Joe Burrow makes sure 2020 NFL Draft officially starts at pick two

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JANUARY 13: Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers reacts to a touchdown against Clemson Tigers during the third quarter in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Mercedes Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has all but solidified himself as the top pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Bengals. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

Joe Burrow QB

LSU Tigers /

Scouting Report

The Bengals should send the card in now, as Joe Burrow has all but solidified the status as the top pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Moxy, poise, confidence. Louisiana State quarterback Joe Burrow has put these three traits on display all season long, and capped off his Heisman Trophy winning season with a National Championship. With Burrow’s gutsy performance yesterday and LSU’s 42-25 victory over the Clemson Tigers, the former Ohio State transfer has taken a sharpie to the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and should already be looking for houses in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Burrow, who broke a rib on the last play of the first half of yesterday’s National Championship game, put the team on his back in the second half. He finished the game with 463 yards through the air and five touchdowns, completing over 63 percent of his passes in the meantime; the athletic Burrow added another 58 yards and an additional touchdown on the ground as well.

Putting together arguably the best season from a quarterback in college football history, Burrow became the first player in the history of the NCAA to throw for 60 touchdowns in a single season. After yesterday’s blazing performance, Burrow finished his fifth-year senior season with nearly 5,700 yards passing, 60 touchdowns, and just six interceptions; he completed an eye popping 76 percent of his passes and finished with a quarterback rating of 202.

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An Ohio native, Burrow is almost a surefire lock to head back to the Buckeye state and hope to lead Zac Taylor and the Bengals out of their evident rebuild. Throwing the ball with great anticipation and accuracy, pairing that with his moxy, Burrow has all the makings of a franchise quarterback and both the Bengals and Washington should rejoice as they have the pick of the litter after taking Dwayne Haskins in the first round a year before and in no need of a quarterback in 2020.

Ron Rivera, a defensive mastermind, must be absolutely drooling over the potential of landing the best player in the draft, Chase Young (scouting report here), to add to a defensive front that already contains three other first round picks in Montez Sweat, Da’Ron Payne, and Jonathan Allen. If the San Francisco 49ers have shown us anything in 2019, it is that bolstering your defensive front and the ability to get after the quarterback is a fantastic model to follow.

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Washington has a thank you card already on the way to Baton Rouge to Joe Burrow for giving them the ability to already be on the clock in the 2020 NFL Draft. Thanks to Burrow, his Heisman Trophy winning season, and his gutsy performance in the National Championship game yesterday, the first overall pick is already in Sharpie as the Cincinnati Bengals have their guy.

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