dart for a six yard loss, helping send the game to overtime.

Weeks earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors for that performance. He received the award again after LSU defeated Oklahoma, when he recorded 17 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. He also had 17 tackles against Alabama and intercepted his first career pass in LSU’s victory at Arkansas.

By the end of that season, Weeks was no longer simply one of LSU’s promising young defenders. He was one of the best linebackers in the SEC.

Injuries Test Weeks in 2025

Weeks entered 2025 after suffering a serious ankle injury during LSU’s Texas Bowl game against Baylor at the end of the previous season. He recovered in time to return, and LSU named him a permanent team captain before the season.

Another lower leg injury limited him during the year. Weeks appeared in eight games and started all eight, finishing with 31 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, eight quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery. LSU went 6 and 2 in the eight games he started and 1 and 4 in the five games he missed.

His best statistical performance came against Ole Miss, when he finished with 10 tackles, one tackle for loss, two quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery in the end zone that prevented a Rebels touchdown. Even during an injury interrupted season, Weeks continued to demonstrate how important his presence was to the LSU defense.

Through his first three LSU seasons, Weeks has totaled 205 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks. LSU’s current roster biography contains a summary line listing 4.5 career sacks, but its individual season totals list half a sack in 2023, 3.5 in 2024 and one in 2025. Those totals equal 5.0, which is also the career figure LSU used in its July 2026 SEC Media Days announcement.

Back for One More Season

Weeks enters 2026 as a senior and one of the central figures on Lane Kiffin’s first LSU team. He was one of three players selected to represent LSU with Kiffin at SEC Media Days, joining linebacker TJ Dottery and Green. Weeks became the first LSU defensive player to make consecutive appearances at the event.

The SEC media also selected Weeks to the First Team preseason All SEC defense. After an injury disrupted 2025, the honor reflects what Weeks demonstrated during his 2024 breakout and what LSU expects from him during his final season.

That combination of production, experience, toughness and leadership helps explain why LSU chose him for No. 7.

What Does It Take to Wear No. 7 at LSU?

There is no statistical formula that automatically earns a player No. 7. The tradition has changed somewhat under different LSU coaches, but one idea has remained at its center: No. 7 is supposed to identify a player who can make a major difference in a football game.

LSU’s own football record book describes the number as being passed among dynamic playmakers. When Ed Orgeron awarded the number to Ja’Marr Chase before the 2020 season, he also pointed to character, hard work and leadership as reasons Chase deserved it. When Grant Delpit received it in 2019, Orgeron emphasized both Delpit’s performance on the field and how he represented the program away from it.

Brian Kelly changed the tradition when he arrived at LSU by placing greater emphasis on Louisiana ties. That led to offensive tackle Will Campbell receiving the honor in 2023 and 2024. Because an offensive lineman could not wear No. 7 under college numbering rules, Campbell continued wearing No. 66 and carried a No. 7 patch instead. LSU also gave the actual No. 7 jersey to Harold Perkins Jr. in 2024.

Weeks is from Georgia, so his selection under Kiffin makes clear that Louisiana roots are not a requirement for the honor in 2026. The focus has returned to the larger idea that has defined the number for most of its modern history: identify one of LSU’s premier playmakers and give him the responsibility that comes with No. 7.

What No. 7 Means at LSU

The modern story starts with Patrick Peterson. Peterson wore No. 7 from 2008 through 2010 and developed into one of the greatest defensive backs in LSU history. In 2010, he became a consensus All American and won both the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back and the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation’s top defensive player.

When Tyrann Mathieu took over the number in 2011, the idea of passing No. 7 from one great playmaker to another truly became an LSU tradition. Mathieu won the Bednarik Award, became a unanimous All American and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. In only two seasons, he created 14 turnovers and set an LSU record with 11 forced fumbles.

Leonard Fournette later brought No. 7 to the offensive backfield. His 2015 season included 1,953 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns, while DJ Chark later carried the number as a receiver and return specialist. Grant Delpit wore it during LSU’s 15 and 0 national championship season in 2019 and won the Thorpe Award.

Ja’Marr Chase was chosen next after catching 84 passes for 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns during LSU’s 2019 championship season. Chase opted out of the 2020 season before playing a game in No. 7, and safety JaCoby Stevens subsequently wore the number during the season. Derek Stingley Jr. followed in 2021 after earning First Team All America honors during each of his first two seasons.

Kayshon Boutte received No. 7 in 2022, followed by Campbell as the honorary recipient in 2023 and 2024 and Perkins as the jersey wearer in 2024 and 2025. Now Weeks and Green become the next players asked to carry that standard.

No. 7 Had History Long Before the Tradition

The importance of No. 7 at LSU reaches much further back than Peterson. Bert Jones wore the number at quarterback from 1970 through 1972 and became LSU’s first consensus All America quarterback.

Jones passed for what was then a school record 1,446 yards and 14 touchdowns during his senior season. He finished fourth in the 1972 Heisman Trophy voting and left LSU holding school career records for passing yards, completions, attempts and touchdown passes.

LSU will retire Jones’ No. 7 jersey on November 14, 2026, when the Tigers host Texas in Tiger Stadium. LSU distinguishes between retiring a jersey and retiring a number. Jones’ No. 7 may continue to be worn, while Billy Cannon’s No. 20 remains the only football number LSU has completely removed from circulation.

Linebacker Ali Highsmith also gave the number an impressive defensive history before the modern tradition began. Highsmith wore No. 7 from 2004 through 2007 and finished his LSU career with 260 tackles, 26 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. As a senior, he helped LSU win the 2007 national championship and led the Tigers with eight tackles while adding 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble against Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game.

LSU’s No. 7 Tradition Since 2000

The list below updates the one previously published by LSU Football Report. One correction is necessary: Jonathan Giles was awarded No. 7 in 2018 and wore it during the early portion of that season before switching to No. 12. LSU game notes from the Florida game list him as No. 7, while the following week’s Georgia game notes list him as No. 12.

2000 to 2003: No modern No. 7 honoree

2004 to 2007: Ali Highsmith, LB

2008 to 2010: Patrick Peterson, CB

2011: Tyrann Mathieu, DB

2012: No designated No. 7

2013: No designated No. 7

2014 to 2016: Leonard Fournette, RB

2017: DJ Chark, WR

2018: Jonathan Giles, WR, awarded No. 7 and later gave it back

2019: Grant Delpit, S

2020: Ja’Marr Chase, WR, awarded No. 7 but opted out before the season

2020: JaCoby Stevens, S, wore No. 7 during the season

2021: Derek Stingley Jr., CB

2022: Kayshon Boutte, WR

2023: Will Campbell, OT, No. 7 honoree who wore a No. 7 patch on his No. 66 jersey

2024: Will Campbell, OT, No. 7 patch

2024: Harold Perkins Jr., LB, No. 7 jersey

2025: Harold Perkins Jr., LB, No. 7 jersey

2026: Whit Weeks, LB, No. 7 jersey

2026: Trey’Dez Green, TE, No. 7 jersey

LSU’s official record books generally trace the modern No. 7 lineage through Peterson, whose three seasons wearing the number made it coveted among future Tigers. The practice of deliberately passing the jersey from one elite playmaker to the next took hold when Mathieu followed Peterson in 2011.

Weeks Now Has His Chance

Weeks does not need to become another Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu or Leonard Fournette. The players who made No. 7 special did it in different ways, at different positions and during different eras of LSU football.

What connected them was the ability to change games. Weeks has already shown that ability with 18 tackles against Ole Miss, 17 against Oklahoma, game changing sacks, forced fumbles, interceptions and the sideline to sideline play that helped make him one of the SEC’s best linebackers.

There is also a leadership element to Weeks that fits the responsibility of the number. LSU named him a permanent team captain in 2025, selected him for SEC Media Days in consecutive seasons and describes him as a player who makes the people around him better and serves almost as another coach on the field.

No. 7 does not make Whit Weeks a great LSU linebacker. His first three seasons have already established that.

The number gives him something different. It gives Weeks the opportunity to spend his final season adding his name to one of the most recognizable jersey traditions in college football, alongside the LSU playmakers who came before him.

Sources

LSU Athletics, Whit Weeks player biography and career statistics.
LSU Athletics: Whit Weeks

LSU Athletics, Three Tigers to Join Kiffin at SEC Media Day on July 23.
LSU Athletics: 2026 SEC Media Days representatives

LSU Athletics, Preseason SEC Football Media Poll and All SEC Teams.
LSU Athletics: 2026 preseason All SEC teams

LSU Athletics, 2025 Football Record Book, No. 7 tradition.
LSU Athletics: 2025 Football Record Book

LSU Athletics, Bert Jones jersey retirement announcement.
LSU Athletics: Bert Jones jersey retirement

LSU Athletics, Ali Highsmith player biography.
LSU Athletics: Ali Highsmith

LSU Athletics, Patrick Peterson player biography.
LSU Athletics: Patrick Peterson

LSU Athletics, Tyrann Mathieu player biography.
LSU Athletics: Tyrann Mathieu

LSU Athletics, Ja’Marr Chase to Wear No. 7 in 2020.
LSU Athletics: Ja’Marr Chase No. 7 announcement

LSU Athletics, All American Grant Delpit to Wear No. 7 in 2019.
LSU Athletics: Grant Delpit No. 7 announcement

LSU Football Report, Why No. 7 Means More at LSU.
LSU Football Report: Why No. 7 Means More at LSU

LSU Reveille, LSU football awards Trey’Dez Green and Whit Weeks the No. 7 jersey for the 2026 season.
LSU Reveille: 2026 No. 7 announcement