Top LSU, Louisiana performers in NFL Week 7

Week 7 of NFL action wasn’t the most kind to LSU alumni and Louisiana natives in the league, compared to

The biggest storyline was the Tigers’ former Heisman quarterback Jayden Daniels, amid a special rookie season in Washington, exiting early Sunday with an apparent rib injury. And many other familiar faces’ numbers and grades fell shy of their typical performances.

But the NFL is too loaded with Louisiana representation for the group to be completely quiet on any given week. And Week 7 did feature a few notable bright spots.

Brian Thomas Jr. (Walker, LSU)

One of Daniels’ standout receivers last season in Baton Rouge continued his own impressive rookie campaign with one of Sunday’s top pass-catching performances at five catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. The score put Jacksonville on the board after falling behind, 10-0, and began the Jaguars’ comeback in London to beat the New England Patriots, 32-16. Thomas was the highest-graded receiver in the league this week, according to Pro Football Focus, and is fifth in the league with 513 yards and four touchdowns on 30 catches with an explosive 17.1-yard average per catch among the best in league.

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

Both Burrow and Chase had the second-lowest yardage outputs of the season thus far, but still enough to claim a critical divisional road win at Cleveland, 21-14. Burrow finished 15-for-25 for 181 yards and two touchdowns — one of which went to Chase, who caught five passes for 55 yards and added an 11-yard run.

Justin Jefferson (Destrehan, LSU)

Burrow and Chase’s national-championship teammate had one of the weekend’s higher receiving totals with seven catches for 81 yards and a touchdown that helped start the Vikings’ second-half comeback against rival Detroit. Minnesota eventually claimed a late lead before falling on a Lions field goal in the final seconds. Jefferson has now surpassed 80 yards in five straight games and caught a touchdown in five of his six games this season.

Keon Coleman (Opelousas Catholic)

The former Opelousas Catholic multisport star led the league with 125 receiving yards this weekend — the third-highest single-game total by a rookie so far this season — and did so on just four catches for an explosive 31.3 yards per catch. The performance helped the Bills overcome a slow start and cruise past Tennessee.

Dontayvion Wicks (Plaquemine)

Wicks caught three passes for 48 yards, highlighted by a 30-yard touchdown in the second quarter, in Green Bay’s 24-22 win against Houston. The performance marked his highest yardage total and first score in the past three weeks.

Malik Nabers (Comeaux, Southside, LSU)

The highly touted and highly drafted rookie returned to action after missing the past month and led the New York Giants with 41 yards on four catches in a divisional loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Justin Reid (Dutchtown)

The Dutchtown product was the highest-graded Louisiana native on defense, according to PFF, with easily his best performance of the season thus far. Reid led the Kansas City Chiefs with nine tackles and an interception in their 28-18 defeat of the San Francisco 49ers.

Jha’Quan Jackson (Hahnville, Tulane)

The former Hahnville quarterback and receiver continued his solid rookie season for Tennessee with 55 kick return yards, plus an 8-yard punt return. The kick-return total was the league’s seventh-highest this weekend. On the season, his 296 kick-return yards and 148 punt-return yards are sixth and second in the league, respectively. The 444 total return yards are also the second-highest in the league so far this season.

Anthony Bradford (LSU)

Bradford earned one of the weekend’s highest pass-blocking grades in his 45 snaps at right guard in the Seahawks’ 34-14 rout of the Falcons. Seattle allowed just one sack in the win.

Damien Lewis (LSU)

Another former LSU lineman joined Bradford among the league’s top pass-blocking grades of the weekend, nearly matching his season-best performance in Week 6. The Panthers’ left guard’s solid marks across the board the past two weeks — 85.2 and 85.1 in pass-blocking, 74.1 and 72.7 in run-blocking and 80.4 and 69.8 overall — could make the case as one of the best two-game stretches of his career.

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