It’s a special thing to be given the No. 18 jersey at LSU. There were plenty of worthy candidates on the Tigers’ national championship team this past season, but there are plenty of reasons why it went to edge defender K’Lavon Chaisson.
One of the best EDGE prospects in the 2020 NFL Draft, Chaisson recently spoke exclusively with Draft Wire about his impressive 2019 season, how playing against top talent every day in practice prepared him for the NFL, and what kind of player he’ll be at the next level.
JM: National Champion K’Lavon Chaisson. You’ve had a few months to reflect now. How does it feel?
KLC: It feels great. It still feels so surreal, man. I still struggle to find the words.
JM: Do you make everybody address you as “National Champion” before they say your name? I know I would.
KLC: I should start doing that (laughs). That’s funny. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
JM: You were named a permanent team captain in 2019. You were one of the leaders of a strong LSU defense. How does that experience serve you well going forward?
KLC: I was around so much talent. That’s first and foremost. Being a leader on this defense, everybody was so humble and ready to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. We didn’t have any selfish players on our defense. We didn’t have anybody trying to make sure that the spotlight was on them. It was all about the team. One team, one goal. It was a blessing to be a part of. I hope that I run into a lot of similar guys at the next level from a character standpoint. If that’s the case, I know that we’ll excel as a defense at the next level as well.
JM: You got to wear that No. 18 jersey. You know what that means at LSU. How did it feel to receive such an honor?
KLC: I was definitely in shock. Not to say that I didn’t deserve it, but we had plenty of guys in the locker room that also deserved to wear that No. 18 jersey. We had a lot of guys that would have represented that number just as well as I did. I was just coming back from a season where I didn’t play. It was a blessing and an honor to represent LSU in that fashion.
I think of all the guys that have worn that number in the past, and I’m truly humbled. I always tried to represent LSU with the upmost class. It’s definitely a representation of my character and how I was raised both on and off the field. It’s a reflection of the praise that I received from my coaches and my teammates. If I could, I definitely would have let a bunch of other guys on the team wear that number alongside me.
JM: What did the coaching staff expect of you within the scheme?
KLC: We ran a 3-4 defense. We were multiple on defense. We switched over to a 4-3 look at times. We played a little bit of everything really. It was something special to be a part of. My position was quite unique actually. It was a bit of a hybrid position. On any given play, I could be the primary rusher, I could be the primary guy in pass coverage or I could be the primary run defender. It just depended on what the play was and what gave us the best chance to make a splash play.
It’s a true testament to my talent and overall knowledge of the game. I was willing to play all positions and I really bought into what we were trying to achieve as a defense. I gave it my all for the team. I took a lot of pride in playing that role for our defense.
JM: What was your experience like at the NFL Scouting Combine?
KLC: It was a lot of fun. I urge everybody to take in the full experience. I hope everybody gets a chance to go to the combine. The more, the merrier. It’s such a great experience. I wanna see them invite as many people as possible in the future. It’s very unique. I’ve been dreaming about the combine since I was a little kid. To actually be there, to see some of the faces that I watch on television, the guys on ESPN, the coaches, the owners and the general managers, it was truly a special experience. You never know who you’re gonna bump into at the combine. I’ll never forget it.
JM: Taking every aspect of the combine into account, what do you think is the overall impression that you left out there?
KLC: My reputation at LSU checks out. Everything you’ve heard about my character and leadership abilities, I gave every team a chance to get to know me on a personal level. I always try to be a great guy. I feel like I displayed that all throughout the combine. I didn’t try to be something that I’m not. I was just being myself. I had a chance to meet with a lot of NFL personnel members, ranging from owners to the head coach, and everybody seemed to appreciate my personality and team-first attitude. I take a lot of pride in that.
JM: You touched on the versatility a little bit, but what’s your favorite part about playing the EDGE position?
KLC: You never know what I’m gonna do next. I love the versatility that comes with the position. You never know if I’m rushing the quarterback or dropping back into coverage. I might be coming to play the run game. It’s such a unique position. You have to see things from a broad view and your talent better be up to par. You have to understand the game at a high level as well. I played that “joker” role, the glue that holds the defense together, it’s a special position. I loved playing that role on our defense.
JM: Playing for coach Ed Orgeron seems like a blast, right?
KLC: I love him. I love that man. That’s my guy for life. I would give anything for that man. Anything he could ask me for, I would give it to him without hesitation. I would give my last dollar to Coach O. He risked it all when he offered me a scholarship. I still can’t believe that. I didn’t play a single down of varsity football. I’ll forever hold that memory close to my heart.
JM: Any amateur athlete that needs some motivation, it doesn’t matter where you come from. A program like LSU is willing to go find talent anywhere. Let’s be honest, they can have anybody they want, but they were willing to bet on a guy like you.
KLC: Exactly. I couldn’t have said it better myself. They obviously know what they’re doing. They took a big risk when they offered me a scholarship, a kid that hadn’t even played a down of varsity football. Heck, we had a Heisman winning quarterback that couldn’t get on the field at his previous school. Joe Burrow came here and became one of the best things to ever happen to our program. Coach O just has a natural gut feeling for this stuff. For whatever reason, he’s never wrong about this stuff. He’s always making the right decisions. Isn’t that crazy?
JM: He’s a special coach. What can you tell me about your pass rush arsenal?
KLC: It’s a very unique arsenal. It’s a mixture of everything. I can hit you with speed. I might hit you with a counter move. I love incorporating some power into my game as well. Whatever you’ve heard of, I can use it to win. I look forward to those one-on-one match-ups on the outside.
JM: Do you have a go-to move?
KLC: Not necessarily. I always try to go off of what the offensive linemen is giving me. I pay close attention to how he’s setting and I try to respond with the appropriate move. Hopefully, I win that rep.
JM: You touched on Joe Burrow and what he meant to you guys this past season. What did getting a chance to prepare and play alongside him do for the program?
KLC: It helped us out a lot. 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 (laughs). 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 (laughs).
He helped us out so much. It gave us the knowledge of what a great quarterback is looking for. 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. Practicing against, and alongside his talent definitely improved my overall knowledge of the game. 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.
JM: It’s funny that you say that. Rashard Lawrence told me that going up against him in practice was downright demoralizing at times. Kristian Fulton told me that the defense held a lot of player-only meetings throughout that early part of camp to try and figure out what was going wrong (laughs).
KLC: That’s exactly right. That’s exactly what was going on (laughs). Especially during the spring, he was just out there killing us. They were firing on all cylinders on offense. It goes back to what I said earlier. When you’re playing at a program that’s known for it’s defense, a program that’s established that reputation, we were absolutely shell-shocked throughout those early practices. We really had to self-reflect and look ourselves in the mirror.
We definitely held a lot of player-only meetings on the defensive side of the ball. We were chewing each other out in those meetings. It was very intense. There were a lot of raised voices (laughs). We had to figure out what the issue was. Where can we get better? He helped us find our true identity on defense.
You saw it pay off down the road. We got stronger as a defense as the year went on. We leaned on those early experiences. We were battle tested from the opening practice. We always found a way to get better. It didn’t matter if it was seven-on-seven, we took every practice and every rep very seriously. That goes for both the offense and defense. Whatever the case may be, we brought our best in every situation. Even late into the season, he was still trying to find ways to get better and we were still learning from him.
JM: Were you able to get in any private visits or workouts before the spread of COVID-19 shut everything down?
KLC: I was not able to make any in-person visits or workouts. We had a ton of them scheduled but we planned to start everything after our pro day. Since our pro day was a little later than most, everything got shut down way before that.
JM: Have you to spoken with a lot of teams via telephone? It seems like FaceTime is the new predraft meeting.
KLC: I’ve met with a few teams. Out of respect for the privacy of the teams, I have to keep that information close to my chest at this time. I’m not gonna put there business out there. I’ve spoken with a few teams and all of my meetings have gone well. I can say this, a few teams that you sports reporters are saying have interest in me or whatever, I have spoken to a few of those teams. The process is going well so far.
JM: What was the strangest question you were asked at the combine?
KLC: You always hear about that strange question, but I didn’t get anything. Everything was pretty straight-forward. We discussed football and my upbringing. I maybe had a few questions about my personal life, but nothing intrusive. We talked about the academics at LSU and my studies. I didn’t get any strange questions.
JM: Playing at LSU afforded you the opportunity to play against the best competition college football had to offer on a weekly basis. Who are some of the best tackles you’ve gone up against?
KLC: I had to go up against Saahdiq Charles every day in practice. Forget the competition that we played against, Charles is an athletic tackle with an extremely powerful lower body. That’s a great combination for a tackle. He has long arms. That was very frustrating for me at times. I had to go up against that guy every day. When you’re trying to win reps against a tackle like him, it made the Saturday reps feel a whole lot easier. Going up against him definitely helped me out. I’m thankful for the challenges that he presented me with.
JM: You’ve had so many great teammates throughout your time at LSU. You said it yourself, any number of guys could have worn that No. 18 jersey this past season. I’m gonna put you on the spot though. If you were going into battle tomorrow and could only bring one teammate with you, who would it be and why?
KLC: Ah, come on. I can’t answer that question (laughs). I just can’t. I went to war with all of my brothers on a weekly basis. I spent every Saturday going to war with those guys. We came out unscathed, 15-0, undefeated as National Champions. I’d be taking every single one of those guys with me. I want all of my brothers right there next to me. If I could, I would take the whole team with me.
JM: When a team spends a draft pick on K’Lavon Chaisson, what kind of guy are they getting?
KLC: First and foremost, they’re getting a respectable, high-character guy. You never have to worry about me. I’m always gonna do the right thing. I’m gonna lead by example. When it comes to the on-field stuff, I’m a monster. I flip a switch once those lights come on and it’s only up from there. I motivate my teammates to be great. I make everybody around me better. I’m trying to leave every game with a win. I’m not satisfied until that happens.
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