Aaron Anderson
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LSU wide receiver Aaron Anderson.
If you need any evidence as to how great it can be when a wide receiver and quarterback from college can be when they reconnect in the NFL, look no further than Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and quarterback Joe Burrow.
At LSU, Chase and Burrow had the greatest single season of any QB-WR combo in college football history in 2019 as the Tigers went 15-0 on the way to winning the College Football Playoff National Championship.
That year, Burrow threw for 5,671 yards, 60 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, won the Heisman Trophy and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
Chase, paired with another future NFL All-Pro wide receiver in Justin Jefferson, was Burrow’s primary target with 84 receptions for 1,780 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns in 14 games. He followed Burrow to the Bengals one year later as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
Now 2 of the highest paid players in NFL history, Chase is coming off a season in which he won the NFL’s receiving triple crown and the 2 have already led the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance and another AFC Championship Game in their first 4 seasons together as pros.
CBS Sports NFL reporter Ryan Wilson predicts another LSU re-teaming is on the way in 2026, targeting LSU wide receiver Aaron Anderson as the first round pick (No. 26 overall) by the Washington Commanders in the 2026 NFL draft.
Anderson and Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels played together at LSU in 2023 — the year Daniels won the Heisman Trophy — and they could be an electric combo in the NFL.
“Undersized and twitchy with short-area quickness to win in small areas,” Wilson wrote on June 3. “Anderson will consistently create separation from the slot vs. off coverage, and he has an extra gear in the open field. Legit track speed on go routes, and he can run the entire route tree, though he will have the occasional focus drop.”
What Anderson Needs To Be Drafted in First Round
Anderson is only 5-foot-8 and 188 pounds, so he’ll need to have a pretty outstanding season in 2025 to go in the first round — with a little extra afterward.
Anderson had pretty pedestrian numbers in 2024 with 61 receptions for 875 yards and 5 touchdowns. Playing with projected No. 1 overall pick Garrett Nussmeier for another season in 2025, he needs to bump those numbers up to around 80 receptions for 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns to have a real chance of being drafted in the first round.
Following the season, he’ll need to prove he has the elite speed everyone thinks he does — something that shows itself like a 40-yard dash around 4.4 seconds or lower. NFL Draft Scout projects Anderson will run the 40 in 4.38 seconds.
Anderson played one season for Alabama in 2022 before transferring to LSU. In his one season with Daniels in 2023, he had 12 receptions for 59 yards.
From Volume Pigs: “(Nussmeier) isn’t Joe Burrow and Anderson almost certainly isn’t Justin Jefferson or Ja’Marr Chase, but I feel that in 2025, LSU’s passing offense will be very strong, and that Anderson has a very good chance to be the lead target. By extension, that could mean that Anderson, who already checks in with significant production from 2024, would be in for a huge season.”