Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
K'Lavon Chaisson Would Welcome a Chance to Thrive in New York
LSU linebacker and NFL Draft prospect K'Lavon Chaisson didn't work out at the combine but didn't need to do so to maintain his first-round draft stock.
Chaisson is considered to be one of the best pass rushers in this year's draft, and with both New York teams needing pass rush help, and picking high in the first round, Chaisson could end up bringing his talents to the nation's biggest media market.
"It would obviously be a different environment from my being down south from Houston, to going all the way up North and being up there," Chaisson said of playing in New York at his combine press conference.
"I'm sure it would be easy to adapt to, and by the time I get it going I'd be ready to roll."
WATCH: K'Lavon Chaisson Explains Why He's the Best Athlete in this Draft.
New York has hardly proven to be an easy place to adapt to for athletes over the years. Young NFL players have crumbled under the pressure of the city's media. The Giants have seen, up-close, what the New York spotlight can do to promising young talent coming out of college.
When the Giants first had top 10 picks in back-to-back years back in the 2015 and 2016 drafts, they looked to fill critical positions with the selections of offensive tackle Ereck Flowers in 2015 and cornerback Eli Apple in 2016. Both were scrutinized by the New York media for their respective play, and both ultimately were sent packing before their rookie deals ended.
The modest success they saw on their new teams proved that the two players weren't unfit to play in the NFL. Flowers proved to be a solid starter for the Jacksonville Jaguars before signing with Washington and, more recently, agreeing to terms with Miami
Apple enjoyed a bit of a surge after being sent to the Saints in 2018, finishing with a career-best 65.0 defensive grade from Pro Football Focus, and an 85.9 NFL rating in coverage.
Despite the pressures and temptations that come with playing in front of a big market like New York, Chaisson seems to have a solid pedigree that would suggest he'd be able to handle it.
It starts with his high school resume at North Shore Senior High School. Chaisson had to adapt back into the game of football in his junior year, after stepping away from the game to focus on basketball for a year.
He made that process look easy. The Houston native made a name for himself in a competitive high school football state by leading the state of Texas with 15.5 sacks during his junior year.
Later that same season in the Class 6A Division I State Championship, Chaisson thrived under the spotlight of one of the nation's spotlights by delivering an MVP performance that included two sacks, four tackles for loss, a blocked kick and a forced fumble and a game-saving tackle on a 4th-and-goal to preserve a 21–14 win over Westlake High School.
The next year, as a senior, Chaisson was invited to play in the 2017 Under Armour All-America Game, where he recorded six tackles, five tackles for a loss, and tied the game's record with three sacks.
Chaisson's acclamation for showing up under the spotlight of big games continued well into his college career at LSU. He was named the Defensive MVP of the 2019 Peach Bowl after a six-tackle, two-sack performance against Oklahoma.
If Chaisson is selected by the Giants, he would be thrust into even bigger games than the ones in which he's thrived so far as there's no stage quite like the NFL's. But he has no doubt that he could not only handle the scrutiny, but also thrive in the conditions as he's always done.
