Three for K.C.

• By SCOTT HOTARD
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Apr 26, 2009 - Page: 1C

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They spoke Saturday afternoon by phone, exchanging verbal bear hugs.

Glenn Dorsey, the first pick of the Kansas City Chiefs last year, welcomed former LSU teammate Tyson Jackson as a future one.
“The only advice he gave me,” Jackson said, “was to get a coat.”

Maybe a winter in Kansas City will cool Jackson. Nothing lately has.

Of the 64 players selected Saturday in the NFL draft’s opening two rounds, perhaps no one shot up the charts the way Jackson — a 6-foot-4, 295-pound defensive end — sizzled in the days leading to Kansas City’s selection of him with the third overall pick.

Long projected as a target in the middle of the first round, Jackson became as popular as Kansas City barbeque in the eleventh hour of the draft process. Mel Kiper of ESPN and others had the Chiefs taking the former West St. John High School star at No. 3 by the time projections were finalized.

And they were right.

After the Detroit Lions selected Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford with the first pick and the St. Louis Rams chose Baylor tackle Jason Smith with the second, Kansas City picked up the defensive end prototype for its new 3-4 scheme.

“I’m one of the rare defensive ends in the draft who can play the 3-4 defense,” Jackson said. “That gave me an upper hand.”

Jackson played in a 4-3 alignment at LSU, but his long, tall frame and overall size make him a natural fit for the 3-4 scheme. Ends in that defense must occupy blockers on the edge and free pass-rushing linebackers to get in the backfield.

What else made Jackson attractive? The colors he wore in college, perhaps.

Kansas City has now chosen an LSU player with its first pick each of the last three years. The Chiefs grabbed wide receiver Dwayne Bowe at No. 23 in 2007 and Dorsey, a defensive tackle, at No. 5 last year.

Two members of LSU’s first BCS championship team — center Rudy Niswanger and cornerback Travis Daniels — also play for the Chiefs, part of a Baton Rouge-to-Kansas City pipeline that new General Manager Scott Pioli extended with Saturday’s pick.
“It’s a blessing for all of us,” Jackson said. “I can’t wait to be a new addition from LSU and look forward to winning some championships up there.”

Pioli knows a little something about winning championships. He knows about purple-and-gold talent, too.

Teamming with Bill Belichick to mold Super Bowl champions in New England, Pioli & Co. used draft picks on LSU players Rohan Davey, Jarvis Green and Marquise Hill earlier this decade.

“I know that Scott Pioli likes LSU players,” said Eugene Parker, Jackson’s agent. “He likes the discipline, the work ethic and the way they play the game.”

Then again, who doesn’t?

The University of Miami went without a first-round pick Saturday for the first time since 1994. That leaves LSU, which has had at least one player selected in the first round the last six years, as the college program with the longest stretch of first-round picks.

“We’ve won championships,” Jackson said, “and then we’ve moved on to the next level. Guys have been fortunate enough to get drafted in the first round.”

It was clear early that Jackson would continue the streak of LSU first-rounders. But as he finished his college career last fall, the three-year LSU starter hardly envisioned himself a Top 3 pick.

“I would have laughed in your face,” he said.

Even recently, it seemed a long shot.

That might explain why Jackson celebrated in New Orleans — at the Sheraton on Canal Street — as several prospects who would ultimately be picked behind him gathered in New York, shaking hands and donning caps after their names were called.

Unlike Dorsey, the most decorated defender in LSU history, Jackson never earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference recognition. He never registered an eye-popping sack total, finishing with 8.5 in 2006, 3.5 in 2007 and 4.5 last year.

But Parker knew Jackson would go early. He knew plenty of teams coveted a 3-4 defensive end.

He knew he had the guy.

“If the Chiefs hadn’t taken him at No. 3,” Parker said, “I think the Browns would have gotten him at No. 5. There was no one like him in this draft.”

No. 5, of course, is where Dorsey went last year. It is also where LaRon Landry, a safety, went two years ago.

In the history of LSU football, seven players have been top-three selections. Quarterback JaMarcus Russell, the No. 1 pick of the 2007 draft, and Jackson are the only ones to go that high since the Colts took Bert Jones at No. 2 in 1973.

Good thing Jackson returned to school for his senior year. He said he was graded as a second-round pick following his junior season.

“I was only a few hours from graduating,” Jackson said, “so I decided to come back. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to get my degree and come back and compete for a national championship one more year.”

LSU didn’t compete for a national title, of course. But for Jackson, the move has paid off.

Dorsey, the second defensive player taken in last year’s draft, signed a five-year, $52 million contract with more than $22 million in guaranteed money. Because he went two spots higher — as the first defensive player off the board — Jackson could command an even heftier deal.

Enough for a warm coat, to be sure.