Justin Jefferson, Joe Burrow Lead the Pack of Former LSU Players to Start in Week Four Fantasy

Rookies rarely have the kind of impact fantasy teams are looking for when putting together their rosters. But this year's batch of LSU rookies have really been the outlier as Joe Burrow, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Justin Jefferson have really stood out and produced at a high level.

Here's how the trio have fared thus far in the fantasy world in PPR (points per reception) leagues and how they fare in week four and beyond.

Joe Burrow (QB)

Despite no offensive line and no real running game, Burrow has been a top-10 quarterback from a fantasy perspective as the first quarter of the 2020 season winds down. Averaging 20.75 fantasy points a game, Burrow has completed 64.5% of his passes for 821 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.

Cincinnati has put the ball in Burrow's hands each week as he's completed an NFL rookie record 91 passes in his first three games. Burrow enters a week four matchup with Jacksonville that allows the sixth most points to opposing quarterbacks. He'll be going against former teammate K'Lavon Chaisson in the game, a matchup he's looking forward to.

"I'm excited to play against K'Lavon this week. He's been talking a lot of trash the last couple of years and saying how he was gonna sack me," Burrow said. "We'll see if he can do it this week. He has so many pass rush moves, he's gonna be such a good player."

Bengals QB Joe Burrow @JoeyB with high praise for his former LSU teammate K'Lavon Chaisson @S4CKGURU

Chaisson looking to add to the stat sheet this Sunday 👀 pic.twitter.com/PWxJpZQfni
— Ashlyn Sullivan (@ashlynrsullivan) September 30, 2020

The fact that he's averaging 47 pass attempts per game means the Bengals will give Burrow every chance to air it out and have success. The outlook for this week and beyond bodes well for Burrow to be a consistent 17-23 fantasy points a game.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire (RB)

Edwards-Helaire was in the RB1 conversation pretty much from the time Chiefs running back Damien Williams elected to opt out of the 2020 season. The first-round pick has handled an overwhelming amount of the touches in the high-powered Kansas City offense and that will likely continue as the season progresses.

He's made an impact in both the rushing and passing games, averaging 80 yards per game on the ground and has brought in 11 receptions for 102 yards in the last two games.

“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," Patrick Mahomes said. "He’s going to keep getting better. It’s another weapon that I kind of have in this offense and we’re going to keep doing whatever we can to keep moving the ball and scoring touchdowns.”

A week four matchup against the Patriots won't come easy for Edwards-Helaire but his recent 134-yard performance against the Baltimore Ravens proved he can put up elite numbers against good defenses. Unless he gets hurt, Edwards-Helaire will be a weekly play moving forward that fantasy owners should be pleased with.

Justin Jefferson (WR)

Two weeks into the season, Jefferson was clearly adjusting to being a rookie in the NFL, combining for five catches and 70 yards total. A week three explosion of seven receptions for 175 yards and a touchdown has completely flipped his 2020 rookie season and fantasy outlook around.

Jefferson joined Randy Moss in the record books as the only two rookie receivers to ever have 100+ yards in a single half. While that performance would be pretty hard to replicate, Jefferson proved he has explosive potential and has asserted himself as the clear No. 2 option behind Adam Thielan in the Vikings offense.

"The first two weeks was me just really getting a taste of the NFL," Jefferson said on Under Center with Kirk Cousins. "It's just the circumstances that we are in with no preseason games and me just waiting my turn. Coach Kubiak just said to me that I was going to go out there and start. So me just being the person that I am, I wanted to take that opportunity and run with it."

Jefferson moved to the outside for week three and now faces a Houston team with a tough pass defense. He’s likely not an every week starter but could be in deeper leagues this week as he tries to continue his hot streak.