LSU has had a successful 21st century, winning three National Championships and five SEC Championships. Throughout these 24 years, LSU has fielded some genuinely historic teams, complete with iconic players. ESPN revealed its Top 25 Players of the 21st Century list this week, which included two LSU Tigers.
9. Joe Burrow – Quarterback
The fact that Joe Burrow makes this list only for his accomplishments in 2019 demonstrates how outstanding that season was. In 2019, Burrow completed 76.3% of his throws for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns, with only 6 interceptions. He also rushed for 369 yards and five scores. Burrow is tied with Case Keenum for the fifth-most throwing yards in a season while playing against an SEC schedule. If Burrow had spent his whole career at LSU, one could argue that he would have had the best career of all time.
23. Tyrann Mathieu – Safety
Mathieu’s domination shines through despite the fact that he only played two seasons of college football, unlike the other guys on the list. Mathieu recorded 133 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, six sacks, four interceptions, 11 forced fumbles, and two touchdowns during his two seasons at LSU. His 2011 season garnered him the Chuck Bednarik Award, the 2011 SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and consensus All-American and All-SEC honors. The biggest concern has to be how different LSU’s 2012 season will be with Mathieu, and how high he would have risen on this list if he had played his junior season.
The biggest LSU snubs on this list
JaMarcus Russell will never receive the recognition he deserves in the NFL because of his failure, but he was a terrific player at LSU with honors that deserve to be recognized. The biggest snub is Patrick Peterson, who won the Bednarik and Thorpe awards, was a first-team All-American, and was the SEC Special Teams Player of the Year in 2010. Glenn Dorsey has one of the greatest claims for making this list, and his extensive list of achievements speaks for itself.
Leave a Reply