What seems like one of the most obvious No. 1 overall pick situations in recent memory continues to receive a boost from noted experts.
It’s hard to imagine a reality in which the Cincinnati Bengals don’t use the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL draft on Joe Burrow for a multitude of reasons. The historic season, Cincinnati’s need, the hometown story, etc.
Now NFL Network’s Gil Brandt has entered the fray, jotting the Bengals down as the best overall fit for Burrow:
“This is the obvious best fit for Burrow, given that the Bengals need a quarterback and, with the first overall pick, would not have to give up any resources to draft him. The system that the Bengals run is very much like the Rams’ system and the system that the Packers ran this year, and I think Burrow would fit very well on Zac Taylor’s offense. Again, though, while conventional wisdom currently slots Burrow as the obvious Bengals pick, there’s a chance they decide to do something else, even with their coaches speaking admiringly of Burrow in public.”
A bevy of teams make the list after the Bengals, including the Panthers, Dolphins, Buccaneers and even Steelers.
But as a whole, the Bengals easily make the most sense. He’s from Ohio and just had one of the best seasons ever. Perhaps more importantly than anything else, a conservative franchise like the Bengals needs to not only get back to winning via having something like this fall in their laps, it needs the fan/attendance boost from such as move.
Some of the other teams listed would make sense as potential trade partners for the No. 1 pick. And while the Bengals have made a point to keep that door open for now, the likeliest outcome remains Burrow coming off the board first.
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