Joe Burrow is coming to the rescue for Bengals
By John Buhler
Joe Burrow is almost certainly going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Here comes your football savior, Cincinnati Bengals. Get ready.
In a game we all circled on the calendar for all wrong reasons, the floundering Miami Dolphins (3-11) will host the worst team in football in the Cincinnati Bengals (1-13) on Sunday afternoon. This was a game deemed to be of utmost football futility and largely the deciding factor for which of these awful AFC teams will be picking No. 1 in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Should the Dolphins get a home victory, the Bengals will have clinched the No. 1 overall pick this spring. While they could go with Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Chase Young with that top selection, let’s not kid ourselves here. The Bengals are going quarterback at No. 1 and they will take Southeastern Ohio native and the LSU Tigers’ Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow.
In his redshirt senior season at LSU, the former Buckeyes backup quarterback set the NFL on fire with his brilliance in the Bayou Bengals’ passing game. Historically, LSU is not known for moving the sticks with a cutting-edge passing attack, but with former New Orleans Saints assistant Joe Brady taking over the passing game in Baton Rouge, Burrow has become a superstar.
Burrow is the star quarterback Cincinnati desperately needs. Andy Dalton was a good quarterback for them for a while, but he wasn’t as talented as Carson Palmer, or as accomplished as either Ken Anderson or Boomer Esiason. Fate would have it that Esiason, the 1988 NFL MVP, handed Burrow a Bengals helmet on the CBS set during Burrow’s trip up to New York for the Heisman Trophy.
Having grown up in Cincinnati’s backyard in Athens, Ohio, as his father Jimmy Burrow was Frank Solich’s longtime defensive coordinator on the Ohio Bobcats, Burrow has a deep understanding of the region and will cherish the opportunity to become the next great Bengals franchise quarterback. It won’t be too big for him, he’ll actually thrive in it and feed off the opportunity.
No, Burrow is not just a one-year wonder in LSU. He has a lot of outstanding traits that will make him the No. 1 overall pick. Burrow has an outstanding pocket presence and makes all of his throws with great timing and anticipation. He is a confident and galvanizing leader on the gridiron, so much so that he’s now an adopted son of Louisiana, known as Joe Burreaux down on the bayou.
He plays the quarterback position with great physical and mental toughness. Burrow will also fight for every first down with his legs if he needs to as a solid mobile quarterback prospect. Most importantly, the stage is never too big for the guy. He will conduct himself in a manner that will have the Bengals playing better right away. Zac Taylor must be thrilled about coaching him.
Obviously, there are criticisms that come along with Burrow as an NFL prospect. He’s not the most natural thrower of the football. Burrow may be a product of the newfound LSU passing system and benefits from playing alongside elite college football talent. He also may not have the howitzer of a right arm to hang tough in the AFC North football climate. So there are some doubts.
That being said, what you’re looking at in a guy like Burrow is a player in the vein of a Deshaun Watson, a Tony Romo or a Derek Carr, a guy who plays the quarterback position like a point guard in basketball, always looking to distribute the rock, but isn’t afraid to take it to the hole himself to give his team some points. You can do a lot of winning with a quarterback of that caliber.
While Burrow has enough physical traits and the right mental makeup to be the face of a franchise, the biggest reason he should go No. 1 overall is his student mentality when it comes to playing the quarterback position. Nobody spent more time in the classroom to make himself a better player in 2019 than did Burrow and it clearly showed on the field. He’ll do this in the pros.
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In short, Burrow is confident enough in himself to lead his team to victory but humble enough to understand the magnitude of the moments ahead of him. This guy is battle-tested and has fought through a ton of adversity to even get to this point. Burrow will always play quarterback with a chip on his shoulder. He will make the Bengals an exciting watch next season, that’s for sure.