Top LSU, Louisiana performers in NFL Week 17

Former LSU quarterbacks and receivers were among the major — league-leading and record-breaking — storylines in the NFL’s Week 17 action.

The prolific trios from the Tigers’ 2019 and 2023 teams led the way, including league-best passing and receiving totals for the week and historic new single-season marks running and catching the football.

Here’s a look at 18 of the top showings by LSU alumni and Louisiana natives, bookended by Christmas Day and Monday Night Football performances by local products who attended college elsewhere and filled with the Tigers’ huge numbers in between.

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

The 2019 national championship teammates helped lead the Bengals to their fourth straight victory, a 30-24 overtime win against Denver, to keep battling back from a tough start to the season and keep their narrow playoff hopes alive heading into Week 18. Burrow had arguably his best game of the season with a league-high 412 yards on 39-for-49 passing — a season-high 79.6% completion rate — and three touchdowns, while also rushing four times for 25 yards and another score. The former Heisman quarterback leads the NFL in completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns.

Chase caught nine passes for 102 yards, his fifth 100-yard game of the season, to maintain his league lead in all three major statistical categories. The former Archbishop Rummel star has helped lead a slew of former Tigers to a new NFL record for most receiving yards in a season by alumni of one college program.

Jayden Daniels (LSU)

The 2023 Heisman winner continued to add to his remarkable rookie season and his Commanders’ big turnaround with a Sunday evening highlighted by both statistical history and clutch play. Daniels rushed 16 times for a career-high 127 yards — the third-most in the league this week among all players — and surpassed former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III for the NFL’s rookie quarterback rushing record, now at 864 yards on the season. He also completed 24 of his 36 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime to take down the Falcons, 30-24. Washington clinched a playoff spot with the win after winning just four games last season before drafting Daniels.

Malik Nabers (Comeaux/Southside, LSU)

Daniels’ top target at LSU had the best game of his own young career with seven catches for a league-leading 171 yards and two touchdowns. Nabers’ third 100-yard game, second two-touchdown game and explosive 24.4-yard average per catch helped lead the Giants past Indianapolis for their third win of the season.

Brian Thomas Jr. (Walker, LSU)

Daniels and Nabers’ fellow rookie continued his own huge debut season with seven catches for 91 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown that helped the Jaguars close out a 20-13 win against AFC South rival Tennessee. Thomas also had Jacksonville’s longest run of the game for 18 yards.

Justin Jefferson (Destrehan, LSU)

The Vikings’ star caught eight passes for 92 yards to help highlight their 27-25 defeat of NFC North rival Green Bay. Jefferson is second in the league this season with 1,479 yards, marking his fourth 1,400-yard season in his five years as a pro and closing in on his third 1,500-yard season in the past four.

K’Lavon Chaisson (LSU)

The former LSU standout continued the most impactful stretch of his five-year career with another sack and two more quarterback hurries. Chaisson now has five sacks in his past five games and six sacks on the season after a combined five sacks in his previous four years. His overall grade and pass-rush grade from Pro Football Focus in the Raiders’ 25-10 road win in New Orleans were the highest of his career.

Arden Key (LSU)

Key matched the second-highest tackle total of his career with five stops in the Titans’ loss to the Jaguars, plus a pair of quarterback hurries. LSU’s single-season sack leader earned the highest run-defense and tackling grades from Pro Football Focus of his seven-year career. His 42 tackles, 42 solo stops, 6.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and one recovery on the season have all matched or surpassed his previous bests.

Omar Speights (LSU)

The rookie linebacker tied for the team lead in both total and solo tackles with 10 and five, respectively, in the Rams’ 13-9 defeat of the Cardinals in a defensive NFC West battle. Pro Football Focus graded his performance as the second-best of Speights’ solid first season in the league.

Maason Smith (Terrebonne, LSU)

The Jacksonville rookie recorded a sack for the second straight week, bringing his season total to three. Smith has continued to earn more playing time in the back half of the season, marking new highs in snap counts the past two weeks.

DeVonta Smith (Amite)

The former Heisman winner had the best game of his season in his Eagles’ 41-7 rout of NFC East rival Dallas. Smith caught six passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns — his highest yardage total of 2024 and first multi-touchdown game in more than two years.

Justin Reid (Dutchtown)

Reid helped start Louisiana’s big Week 17 with another solid performance in the Chiefs’ 29-10 road win at Pittsburgh on Christmas Day. The former Dutchtown and Stanford star had five tackles, his second interception of the season — a leaping end-zone pick — and kept the other four targets his direction in front of him for a combined 10 yards.

Amik Robertson (Thibodaux, Louisiana Tech)

The Lions’ cornerback helped cap Louisiana’s big Week 17 with Detroit’s top-graded defensive performance — his best of the season, per Pro Football Focus — in a 40-34 Monday Night Football road win at San Francisco. The former Thibodaux star allowed two catches for a combined 22 yards and broke up a third-down pass early in the fourth quarter that helped the Lions preserve a three-point lead and then extend it to six the next possession. Robertson recorded two tackles and forced a fumble.

Tyjae Spears (Ponchatoula, Tulane)

The former Ponchatoula and Tulane star rushed 20 times for 95 yards — both career-highs for the second-year running back — to help highlight the Titans’ efforts in Jacksonville before he was knocked out with an apparent head injury. He also caught three passes for another 8 yards.

Edgerrin Cooper (Covington)

Cooper was among the league leaders with eight solo stops and 11 tackles total, including four for loss — season-highs in all three categories. The former Covington star earned his highest run-defense grade of the season from Pro Football Focus, continuing his impressive rookie campaign as one of Green Bay’s top defenders.

KaVontae Turpin (Neville)

The Cowboys’ speedster racked up 99 yards on two kick returns for the league’s third-highest total and second-highest average of the week. On the season, Turpin now has 925 kick-return yards and 1,111 combined kick- and punt-return yards — leading the league in those categories by more than 130 yards and more than 170 yards, respectively, with one week left to play. The former Neville star is the only player in the NFL this season to have returned both a kick and a punt for touchdowns.

Travis Etienne Jr. (Jennings)

The former Jennings star finished second to Thomas in yards from scrimmage in the Jaguars’ win with his 15 carries for 49 yards, plus a 26-yard reception. Etienne has now had two of his three most productive games of the season in the past three weeks.

Cam Robinson (Ouachita Parish/West Monroe)

The Monroe native had his highest-graded game, according to Pro Football Focus, since joining Minnesota midway through this season. The Vikings’ starting left tackle earned the league’s ninth-best run-blocking grade of the week among offensive linemen who played more than five snaps.