Top LSU, Louisiana performers in NFL Week 13

LSU products and Louisiana natives helped highlight the Thanksgiving weekend action around the NFL.

Several familiar faces were once again among the top league’s top performers, plus a former Tigers linebacker in his rookie season had arguably the best performance of any defender.

Here’s a look at 14 of those standout efforts in Week 13.

Omar Speights (LSU)

The rookie linebacker out of LSU was the highest-rated defender in the league this weekend, according to Pro Football Focus, in the Los Angeles Rams’ 21-14 win against the New Orleans Saints. His run-defense, tackling and coverage grades from PFF all ranked highly. His 10 tackles were among the most in the league, without any missed tackles. On five targets his direction, he broke up one pass and allowed four catches for just 9 yards.

Joe Burrow (LSU) and Ja’Marr Chase (Archbishop Rummel, LSU)

The dynamic duo in Cincinnati returned to action from last week’s bye and put up yet another set of big numbers in what has been a statistically prolific, but frustrating season overall. The former Heisman quarterback completed 28 of his 38 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns, and his star receiver led the team with six passes, 86 yards and a score. Burrow leads all passers this season with 3,337 yards and 30 touchdowns, and Chase leads all receivers with 1,142 yards and 13 scores. But the Bengals lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 44-38, to fall to 4-8.

Justin Jefferson (Destrehan, LSU)

Burrow and Chase’s national-championship teammate had his biggest game in nearly a month with seven catches for 99 yards to help the Vikings past the Cardinals, 23-22, for a fifth straight win. Jefferson is second in the league to Chase on the season with 1,038 receiving yards.

Derek Stingley Jr. (Dunham, LSU)

The Baton Rouge native was among the most targeted defenders in the league this weekend and arguably held up as well as anyone with just two completions in nine throws (22.2%). Stingley made a well-played interception of a deep ball and return it 31 yards the other direction and broke up another couple looks his direction. He has now allowed just 123 yards on 9-for-32 (28.1%) passing his direction during the past six games.

Donte Jackson (Riverdale, LSU)

The former Riverdale and LSU football and track standout grabbed his fifth interception of the season in the Steelers’ 44-38 defeat of the Bengals. Jackson now has interceptions in back-to-back games for the second time this season and fourth time in his seven-year NFL career.

Damien Lewis (LSU)

The former LSU offensive lineman, a member of the award- and championship-winning 2019 group, had another strong Sunday for his Panthers. Lewis tied for the league’s third-highest Pro Football Focus grade among all offensive linemen with one of the most balanced performances of the group with the second-highest run-blocking and 11th-highest pass-blocking marks. He was one of just two linemen with Pro Football Focus grades of 85.0 or better in both areas.

Malik Nabers (Comeaux, Southside, LSU)

The rookie receiver had his biggest game in just over a month with eight catches for 69 yards in the Giants’ 27-20 loss to the Cowboys. The Thanksgiving day performance pushed his season total to 75 receptions, the most by an NFL player in the first 10 games of his career.

Cor’Dale Flott (LSU)

The member of the Tigers’ secondary on the 2019 national championship team had one of his highest-graded performances of the season for the Giants, according to Pro Football Focus, with his highest mark for tackling and third-highest mark for coverage thus far in 2024. Flott wrapped up five tackles — tied for his second-highest total of the season — with no misses and broke up two of the seven passes his direction. The Cowboys completed three of those targets (42.9%): one for 36 yards and the other two for a combined 12.

K’Lavon Chaisson (LSU)

The fifth-year edge rusher had maybe the most active and disruptive game of his career thus far with two sacks, another quarterback hit and three other hurries in the Raiders’ 19-17 loss to Kansas City. The sacks marked a career-high, and the hurries were the second-most in a game and most since his 2020 rookie season.

Justin Reid (Dutchtown)

Reid was among the highest-graded defenders in another Chiefs win, this time 19-17 against the Raiders, highlighted by his tackling and pass-rushing impact. The former Dutchtown star finished third on the team with six tackles, with no misses; added one quarterback hit, another hurry and a batted away a pass.

Kevin Dotson (Plaquemine, Ragin’ Cajuns)

A second straight week on the list for the former Plaquemine High offensive lineman as he continues arguably the best stretch of his five-year professional career. Dotson’s overall offensive grade and run-blocking grade both ranked among the top four linemen in the league this week, according to Pro Football Focus, as he helped the Rams to victory against his home-state Saints. The past three games have been his highest-graded three-game stretch in both categories during his career.

KaVontae Turpin (Neville)

The speedy Cowboys receiver continued his emergence as a more consistent presence in the team’s offense in a 27-20 win on Thanksgiving day. Turpin has been among the league’s top return specialists the past couple of seasons, but has now notched the two highest receiving totals of his career during the past three weeks — this time leading the team with four catches for 53 yards. He entered his third professional season with a previous career-high of 34 yards and has surpassed that total in five of the past 10 games, including four games with 50-plus yards.

Xavier Woods (West Monroe, Louisiana Tech)

The Panthers’ safety snatched an interception for the second time in three games and allowed just two completions for a combined 5 yards in his highest-graded coverage performance of the season.