Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is a popular pick for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
The obvious reasons abound. Burrow’s a rare prospect. He’s going into a better situation than most No. 1 passers have ever had. And he’s already at the forefront of the discussion in part because Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert aren’t even guaranteed starting jobs.
But what else? Anthony Treash at Pro Football Focus took a deeper look at Burrow’s OROY candidacy while taking a deep dive on some of his surrounding pieces:
“From 2012 to 2018, Green never ranked lower than 11th in single-season PFF grade, and Boyd has been the ninth-highest-graded slot receiver in the NFL since 2018. The Bengals also made a fantastic move to kick off Round 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft by snagging Higgins, who has the size and ball skills that would have made him in the WR1 conversation in past draft classes. At 6-foot-4, Higgins has an enormous catch radius and would routinely overpower defensive backs in tight coverage — he was the only wide receiver in the class to put up an elite two-year grade on such instances.”
This comes on the heels of several other experts tabbing Burrow as their predicted OROY and predicting the Bengals will have the most impactful rookie class outright.
While a lot has to go right for Burrow to reel in some individual hardware after the 2020 season — including the emergence of a dependable offensive line — it’s not hard to see why some like the idea of him doing so.
And if Burrow’s taking home awards at the end of the 2020 season…it means great things for the Bengals this season and well beyond.
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