Nobody should’ve needed more proof the Cincinnati Bengals should bring Ohio kid Joe Burrow home with the top pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
Burrow is apparently the type of guy to keep providing more until it happens, though.
LSU’s star passer and Heisman Trophy winner went out Saturday and almost casually tossed seven touchdowns in a 63-28 trouncing of Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff.
All seven touchdown passes happened in the first half — he added his rushing score in the second. He ended up with 493 passing yards with just 10 incompletions on 39 attempts, too.
This wasn’t some scared dink-and-dunk attack either. Burrow was constantly pushing the ball deep downfield, rarely was off target and navigated pressure well. Don’t forget the sheer scale of the stage, where Burrow didn’t seem jarred at all.
In short, Burrow was the anti-Bengals quarterback as of late, which is reason enough to make him the top overall pick.
While the argument was already largely shut down when it comes to the first-overall pick, Saturday was yet another reminder a defensive end or some other position simply isn’t going to have the same potential impact on the future of the Bengals. Burrow slinging it in an offense with Joe Mixon, Giovani Bernard, Tyler Boyd, John Ross and potentially the returning Tyler Eifert and A.J. Green is just too hard to pass up.
Some reactions from Burrow’s performance:
Joe Burrow: “It wasn’t my sharpest game.”
He had 8 total touchdowns.
— Shea Dixon (@Sheadixon) December 29, 2019
Four months ago, scouts considered Joe Burrow a 5th-7th round pick.
Now he’s the most efficient passer in college football history and the surefire no. 1 pick. The margins for evaluating QBs are so, so thin.
— Robert Mays (@robertmays) December 29, 2019
If I’m Joe Burrow I start throwing some picks so the Bengals get hesitant.
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) December 28, 2019
I have no idea how good a pro Joe Burrow will be. But in all the years I have been watching college football, I have never seen anyone have a better year than he has had. #LSU #CFBPlayoff
— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) December 28, 2019
[vertical-gallery id=26408]