PALMER: LSU-Alabama is an ‘NFL game’

By Hunt Palmer

Coaches love clichés. Players are taught to use them.

Media members hate them. They’re trained to avoid them.

It’s just another game. We want to go 1-0 this week. The opponent is nameless and faceless.

Yeah, right.

I prefer the alternative. I love that Ohio State crosses out all the “Ms” on campus on Michigan week. I’m perfectly fine with Dan Mullen refusing to even say “Ole Miss” as the had coach of Mississippi State.

Those rivalries run deeper than LSU-Alabama. In fact, the average Crimson Tide fan would probably tell you that he or she hates Auburn and Tennessee far more than LSU.

What LSU-Alabama may lack in hatred or felonious tree poisonings, it makes up for in talent.

That 2011 Game of the Century produced 45 eventual NFL Draft picks, 13 in the first round.

The 2019 matchup bested that first round number. Nineteen players, 11 from Alabama and eight from LSU, were first round selections after that game. The next two Heisman winners, Joe Burrow and Devonta Smith, contributed five touchdowns and 670 yards in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“I watched (LSU and Alabama) my whole life, especially defense,” said senior LSU linebacker Greg Penn. “Those were the games that you watched. Growing up I always wanted to play in these types of games. It’s one of the reasons why I came here.”

The goal Saturday night is to win. The winner will cling to College Football Playoff aspirations. The loser will have those goals washed away with three games left.

Still, players can change their futures with performances in these games because of the amount of talent and professional interest in the action.

“Being in the SEC, that’s like second to the NFL,” said senior defensive end Sai’vion Jones. “Playing a team like Bama, a team that’s got a lot of NFL prospects, that’s as close as you’re going to get to the next level.”

While Jones has undoubtedly repped dozens of times against projected NFL talents Will Campbell and Emery Jones on the LSU offensive line, Saturday he’ll bash heads with Kadyn Proctor, a former Top 5 recruit and potential first round pick in the 2026 draft.

“I always view every opportunity going against an offensive lineman as film to put up and show,” Jones said. “When you go against a team that’s used to putting offensive tackles in the league in very high rounds, that’s where all the scouts are going to be looking. You know what to do. You gotta step up.”

It’s not just scouts watching. It’s kids around the country dreaming of the opportunity and high school recruits perhaps just a year or two away from that dream becoming a reality.

“That 2019 game really stands out,” Penn said. “I think I’ve watched that game so many times, like 30 times…the talent in that game was just fun to watch, especially defensively at my position. It was cool to see.”

As of May of this year, Alabama led the way with 77 active NFL players. LSU and Ohio State tied for second with 64. Throughout much of the Les Miles era, LSU had the crown of most players at the highest level.

LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier’s father, Doug, has worked in the NFL for the last six seasons. Garrett has aspirations of joining him at that level. He knows games like Saturday can bolster those chances.

“I remember my freshman year when I first got here, hearing from different people saying, ‘when you go to LSU, you play four or five NFL games every year,’” Nussmeier said. “I was like, what does that mean? When the scout is looking up whoever, they’re going to watch LSU-Alabama. They’re going to watch LSU-Texas A&M. They’re going to watch Florida. These are the games that are NFL games. We play against NFL talent. We play against NFL defenses every week.

“But, like I said earlier, it’s just another game to us.”

Well said, Garrett. Just ditch that cliché.