LSU Football: There’s going to be some Tiger on Tiger crime in the NFL in 2020
By Zach Ragan
Two former LSU football players will compete against each other for a prestigious award.
Former LSU football quarterback Joe Burrow was selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft (by the Cincinnati Bengals) and most analysts expect that he’ll make an immediate impact in the NFL.
Burrow has the skills to be an elite quarterback in the NFL. And he’ll have a huge opportunity in 2020 to show the world that the Bengals were wise to make him the top selection in the draft.
That’s because Burrow has already been named Cincinnati’s starting quarterback (following the release of previous starting quarterback Andy Dalton).
The starting job, plus a healthy AJ Green to throw the ball to, should make Burrow a lock to win the NFL Rookie of the Year Award, right?
Well maybe not. Especially if his former teammate has anything to say about it.
The former LSU football player that will challenge Burrow for the Rookie of the Year Award
Burrow is going to have to go head-to-head with several of his former teammates for the offensive ROTY award.
But one of those former teammates has a better shot than anyone else at winning the award — running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
Edwards-Helaire was drafted in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, which was a perfect landing spot for the former Tiger.
Andy Reid knows how to use versatile running backs better than almost any coach in the league (just look at the past success of LeSean McCoy and Brian Westbrook), which bodes well for Edwards-Helaire in Kansas City.
Then there’s the opportunity that Edwards-Helaire will have in 2020. Thanks to the decision by Damien Williams to opt out of the 2020 season, it appears that the former LSU running back will be the Chiefs’ top running back option this season.
Reid told NFL Network this week that Edwards-Helaire has been “working like crazy” with Kansas City’s first-team offense.
“Clyde has been doing a lot of work with the first group, so that’s valuable work for him,” said Reid.
Edwards-Helaire has the potential to put up huge numbers in the Chiefs’ offense. Will it be enough to overtake Burrow for the offensive ROTY award?
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We’ll have to wait for that answer. But this is setting up to be an intriguing battle between two former teammates.