A record-breaking season for LSU football could reach from Baton Rouge to Indianapolis to as far as Las Vegas.
Who's to know just how many Tigers will venture down to the iconic Las Vegas Strip in April for the NFL draft?
For the moment, it's only a guessing game whether or not the number of LSU's selected players will exceed record numbers, vaulting past draft classes like Ohio State, which had a record 14 total players picked in 2004, or Miami, which had six players selected in the first round of that same draft.
What LSU did statistically in 2019 was unprecedented in program history. The Tigers' 48.4 points per game were among the fallen school records, and the team seemed to make as near a clean sweep on individual records as possible — from Joe Burrow's Heisman Trophy win to the offensive line winning the Joe Moore Award for nation's top blocking unit.
Fourteen of LSU's starters from its championship season will be draft eligible. Sixteen Tigers will participate in this week's NFL combine in Indianapolis, more than any other college.
Is it reasonable to believe LSU will make history again in the draft?
"It is an incredible class of prospects from the first round all the way to the late rounds," ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. "They're going to be well represented."
Of course Burrow leads the way.
The projected first-round pick changed the fate of LSU's football program, and the quarterback who was a late-round grade at the end of the 2018 season "illuminates the whole thing for the LSU draft," Kiper said.
But behind Burrow, LSU's championship run was paved by a substantial number of future professionals — the kind of talent-riddled teams that were produced in those record days at Ohio State and Miami.
Ric Serritella, creator of NFL Draft Bible and analyst for NFL Draft Scout, ranked 13 LSU players within his top 157 draft-eligble players in this class.
Since there will be 255 selections in April's draft, it's quite possible LSU could make history.
"I think this is not just a historic draft class," Serritella said. "This is one of the most historic college football teams of all time. ... They don't just have draftable players at every position. They're two-deep — sometimes three-deep — with draftable players."
Take aim at the first record: LSU would need seven first-rounders selected to surpass Miami.
It's more likely that LSU will tie that record.
Burrow, outside linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson, inside linebacker Patrick Queen, wide receiver Justin Jefferson and safety Grant Delpit are frequent names in most mock drafts.
A few others are right on the fringe.
Serritella said some NFL scouts have told him that Clyde Edwards-Helaire could be the first running back off the board. Another told him the 5-foot-8, 209-pound junior is a first-round lock.
Edwards-Helaire emerged as a versatile force during his final season in Baton Rouge, when he became a Paul Hornung Award finalist while leading Southeastern Conference running backs with 1,304 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Last week, Pro Football Focus rated Edwards-Helaire its highest grade in the running back draft class.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire: Highest rushing grade in the RB Draft class.pic.twitter.com/uNBB2emdmz
— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) February 19, 2020
Cornerback Kristian Fulton is also a "borderline first" round pick, Kiper said. Serritella doesn't know if the two-year LSU starter is yet an All-Pro caliber prospect, and most franchises likely view him more as a No. 2 corner than someone who can lock down an opponent's top receiver play-for-play.
But even if Edwards-Helaire and Fulton slip into the first round, Kiper said it's not a guarantee that Jefferson would be taken there since there is such a deep wide receiver pool in this class.
The 6-foot-3, 192-pound St. Rose native's stock will depend much on his 40-yard dash time at the combine, Kiper said, who said he thinks 25 receivers could go by the end of the fourth round.
"This is going to be maybe historic," Kiper said of the position group's class this year. "I could see eight receivers go in the second round. Maybe five in the first, eight in the second."
Kiper has placed Oklahoma's CeeDee Lamb, Clemson's Tee Higgins and Alabama's Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III all ahead of Jefferson in the draft — receivers that Jefferson faced off against in the 2019 season.
Even just five first-round selections from LSU in one draft would be substantial for the program, which has only had five total first-round selections since the New York Giants selected Odell Beckham Jr. No. 12 overall in 2014.
Depth rose from hidden places, such as Queen, who emerged as a key defensive playmaker after backing up former Butkus Award-winning linebacker Devin White in 2018.
"Patrick Queen wasn't even considered a guaranteed star," Kiper said. "He was an all-around guy and he emerged as their most-improved defensive player. Dave Aranda had said that: 'He was our most improved player.'"
The inside linebacker opposite Queen, Jacob Phillips, could go as early as the second round, Serritella said, and it's possible, with an impressive combine, that the Nashville native could possibly even sneak into the first round.
"He's got great film," said Serritella, who had the New York Giants selecting Phillips No. 36 overall in his mock draft. "He's a rising and improving player and I think he'll test well."
In this week's combine, which begins with tight end, quarterback and wide receiver workouts on Thursday at 3 p.m., it's possible that Delpit has the most to gain out of any LSU player.
"It's like the forgotten man," Serritella said. "'Hey remember me?' He's a heck of an athlete, now. He's got versatility. He can play a bunch of different positions, and I think he's going to remind everyone in Indianapolis, 'Hey, I'm one of the top players here in this draft class.'"
Delpit? The 2019 Thorpe Award winner? Forgotten?
Kiper said there's a "mixed opinion" in the league on Delpit because of his limited play with an ankle injury, which nagged him enough during the Ole Miss game for LSU coach Ed Orgeron to rest him against Arkansas.
Delpit returned against Texas A&M, then recorded 2½ tackles for loss and two sacks in LSU's three postseason games.
If the 6-foot-3, 203-pound New Orleans native can impress NFL scouts with a fast 40-yard dash time or vertical jump, Serritella said he could vault even further up in the first round.
Stocked with mid-to-late round talent like center Lloyd Cushenberry, offensive tackle Saahdiq Charles and tight end Thaddeus Moss, it's quite possible that LSU makes a run at Ohio State's 14-player record in 2004.
"This is one of the most talented teams in terms of college football history and NFL draft history," Serritella said. "If we look back five years from now, I'm thinking we might have close to a dozen guys playing in the NFL."
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