Column: LSU's First-Round Success in Draft Just the First of Many Prosperous Chapters for 2020 Class
The first-round of the 2020 NFL Draft is officially in the books, and LSU finished Thursday night how they finished the 2019 season: breaking records, this time with a program-most five selections on Day 1, falling one shy for most in the common-draft era.
While this draft in particular felt unusual, it definitely presented a sense of normalcy in a challenging time for so many. And through this time of unpredictability, one thing was certain last night: LSU made history, even if it was in a virtual way.
Joe Burrow started off the night by joining Billy Cannon and JaMarcus Russell as the third player in LSU history to be selected No. 1 overall, and it fittingly ended with his best friend Clyde Edwards-Helaire heading to the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs.
In fact, when Chiefs head coach Andy Reid asked MVP QB Patrick Mahomes who he wanted, he picked Edwards-Helaire, someone who should fit perfectly into his offensive scheme.
“I started playing slot receiver, hopping back and forth from slot to the backfield and then to two back sets,” Edwards-Helaire said. “It’s something that was always a part of my DNA. I was always able to catch, I was always able to run routes, and LSU took complete advantage of it.”
After a slight pause in the action once Burrow was off the board, LSU returned to dominate the draft with outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson and wide receiver Justin Jefferson going No. 20 and No. 22 overall respectively to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings.
Let’s get one thing straight. Jefferson has future NFL Pro Bowler written all over him. He was essentially a professional receiver in a college uniform his junior season at LSU, and similar to Odell Beckham Jr., he will only get better when both the competition and the stakes grow larger.
“Going into college, I definitely had doubts if I could be that big-time receiver,” Jefferson admitted. “So I worked my butt off every single day, staying after practice, getting extra reps in. I’m the receiver that you can tell is a hard worker. My junior season was a perfect season. It was a dream season. From that point on, I knew that I could be that No. 1 type receiver.”
It was obvious that nobody loved playing the game of football more than Jefferson. While going on to set the school-record for most receptions (111) in a single-season, he danced along the way, he smiled and goofed around, and you could tell he was having fun in the tensest of moments.
After Jefferson came Patrick Queen and Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s moments, going No. 28 overall to the Baltimore Ravens and No. 32 to the Chiefs. These two represent never giving up. Persevering. Staying true to yourself. In fact, Queen wasn’t even a starter in the season opener, and Edwards-Helaire has been called too short and not fast enough his whole career, but both silenced their critics in a deafening way.
Chiefs general manger Brett Veich spoke highly of Edwards-Helaire in a post-draft call with reporters, saying the former LSU running back is “tailor made” for their offense, catching Veich’s eye for seeing plays before they develop. Veich added that on tape, it feels like Edwards-Helaire plays in slow motion and that his vision and instincts are rare and unique.
"The vision and lateral agility, you can’t coach [it],” Veich said. “It’s not going to show up in a 40 time, it’s not going to show up on the height-weight. Just watch the tape. It’s a God-given ability, man."
For this historic draft class, it’s only fitting they made history one last time. And for all five first-round selections, Thursday marked the beginning to another special chapter.
