NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JANUARY 13: Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers runs the ball against the Clemson Tigers during the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Mercedes Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
If Joe Burrow is drafted No. 1 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals, the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner will play for the downtrodden AFC North franchise.
Joe Burrow will play for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Much has been made about the presumptive No. 1 overall pick’s leverage entering the 2020 NFL Draft. Burrow put together the greatest single-season in college football history from the quarterback position. He threw for 5,671 yards, 60 touchdowns and only six interceptions in his Heisman Trophy-winning and National Championship season with the 2019 LSU Tigers.
Even though Burrow grew up a few hours away from Cincinnati in Athens, Ohio, the Bengals haven’t won a playoff game in his lifetime. Like John Elway and Eli Manning before him, Burrow could have theoretically forced the team picking No. 1 overall’s hand to trade him to a more desirable situation. However, this does not seem to be the case heading into draft season.
“I’ll play for whoever drafts me,” Burrow told everyone at the Draft. Combine. “I’m just not going to be presumptuous about what they want to do. It’s the draft. You guys have been covering it for a long time. You never know what’s going to happen.”
Burrow also said he will not throw or workout at the combine. This comes as no surprise because prospective No. 1 overall picks are at the combine to interview and interview alone. There’s nothing to be gained by Burrow doing anything other than showing up to the Combine and saying the right things.
After all, he’s been pegged as the Bengals’ next franchise quarterback as soon as his historic season at LSU wrapped up and Cincy clinched the top spot in the Draft. The Bengals have had successful quarterbacks over the years from Ken Anderson, to Boomer Esiason, to Carson Palmer, to Andy Dalton, but haven’t had a true franchise superstar for some time.
Burrow is expected to change that, and it sounds like he’s up to the challenge.