Joe Burrow and the LSU offense has been much better and more explosive in 2019. Thus, Burrow has thrust himself into the middle of the Heisman Trophy race while also improving his draft stock.
For years, the LSU Tigers have built their team around a very good defense and strong run game. That led to the quarterbacks being more game manager-types who played complementary football with those two phases of the game. This season has brought a different feel and mentality to the quarterback position and team as a whole under Joe Burrow.
Before the season, Burrow was largely thought of as another LSU game manager; someone who had adequate arm skills and decision-making but needed good pieces around him to be successful. Boy, has that narrative changed after just four games.
This off-season, the Tigers hired Joe Brady away from the New Orleans Saints to be the team’s passing game coordinator. He incorporated a more spread-out system that allows the quarterback to sling the ball all over the field. Burrow has embraced the new offense and then some. Through the first four games, Joe Burrow has amassed 1,520 yards and 17 touchdowns with just two interceptions. To put that in perspective, Burrow threw for 2,894 yards and 16 touchdowns through all of last season.
While the improved stats are nice, Burrow has also improved his draft stock by showing improvement in areas that don’t show up in the box score.
The biggest area of improvement he has shown this season is with his pocket presence. He has shown a better feel of where pressure is coming from with good movement skills to move in the pocket enough to get a pass off.
Burrow has also shown off better mechanics in the pocket which has led to improved accuracy and ball placement. Lastly, he has shown more willingness to use his solid arm strength and push the ball down the field.
There is one play, in particular, that shows all of the areas of improvement from Joe Burrow- the play that sealed the win vs. Texas a few weeks ago:
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1170539999667769344
Burrow shows the presence to climb in the pocket while keeping his eyes down the field while throwing a strike 15 yards downfield with good ball placement to allow his receiver to catch and run for the touchdown.
Burrow has thrown for over 350 yards in each of his last three starts, including his 398 yards and 6 touchdowns performance this past weekend versus Vanderbilt. He will look to continue his hot start to the season when LSU next takes the field against Utah St. on October 5th.
If Burrow can play near the high level he has so far for the rest of the season, he will have a legitimate chance at winning the Heisman Trophy, as well as possible sneaking into the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.