3. The NFL won’t allow Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields to play in its league for another year
If you had said last year at this exact time that Joe Burrow was going to become so good that he’d be considered the must-have, franchise-changing, No. 1 overall pick, you’d probably think the 2020 NFL Draft class of quarterbacks would be among the all-time best.
It still might be, but there are a whole lot of questions and concerns about Tua Tagovailoa’s health, Justin Herbert’s fire, Jacob Eason’s ability to step up his game, Jordan Love’s potential, and Jake Fromm’s arm.
All that’s just a long-winded way of saying Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields would be taken in the top five – with Lawrence likely pushing Burrow out of the No. 1 overall spot – if the NFL didn’t have that silly three-years-out-of-high-school eligibility rule.
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But for college football fans, the two top-rated recruits in the 2018 class are back, and they’re about to lead the way for what should be the preseason top two teams.
Yeah, we’ve been burned before overhyping superstar prospects, but go ahead and do it with these two – they’re just that good.
Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen were supposed to set the NFL on fire – and they still might – but it’s been a wee bit of a rocky road so far.
Jameis Winston might be trying to find a gig, and Marcus Mariota might be hoping to merely get a shot with someone like Chicago.
Baker Mayfield’s best work has been done in insurance ads, Cam Newton is probably done at Carolina, and Johnny Manziel is now just a phenomenal two-part 30 for 30 coming up some time in the next three-to-five years.
But Lawrence and Fields are different.
They had all the hype coming into college, they both played up to it and then some, and they’re both back for our amusement for one more season – and no, they’re not staying in college for all four years.
The best part about all of this? We know they’re going to be great, but we also know there’s another Joe Burrow out there waiting to be unleashed, which is why …