Will Joe Burrow do better than an average Andy Dalton season as a rookie?
By John Buhler
Can Joe Burrow be better as a rookie than Andy Dalton has been on average?
In his nine years as the Cincinnati Bengals starting quarterback, Andy Dalton averaged 3,700 passing yards and 24 passing touchdowns per season. While he led the Bengals to the playoffs in each of his first five NFL seasons, Cincinnati has been below-.500 every year since 2015. Will Dalton’s success Joe Burrow be capable of achieving average Dalton numbers as a rookie?
The Fantasy Footballers really dig into all that Burrow is capable in his rookie year out of LSU. While the guys are all in on Burrow surpassing the 3,700-passing yard threshold, there is some understandable holdout regarding the 24 passing touchdowns. Though rookie quarterbacks are playing more often than ever, there is a reason they never approach 30 touchdowns in year one.
Check out The Fantasy Footballers for all their advice.
Overall, there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about Burrow having a strong statistical year as a rookie. He was a redshirt senior last year and all he did was study football at the LSU team facility. This led to him having statistically the greatest single-season out of a college quarterback ever with 5,700 passing yards, 60 passing touchdowns and a national title to boot.
Can Joe Burrow be better than Andy Dalton usually was in his rookie season?
Given that this will be head coach Zac Taylor‘s, a former starting quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, second year as head coach, we should expect the Bengals offense to be more in line with his coaching philosophy that it was even a year ago. Burrow also inherits a strong receiving corps with Tyler Boyd, A.J. Green and fellow draft classmate Tee Higgins. That’s not too bad.
We’re more likely to see Burrow eclipse the 4,000-yard threshold through the air than him getting to 25 touchdown strikes. Cincinnati won’t go 2-14 again in 2020 but expect the Bengals to be trailing in a lot of games, as they’ll finish somewhere around 5-11. Empty calorie yards in garbage time will be key in Burrow’s development as a quarterback, but they won’t translate to touchdowns.
Next. Fantasy football: Who should you take with your last pick?. dark
Ultimately, how you feel about Burrow’s chances to surpass both passing thresholds is contingent on how you feel about Green in 2020. If you think the Bengals are getting the perennial Pro Bowl talent Green of old, then Burrow could have the best rookie season out of a starting quarterback in league history. Should you think he’s also-ran, then Burrow and the Bengals will come up short.