Five Former LSU Football Players to Watch in Week Two of the NFL
Opening week in the NFL saw many former LSU stars front and center but there are some entertaining matchups to keep an eye on in week two as well.
The week has already started for former Tigers as quarterback Joe Burrow and receiver Odell Beckham Jr. turned in some great performances on Thursday night in a 35-30 win for the Cleveland Browns. Burrow went 37-of-61 for 316 yards and three touchdowns while Beckham hauled in a 43-yard touchdown in the win.
With plenty of intriguing games to follow in week two, here are five players primed for great games this weekend.
DJ Chark (WR)- at Tennessee Titans
Chark didn't exactly start the 2020 season off with a bang, bringing in three receptions for 25 yards and a late game touchdown to save his afternoon against the Colts. The matchup doesn't get much easier with a week two game against the Titans but Chark is primed for a bounce back performance.
It could be a great matchup of former Tigers as Chark will go head-to-head with former teammate Kristian Fulton. Fulton picked up extra snaps in week one after the Titans secondary suffered a few injuries and could be primed for more work against a Jaguars offense that doesn't have much in terms of weapons outside of Chark.
Russell Gage (WR)- at Dallas Cowboys
The Falcons played from behind much of the day last week against the Seahawks and Gage took advantage of the opportunity. As the No. 3 receiver, the former Tiger brought in nine receptions for 114 yards and faces a Cowboys defense with a staunch secondary this week.
Behind Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley, Gage will get most of his work in the slot but figures to be a key element of the Falcons offense moving forward, just ask his quarterback.
"You're always unsure when the guy gets his opportunity if he's going to be able to handle that role and do it week in and week out. He's certainly exceeded expectations; he's played extremely well for us," quarterback Matt Ryan said of Gage. "I thought he played one of his nest games for us this past week. That's going to serve us well moving forward because he's a great outlet for us in the middle of the field with two really exceptional players on the outside at wide receiver as well."
Patrick Queen (LB)- at Houston Texans
Outside of Clyde Edwards-Helaire, there wasn't an LSU rookie who performed better than Queen in week one. The Ravens linebacker recorded eight tackles, a sack and forced a fumble in his debut against the Cleveland Browns and faces a tough opponent in Deshaun Watson this week.
The Houston offense was quite underwhelming against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Ravens boast one of the top defenses in all of the NFL.
“He’s very active,” defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said. “You want to have your best improvement from game one to game two. That’s our focus, and he did a lot of good things. He knows there’s a lot of things now where he came back and said, ‘Ah, I see what you guys are talking about with this and that.’ So, it was a great first outing for him. He is very active in there.”
Foster Moreau (TE)- vs New Orleans Saints
It’ll be a homecoming of sorts as Moreau will play against the hometown team he grew up rooting for. He was only on the field for 19% of the snaps against the Carolina Panthers and is currently behind Darren Waller and Jason Witten on the depth chart.
He did have five touchdowns as a rookie so it’ll be interesting to see if last week’s dud is more of an outlier than a regular trend against the Saints.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire (RB)- at Los Angeles Chargers
This should come as no surprise but Edwards-Helaire is certainly a player to watch after an NFL-leading 138 yards rushing against the Houston Texans. With a vast array of weapons on the Chiefs, Edwards-Helaire was the featured player in week one against the Texans.
The Chargers have a stout defensive front but the Chiefs explosive offense should be able to put up points and plenty of yards. Expect another big outing from Edwards-Helaire as the bell cow of the backfield.
“I mean he’s been doing it since the day he got here,” Patrick Mahomes said of Edwards-Helaire. “He’s been working hard, he’s been learning from his mistakes and he’s been running the ball between the tackles and catching out of the backfield
