For coach Lane Kiffin, the most gratifying part of dipping into the transfer portal is pulling out pleasant surprises.

Each year, Kiffin and his staff are trying to find players such as LSU running back Dilin Jones. The portal entrants who fly under the radar and then prove that more teams should've spent more time trying to scoop them up.

"I really like those stories," Kiffin said.

And the first-year LSU coach certainly has one in Jones, the transfer tailback whose emergence this season as one of the top ball carriers in the Southeastern Conference has been as noteworthy as it is surprising.

Jones was once a highly rated recruit, but he didn't do much with the 92 carries he received over two years at Wisconsin. In the offseason, 247Sports didn't even include him in its list of the top 50 transfer running backs of the cycle. Neither did On3, the recruiting service that said the redshirt junior was the 54th-best tailback to enter his name into the portal in 2026.

So, Jones was quite a find for Kiffin and his staff.

Only three SEC running backs have rushed for more yards this season than Jones, who has 566 yards and five touchdowns on 128 carries.

The Wisconsin transfer isn't just benefiting from the Kiffin scheme either. He's picking up yards for himself.

Just two SEC tailbacks have forced more missed tackles than Jones has through seven games (33), according to Pro Football Focus data, and only three have rushed for more yards after contact (445).

Add those impressive numbers to what Jones has done as a pass catcher out of the backfield — his 190 receiving yards rank ninth among all FBS running backs — and you'll see why a former low-profile transfer has become one of the LSU's most indispensable offensive players ahead of a Week 8 road game against Auburn (11 a.m., ABC).

Jones does a little bit of everything for LSU.

His runs keep the offense ahead of the chains, which allows the unit to engage its tempo. When defenses blitz quarterback Sam Leavitt, he blocks free rushers. When the Tiger receivers don't come open, he flares out and gives Leavitt an easy completion.

And when Jones gets the ball in his hands, he'll probably use either his strength or his agility to evade tacklers.

"I don't even know how some people can tackle him in space," Leavitt said after LSU's win over Mississippi State on Saturday. "He does an incredible job of making the first guy miss on checkdowns and making explosive plays for me. It's super easy for me to just check the ball down and go get a first down."

Leavitt has made those kinds of plays a staple of the LSU offense in recent weeks. Jones caught more passes in his past two games (15) than he did in his first five (11). He had seven catches for 84 yards in the Tigers' Week 6 loss to Kentucky and eight catches for 64 yards in their Week 7 win over Mississippi State.

Jones has now officially run for more yards in seven games than LSU's leading rusher, Caden Durham, did all last season. In 2025, the Tigers rushed for only 104 yards per game, which ranked 104th among FBS teams.

This year, Jones has helped LSU run for 196 yards per game. That rate ranks 32nd in the nation and fourth in the SEC. Only South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia have picked up more yards on the ground than the Tigers.

And Kiffin's offense still has room to improve.

LSU averaged only 2.8 yards per carry in its last two games. It rushed for 94 yards against Kentucky and 90 against Mississippi State.

The quick passes to Jones have become an extension of the ground game – a counterattack to use against defenses that load up to stop the run.

Opponents didn't respect LSU's rushing attack last season.

Now they have to, in large part because Jones has emerged as Kiffin's latest transfer portal success story.

"Dilin's done great," Kiffin said. "Really made a lot of people miss in the run game, and he's been very helpful in the pass game.

"He's a really good player. Really glad he's here."