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The history for starting rookie quarterbacks in the NFL isn’t great.
Which is another way of saying Joe Burrow faces a serious uphill climb with the Cincinnati Bengals. Besides the obvious hurdles facing the team, sheer history and the numbers behind it paint a dire picture.
According to NFL research, only 13 of 50 rookie quarterbacks to start eight or more games since 2000 have managed to finish with a winning record. Three have landed on .500 records and 34 posted losing records.
Luckily for Burrow, he’s got a friend of sorts in this area — Andy Dalton is one of the 13 to actually finish with a winning record. Dalton was one of four AFC North quarterbacks to actually land above .500, the others being Joe Flacco, Ben Roethlisberger and Kyle Boller.
Also like Dalton, Burrow faces an unorthodox offseason that — for now — has been strictly virtual. But working in Burrow’s favor is the fact he’s got a more talented surrounding cast to get things going.
Not that Burrow would blink in the face of this. He’s already been trying to get his wideouts together for workouts and has been learning the offense virtually since before the draft. If onlookers had to pick the rookie passer likeliest to land above .500 this year, it’d probably be Burrow and the Bengals.
50 rookie QBs started 8+ games since 2000
– Winning record: 13 (26%)
– Exactly .500: 3 (6%)
– Losing record: 34 (68%)4 of 13 QBs with a winning record were from the AFC North (most of any division): Andy Dalton, Joe Flacco, Ben Roethlisberger & Kyle Boller
Is Joe Burrow next?
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) May 18, 2020
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