“What’s really going on out there?”
“Are those guys that good, or are we that bad?”
“Are we a bad defense?”
“Is Joe this great of a quarterback?”
Before he was carving up opposing defenses on his way to a Heisman Trophy, a national title, and the most prolific season a quarterback has every had in the history of college football, Joe Burrow was forcing his own defense into private meetings, where they wrestled with self-doubt.
Burrow, the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, was making his defense look like soggy Quilted Northern after a hurricane.
“He killed us so much in practice,” defensive lineman Rashard Lawrence told Draft Wire’s Justin Melo back in February. “That was tough. We never got the upper hand on him. We couldn’t touch him in practice. Joe has all of the intangibles. He would see us in a certain coverage and just pick us apart. Whether we were only rushing three guys or bringing a five or six man pressure, he always had a feel for it. It definitely made us better. We knew that we were going up against one of the best players, if not the best player in LSU history. He definitely made me a better player. He’s the ultimate competitor.”
LSU cornerback Kristian Fulton agreed with Lawrence’s account of those early days of practice prior to the 2019 season.
“Yeah, that’s exactly how it went in the beginning,” Fulton told Melo in early April. “We had a lot of defense-only team meetings after those practices. ‘What’s really going on out there? Are those guys that good or are we that bad?’ We had to get on the same page. That’s exactly how it went.”
Pass rusher K’Lavon Chaisson also backed up those claims, but acknowledged how much it helped the defense rise to another level.
“It helped us out a lot,” Chaisson told Melo earlier this month. “When you talk about a program like LSU, you’re talking about a program that’s used to fielding a dominant defense. When you go against Joe Burrow in practice, and he’s picking us apart every day in practice, we were out there trying to figure out what the issue was. ‘Are we a bad defense? Is Joe this great of a quarterback?’ Those are the questions we were asking ourselves during spring and fall camp. We eventually figured out that Joe was that great of a quarterback.”
The iron started to sharpen the iron in Baton Rouge, and Chaisson says the LSU defense started to take advantage of what Burrow was bringing to practice on a daily basis.
“It gave us the knowledge of what a great quarterback is looking for,” Chaisson said. “We understood how he tried to take advantage of the looks we were giving him in practice. He had an answer for every read and disguise we threw at him. Whatever we gave him, he took it away from us. Going up against a guy of that caliber was a tremendous help to our defense.”
Not only did Burrow’s play make the defense better as a unit, but Chaisson took it upon himself to make sure it fueled his own personal goals to improve his game.
“Practicing against, and alongside his talent definitely improved my overall knowledge of the game,” Chaisson said. “The things he was doing against us in practice were just unbelievable. It taught me so much. I took that into the meeting room. I learned from it off the field as well. It was such a blessing. He’s such a special quarterback. He’s a rare guy with high level talent and a high football IQ to go with it.”
Burrow wasn’t the only pro talent on the LSU offense pushing the Tigers’ to challenge themselves on a daily basis. Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and Terrace Marshall, Jr. were one of college football’s best wide receiver trios, and versatile running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire was a load to bring down. Three Tigers along the offensive line are sure to be drafted in Lloyd Cushenberry III, Damien Lewis and Saahdiq Charles. Tight ends Thaddeus Moss and Stephen Sullivan are also likely draft picks in 2020.
“For us as a secondary, we possibly saw the best collegiate offense of all time every day in practice,” Fulton said. “That’s how he made us better. To be honest with you, they had us questioning our abilities throughout spring and fall camp. We weren’t sure how good we were as a defense. Going up against those guys on offense helped us out tremendously. We started slow, but we had to adapt. That’s why we came on strong towards the end of the season.”
Come on strong they did, helping lead the Bayou Bengals to an undefeated season, closing out with three straight dominant victories over top-5 teams in Georgia (for the SEC title), Oklahoma (in the CFP semifinal), and finally Clemson for the national title.
If the Bengals indeed take Burrow at No. 1 overall Thursday night, what kind of player will they be getting?
“Joe is very humble,” Fulton said. “He comes to work every day ready to work. He doesn’t really say much around the building. Once he gets on the field, he turns into a completely different person. He’s the ultimate competitor. I just think Joe is different. He took a business approach in practice. That’s why he did what he did on game day. He practiced like he played. That’s how serious he takes the game.”
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