NFL Stars Give High Praise to Their New LSU Rookie Teammates

AJ Green, Adam Thielan can’t wait to get to work with new Tiger teammates

During the offseason before the 2019 title run, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow and his skill position players like Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Terrace Marshall and Thaddeus Moss spent countless hours working on route timing and chemistry.

Locking down that chemistry at an early stage was one of the main reasons LSU went on to score a college football record 726 points en route to a national championship. Now, Burrow is trying to do more of the same as he starts his NFL journey.

In a recent interview with Bengals.com, star receiver AJ Green said he and Burrow have been in constant contact trying to figure out a way to get together for reps.

“We’ve been talking back and forth. We were talking (texting?) yesterday and I know he wants to get together and throw somewhere," Green said. "I told him wherever he is, we’ll come to him. I don’t know where, when, how. It’s all who can fly where and when. He’s the quarterback. He makes his location and we have to get there.”

Green said he's followed Burrow's journey through the SEC the last two years from a far and respects everything he's accomplished to this point.

"He beat up my Bulldogs a couple of times," Green said. "He's one of the best. With his attitude toward the game, the adversity he went through to get to where he is, you've got to appreciate that from a guy who's been an underdog to being an (overall) No. 1 draft pick and Heisman Trophy winner. You have to respect his grind and his process the way he goes about his business each day."

Up the road to Minneapolis, another NFL veteran is excited to get to work with an incoming LSU receiver. In an interview with NFL Network's Deion Sanders, Vikings receiver Adam Thielan was asked about the team's first round draft pick Justin Jefferson.

Thielan said one of the aspects of being a seven-year veteran he enjoys most is teaching and helping the younger players adapt to the league. That's something he hopes to do for Jefferson.

"Helpings guys understand the game, I was telling someone the other day that really helps me," Thielan said. "When I am teaching, I'm really talking to myself. I get better that way. I'm really excited, we have a lot of young talent in that room and it's really exciting for me to get in there and help out.”

In particular, Thielan loves Jefferson's ability to impact the game in a variety of ways, particularly his speed and wide range of moves to get himself open.

"I want to see what you can do on tape. And he is a guy, which makes me excited to play alongside him, because he’s a guy who is  fast on the field," Thielan said. "He can separate and beat man coverage. You watch him run a far cross, and you see him stair-step a guy. It was man coverage, and he stair-stepped him, created about 3-4 yards of separation and I think he broke the tackle and went down the sidelines."

While Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey and Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire are not teammates, there is a connection between the two. Edwards-Helaire was a prime beneficiary of Joe Brady and Steve Ensminger's spread offense that was implemented in 2019.

Now that Brady and McCaffrey have linked up in Carolina, McCaffrey heaped praise on not only the offense but on Edwards-Helaire and how versatile he was for the Tigers.

"I think that's the biggest thing is he can do everything," McCaffrey said in an interview Thursday with 610sports radio. "You look at a guy like Clyde, who I've seen a lot of LSU tape obviously with coach (Joe) Brady coming in now. He's a guy who's very instinctive, he can run the ball, quick, he can make people miss, but then you look at when he runs routes, he's like Sproles. He's a shorter guy. By no means small, but he is shorter."

The 2020 LSU class deservedly receives high praise from the outside because of its historical accomplishments. However, it's also great to see the recognition from some of the NFL's current stars