Joe Burrow goes first overall in NFL draft
There may not have been a single person in the entire National Football League who didn’t believe that the Cincinnati Bengals would select 23-year-old Joe Burrow from LSU with the first overall draft pick in Thursday night’s draft. The Heisman Trophy winning quarterback was the obvious choice for the Bengals and immediately helps the club address a concern at the NFL level.
Despite being the overwhelming favourite to be taken with the first pick, Burrow was genuinely emotional on Thursday night as the selection was made official.
“To jump up to No. 1 overall is crazy to me,” Burrow said after being selected. “But it’s a dream come true. I wasn’t very good my junior year. I worked really hard to get better, my guys worked really hard to get better, and we jelled as a team.”
Burrow spent the last two years in the NCAA with LSU and led the Tigers to the 2019 National Championship – just the fourth in school history. Burrow threw for 463 yards and had six touchdowns in the National Championship Game against Clemson as he was named the game’s offensive MVP. He ended up finishing his final season in college with 60 passing touchdowns, breaking the FBS record previously held by Colt Brennan in the process.
Burrow has proven himself to be a winner who can get the job done on the biggest stage and it is that type of mentality and performer that the struggling Bengals are so desperate to add to their locker room.
Cincinnati finished with an abysmal 2-14 record last year and the club haven’t made an appearance in the postseason since 2015. While Burrow will certainly help the organization both on and off the field, they still have a plethora of other holes that need to be filled before they can be considered competitive in the difficult AFC North. The 2020 season will almost certainly be another one of rebuilding for a young Cincinnati squad that still has a lot of growing and maturing to do.
Burrow was the top quarterback of his class by miles and will be ready to step onto the field as a starter right away in the NFL which is a luxury for the Bengals. Cincinnati had Andy Dalton start 13 games for them last year, with Ryan Finley pitching in and getting three starts as well. Neither one looked very impressive when given the opportunity to play.
Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor made it clear immediately following the selection that he didn’t want a repeat of last season and believed Burrow was the man to help turn around the franchise.
“We will never pick at No. 1 again,” Taylor said. “We don’t want to pick in the top 10 again. We’re looking at this as the only time you’re going to get this calibre player to add him to the program, so obviously this is a big deal.”
Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 NFL Draft was conducted in a virtual format to ensure social distancing. Team personnel had been advised to remain in separate locations using phone and the internet to communicate.
