The next leg of Arden Key‘s roller coaster football journey will not so unexpectedly take him to the professional ranks.
The LSU edge rusher took to Twitter Thursday to confirm that, yes, he has decided to leave eligibility on the table and declare for the April draft. In his social media missive, Key gave "[a] special thank you to [former LSU head coach Les] Miles for giving me the opportunity to become a Tiger.”
Injuries cost Key a total of five games this past season in what was a rough year for the edge rusher on and off the field.
In mid-February, LSU announced that Key had “decided to take some time away from football… for personal reasons.” Four months later, the football program announced the defensive end had rejoined the team; at the same time, it was announced that Key had recently undergone shoulder surgery.
It was the shoulder issue, reportedly involving his rotator cuff, that led to him being limited throughout summer camp and sidelined for the first two games of the 2017 season. A knee injury and surgery on his pinky cost him another three games, including the team’s bowl game.
A four-star 2015 signee, Key was a consensus Freshman All-American his first season with the Tigers after starting nine games. Last season as a true sophomore, he led the team with 14.5 tackles for loss and 12 sacks. The latter total set a school record.
This season he was limited to four sacks, although he leaves the Tigers third all-time with 21.