Just months before being drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft, cornerback Kristian Fulton was a member of the 2019 national champion LSU Tigers.
And, for the first time in his NFL career, Fulton will square off with a pair of his teammates from that LSU squad, quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
Tennessee and Cincinnati actually played once during Fulton’s rookie season, but the 23-year-old suffered an injury the game prior and was placed on Injured Reserve, which forced him to miss the game against Burrow. Of course, Chase was still at LSU at the time.
On Tuesday, Fulton talked about his relationship with Chase, which dates back to when they were in high school together.
“I don’t think we both imagined it like this, to be honest,” Fulton said of he and Chase facing each other in the NFL playoffs. “We basically grew up together, so we keep in touch throughout the season. During the offseason we’ll probably get some workouts in together. We’ve got a pretty tight relationship.”
Fulton added that he and Chase are “shutting it down this week” in terms of contact ahead of the game.
Seeing as how he went up against Chase and Burrow in practice during their time at LSU, nobody on the Titans knows the pair better than Fulton.
The cornerback went into detail about what his approach will be with Chase if matched up against him, and he heaped praise on the standout rookie, who finished with over 1,400 receiving yards this season.
“He’s having a hot year, so I’m just going to do my best to make sure he doesn’t have a big game. Just going to stick to the game plan, whatever we got going, and just try to slow them down for sure,” Fulton said. “Just knowing he’s a playmaker; he can take the top off the defense, he can take a play for 80 yards. Just knowing what they want to do with him, how they want to get him the ball. He’s a really great player since high school so I just know what he’s capable of doing.”
Fulton has been having a great year in his own right. After an injury-plagued 2020, Fulton has cemented himself as Tennessee’s top cornerback and has made major strides toward becoming a top-notch player at his position.
When asked if Fulton’s knowledge of his former teammates will help the Titans, head coach Mike Vrabel responded, “I hope so.”
On Tuesday, Burrow praised Fulton, saying “I know what he’s capable of. It’s going to be a tough challenge.”
The 2019 LSU connections between these two teams don’t stop at just Burrow, Chase and Fulton, though.
The Titans and Bengals have a total of seven players from that championship LSU squad, including Titans fullback Tory Carter and wide receiver Racey McMath, and Bengals defensive lineman Tyler Shelvin and tight end Thaddeus Moss (practice squad, IR).
Tennessee and Cincinnati are set to meet on Saturday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. CST.
