After the college football season, there was plenty of discussion about whether the 2019 LSU Tigers were the best team in the history of the sport. The result of that discussion drew mixed reviews, saying that LSU was too new into the discussion, and enough time hadn’t passed to dissect – which is crazy. Others were in full agreement that this team was one of the best we have ever seen.
One way to put this argument to bed by is looking at this weekend’s NFL Draft, which had a total of 14 LSU players selected – tied for the most since the NFL switched to the seven-round format in 1994. Back in the 2004 NFL Draft, the Ohio State Buckeyes had 14 players taken.
The team with the most players drafted has an asterisk next to it, as 17 Texas Longhorns were selected in the 1984 draft, but there were 12 rounds in that one.
In fact, the SEC, as a whole, was its usually-productive self. The most powerful football conference had 63 players taken this year, falling one short of the 64-player record that was set last year.
Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron now has the dubious task reloading a roster that is losing so much firepower. Earlier in the week, Orgeron joked about LSU making history in one form or another.
“That and 50 cents will get you a cup of coffee tomorrow,” said Orgeron. “No, it means a lot. It means development. It means recruiting great-character kids. It means a lot with recruiting.
“The reason you come to a school like LSU is you want to win a national championship; you want to graduate, and you want to get drafted.
“I think it adds validity to your program. I think it enables you to recruit across the country. Obviously, we have a national brand right now. We want to stay in the state of Louisiana with our great players, and we’ll want to continue to win championships.”
Top Tiger
For LSU this year, it all started with QB Joe Burrow going to the Cincinnati Bengals with the No. 1 pick. In addition, Burrow became the ninth QB to win the Heisman Trophy and then be selected first overall since 1967. Not to mention, Burrow joined Cam Newton as the only QBs to ever win both the Heisman Trophy and the national championship.
After Burrow, it took a while for the next LSU player to be selected in the first round. At pick No. 20, it was LB K’Lavon Chaisson getting the Tigers back on the board as he went to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
There were three more LSU players chosen to close out the first round: WR Justin Jefferson at No. 22 to the Minnesota Vikings, LB Patrick Queen at No. 28 to the Baltimore Ravens, and RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire at No. 32 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Overall, LSU’s five first-round picks fell one short of Miami’s 2004 class, which had six.
The rest of the players drafted from LSU:
Second Round: S Grant Delpit – Cleveland Browns, CB Kristian Fulton – Tennessee Titans
Third round: OL Damien Lewis – Seattle Seahawks, OL Lloyd Cushenberry III – Denver Broncos, LB Jacob Phillips – Cleveland Browns
Fourth Round: OL Saahdiq Charles – Washington Redskins, DT Rashard Lawrence – Arizona Cardinals
Sixth Round: LS Blake Ferguson – Miami Dolphins
Seventh Round: TE Stephen Sullivan – Seattle Seahawks
Although he wasn’t drafted, TE Thaddeus Moss – son of Hall-of-Fame WR Randy Moss – was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Redskins.
Multiple sportsbooks had LSU as the favorite for the school to have the most draft picks in the 2020 draft. Not to mention, the SEC was also listed as the favorite for the conference with the most draft picks.
