JaMarr Chase (pictured) was the first wideout selected in last month's draft, while Terrace Marshall was taken in the second round. It continues a nice run of respect for Louisiana State players at the position.
Since 2000, Louisiana State has now had 12 wide receivers selected in the first two rounds of the draft. Pretty impressive, and it's also impressive that most of those guys have had at least some degree of success.
Most recently, of course, Justin Jefferson caught 88 passes for a rookie record 1,400 yards and 7 touchdowns last year. That makes him the 6th of those 10 previous wideouts to have at least one 1,000-yard season at some point in their career. He's also the 9th of the 10 to have at least one season ranking among the top 50 fantasy wideouts (PPR scoring). All of those players didn't live up to expectations, but all but one of them had at least one fantasy-relevant season (most have had multiple such years).
Table shows all the top-50 fantasy seasons since being drafted in the first two rounds by those previous LSU wideouts.
| LSU WIDE RECEIVERS, DRAFTED RDS 1-2, TOP 50 FF (2000-) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draft | Rd | Pk | Year | Player | Tgt | No | Yds | TD | Rk |
| 2007 | 1 | 23 | 2010 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 133 | 72 | 1162 | 15 | 4 |
| 2014 | 2 | 63 | 2017 | Jarvis Landry, Mia. | 161 | 112 | 987 | 9 | 4 |
| 2014 | 1 | 12 | 2016 | Odell Beckham, NYG | 169 | 101 | 1367 | 10 | 4 |
| 2014 | 1 | 12 | 2015 | Odell Beckham, NYG | 158 | 96 | 1450 | 13 | 5 |
| 2020 | 1 | 22 | 2020 | Justin Jefferson, Min. | 125 | 88 | 1400 | 7 | 6 |
| 2014 | 1 | 12 | 2014 | Odell Beckham, NYG | 130 | 91 | 1305 | 12 | 8 |
| 2014 | 2 | 63 | 2015 | Jarvis Landry, Mia. | 166 | 110 | 1157 | 4 | 9 |
| 2014 | 2 | 63 | 2019 | Jarvis Landry, Cle. | 138 | 83 | 1174 | 6 | 12 |
| 2014 | 2 | 63 | 2016 | Jarvis Landry, Mia. | 131 | 94 | 1136 | 4 | 13 |
| 2007 | 1 | 23 | 2011 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 142 | 81 | 1159 | 5 | 14 |
| 2004 | 1 | 15 | 2004 | Michael Clayton, T.B. | 122 | 80 | 1193 | 7 | 14 |
| 2014 | 1 | 12 | 2018 | Odell Beckham, NYG | 124 | 77 | 1052 | 6 | 15 |
| 2007 | 1 | 23 | 2008 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 157 | 86 | 1022 | 7 | 16 |
| 2018 | 2 | 61 | 2019 | DJ Chark, Jac. | 118 | 73 | 1008 | 8 | 18 |
| 2014 | 2 | 63 | 2018 | Jarvis Landry, Cle. | 149 | 81 | 976 | 4 | 18 |
| 2007 | 1 | 23 | 2007 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 116 | 70 | 995 | 5 | 22 |
| 2014 | 1 | 12 | 2019 | Odell Beckham, Cle. | 133 | 74 | 1035 | 4 | 25 |
| 2014 | 2 | 63 | 2014 | Jarvis Landry, Mia. | 112 | 84 | 758 | 5 | 30 |
| 2012 | 2 | 63 | 2014 | Rueben Randle, NYG | 127 | 71 | 938 | 3 | 32 |
| 2014 | 2 | 63 | 2020 | Jarvis Landry, Cle. | 101 | 72 | 840 | 3 | 33 |
| 2012 | 2 | 63 | 2015 | Rueben Randle, NYG | 90 | 57 | 797 | 8 | 33 |
| 2004 | 2 | 50 | 2006 | Devery Henderson, N.O. | 54 | 32 | 745 | 5 | 41 |
| 2004 | 2 | 50 | 2009 | Devery Henderson, N.O. | 83 | 51 | 804 | 2 | 43 |
| 2007 | 1 | 23 | 2012 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 114 | 59 | 801 | 3 | 43 |
| 2007 | 1 | 23 | 2013 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 103 | 57 | 673 | 5 | 43 |
| 2002 | 2 | 36 | 2003 | Josh Reed, Buff. | 104 | 58 | 588 | 2 | 44 |
| 2004 | 2 | 50 | 2008 | Devery Henderson, N.O. | 56 | 32 | 793 | 3 | 46 |
| 2018 | 2 | 61 | 2020 | DJ Chark, Jac. | 93 | 53 | 706 | 5 | 49 |
(If we expanded the list to include LSU wideouts drafted in later rounds, there'd be a couple of other players with top-50 seasons: third-rounder Brandon LaFell, and sixth-rounder Russell Gage.)
The only player not to show up on this list is former Charger Craig Davis. Drafted with the 30th pick back in 2007, his career never got off the ground. He was out of the league four years later. But he's the exception. Everyone else, to varying degrees, worked out pretty well. I'm excited about what we might see out of Chase and Marshall, in 2021 and beyond.
--Andy Richardson