Which LSU Football Rookies Will Be Starting Week One in the NFL?

The NFL officially kicks off Thursday evening and a number of LSU rookies will be making their debuts this week. Some have made quite the impression on their current clubs, being named starters heading into their first regular season matchups.

Here's who will be starting this week and what to expect in their first games of the season:

Joe Burrow (QB)- vs Los Angeles Chargers

Burrow will officially make his first start as the franchise quarterback for the Bengals in front of no fans. Not only did the team announce Burrow as the starter ahead of his week one matchup against the Chargers, he was also named a team captain.

It's no real surprise Burrow has won over the Bengals locker room in such a short amount of time as it didn't take all that long for him to win over the LSU locker room either. Now he'll face a tough first week opponent in Los Angeles, a team that has elite pass rushers Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram on the roster.

One of the questions with the Bengals heading into the season is can the offensive line hold up and give Burrow enough protection. If the answer this week is yes, then Burrow has enough weapons in AJ Green, Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon to grab a week one win.

Joe Burrow, when asked about the toughest hit he's ever taken: "I won't give anybody that satisfaction."
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) September 9, 2020

Clyde Edwards-Helaire (RB)- vs Houston Texans

Since draft night, Edwards-Helaire felt like one of the best fits as he moves from one historic college offense to an historic NFL offense. He's the player quarterback Patrick Mahomes wanted in the first-round and he'll be the bell cow of the Chiefs offense now that Damien Williams has opted out of the 2020 season.

A powerful, twitchy runner who's also a threat out of the backfield, Edwards-Helaire will receive 15-20 touches on a weekly basis, starting against the Texans on Thursday Night Football. When speaking with the media on Tuesday, Edwards-Helaire said that the speed of the NFL game will be the biggest adjustment for him.

“The speed of the NFL is something to be unmatched,” acknowledged Edwards-Helaire on Tuesday. “It’s the National Football League. It’s the highest you could possibly go as far as playing professional football. The speed is going to be as fast as each game will be. Every game, I feel like will be different, but the speed will ultimately be unmatched.”

Patrick Queen (LB)- vs Cleveland Browns

Queen will follow in a long line of successful linebackers the Ravens organization has produced over the last 20 years, including Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs and CJ Mosely. The versatile linebacker made his mark by proving to be a sideline to sideline player for the Tigers last season.

Officially listed as the starting MLB on the roster, Queen will be taking on a number of former LSU Tigers in his week one matchup with the Cleveland Browns. Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry, Greedy Williams and Jacob Phillips are all on the Browns so for those fans itching for Tigers to watch, this is the game for you.

On the field, Queen talked recently about trying to be a leader on defense as a rookie.

"All eyes are on you, so everything you’ve got to do, you’ve got to do it to the best of your ability," Queen said in a recent interview. "You’ve got to be that leader. You’ve got to carry yourself well. You’ve got to be that vocal guy in and out."

Lloyd Cushenberry (C)-vs Tennessee Titans

Cushenberry's journey is one of the most inspiring from last year's championship team. As a player who wasn't highly recruited out of high school, Cushenberry became a three year starter for the Tigers, the last two of which he spent as the starting center.

Proving to be a leader of the highest order, Cushenberry earned No. 18 and now seems to be making a similar impact in Denver. The Broncos named him the starter earlier this week for the teams first matchup against the Tennessee Titans.

The Titans have a great defense and drafted former LSU cornerback Kristian Fulton in the second round.

"My main focus is going out there and being physical, really just showing that I have the mental capacity to make all the calls and have the confidence that I can do this thing at a high level," Cushenberry said this week.

Damien Lewis (RG)- at Atlanta Falcons

Lewis joins former LSU center Ethan Pocic on the offensive line for the Seahawks and both will start in the first game of the 2020 season against the Falcons. On the other side, the pair will face former linebacker Deion Jones, who's one of the top inside linebackers in the league when healthy.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll gave Lewis rave reviews earlier this training camp.

"He’s a special football player. He’s got a tremendous body for the position, got a great body mass load, and he’s really, really powerful," coach Pete Carroll said at the start of camp. "You can see him in positions already, torquing and all. It shows that he can return to balance really well, which is a real good trait for offensive linemen.

"The guys can already sense that you can count on him to know what's going on, so he's off to a really good start," Carroll added. "He moves well on the second level and he's done a nice job already just showing us that he can pull and get on the edge, so he's done nothing but good stuff so far."