How much NFL talent was on display for LSU football vs. Alabama? 5 stats you need to know
BATON ROUGE — The LSU football vs. Alabama game is a massive game almost every year.
Last year, LSU beat the Crimson Tide for the first time at home since 2011, winning in overtime on a two-point conversion. And the stakes are just as high this season when No. 8 Alabama hosts the No. 14 Tigers on Saturday (6:45 p.m., CBS).
But no matchup in recent memory has captured the potential firepower between these two teams better than in 2019, when LSU defeated Alabama in Tuscaloosa, 46-41, on the way to its fourth national championship in program history.
The reverberations from that game continue to be felt at the next level. Sixty-four players went on to become NFL draft picks from the two teams, including 18 players who were selected in the first round.
Here are five statistics that encapsulate the NFL talent on display from LSU-Alabama in 2019.
LSU and Alabama's quarterbacks have gone on to make a combined 130 starts in the NFL
Former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow and former Alabama quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones have made a combined 130 starts in the NFL.
Burrow, who was drafted first overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2020 after winning the Heisman Trophy in his final year at LSU, led the league in completion percentage and guided the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 2021 before finishing fourth in the MVP balloting in 2022.
Tagovailoa and Jones haven't been as dynamic as Burrow in the NFL, but they were both first round picks. Tagovailoa was selected fifth overall in the same draft as Burrow and Jones went 15th overall the next year after replacing Tagovailoa as Alabama's starter.
LSU and Alabama's wide receivers from 2019 have combined for 18,537 receiving yards and 103 receiving touchdowns in the NFL
It's hard to find many other games in the history of college football that had as much wide receiver talent as LSU-Alabama in 2019.
Ten wide receivers from that game became NFL draft picks. Former LSU wideouts Justin Jefferson (Minnesota Vikings) and Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals) have become arguably the two best receivers in the league. Former Alabama wide receivers DeVonta Smith (Philadelphia Eagles), Jaylen Waddle (Dolphins), Henry Ruggs (N/A) and Jerry Jeudy (Denver Broncos) were all top-15 first round picks.
Former LSU wideouts Trey Palmer, Racey McMath and Terrace Marshall and Alabama wide receiver John Metchie III have also caught at least one pass in an NFL regular season game.
Nineteen defensive players from LSU and Alabama have been selected in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft
The offensive talent on display between LSU and Alabama in 2019 was a sight to behold. But don't forget about the amount of NFL defensive talent that was also on display in that game.
There were four future first round picks on defense from the two teams, the most notable names defensively eventually being former Alabama cornerbacks Patrick Surtain III and Trevon Diggs and former LSU linebacker Patrick Queen and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.
Surtain is arguably the best cornerback in the NFL with the Denver Broncos and Diggs, a star with the Dallas Cowboys, was a first team All-Pro player in 2021. Queen has become an invaluable piece of the Baltimore Ravens defense and Stingley was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans.
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Only two coaches remain from Alabama and LSU's coaching staffs from that season
Alabama's head coach is still Nick Saban and its wide receivers coach is still Holmon Wiggins. But other than that, there are no other coaches from either staffs who are still with their respective programs from the 2019 season.
LSU had a complete coaching staff overhaul following the 2021 season when coach Ed Orgeron was replaced by Brian Kelly. The only coach Kelly kept from Orgeron's staff was offensive line coach Brad Davis, but Davis wasn't hired until about a year and a half after the Tigers won the national championship.
Alabama lost offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian after the 2020 season when he was hired to become Texas' head coach. Defensive coordinator Pete Golding also departed after the 2022 campaign to become the defensive coordinator at Ole Miss.
Seven players from the two teams have played in the Super Bowl, two have already won it
After experiencing plenty of team success in college, multiple players from both teams are already finding similar success in the NFL.
Former LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and former Alabama linebacker Terrell Lewis have already won the Super Bowl. Burrow, Chase, Smith, former LSU defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin and former Alabama offensive lineman Landon Dickerson have already played on teams that made the big game.
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Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football vs. Alabama: Analyzing NFL talent from historic 2019 game
