The Cincinnati Bengals absolutely wasted time making their No. 1 overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. After much delay, they picked LSU quarterback Joe Burrow.
The selection was not a surprise. What did surprise was the (lack of) speed at which the Bengals made the pick. The draft started at 8 p.m. on Thursday night and the Bengals weren’t on the board until 8:19 pm. At approximately 8:28 p.m., the television broadcasts announced the pick.
This was all according to plan, of course. The Bengals knew they were going to take Burrow. In fact, they’d told Burrow on Wednesday that he’d be the No. 1 overall pick. But it’s traditional — for the sake of TV — that teams delay the first overall pick in order to allow for more time to talk about that player.
But because the NFL was conducting a virtual draft to comply with social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, everyone made a joke about a computer malfunction.
Bengals right now pic.twitter.com/8wbbDO49fS
— Devon Clements (@DevclemNFL) April 24, 2020
The Bengals will still take Joe Burrow, but it will be an autopick.
— scott pianowski (@scott_pianowski) April 24, 2020
The Bengals are letting the clock run down and I'm hoping they have some kind of technical problem and end up having to pass.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) April 24, 2020
Do the Bengals know they're on the clock?
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) April 24, 2020
For the most part, people were impatient to see Burrow go off the board.
It’s 8:25 and the #Bengals still haven’t taken Joe Burrow yet
— The Jet Press (@TheJetPress) April 24, 2020
— Perryn Keys (@PerrynKeys) April 24, 2020
Need the #NFLDraft2020 to pick up the pace. pic.twitter.com/xOUbTY5gYT
— Tyler Sullivan (@TylerSully) April 24, 2020
This kind of programming is fine, it’s lead up…background info. Some people eat this up. But it isn’t the draft. This stuff should have been at 7:30 and the first pick happened at 8 sharp.
— Matt Chatham (@chatham58) April 24, 2020
That said, what else are we going to do tonight? As New Orleans Football’s Nick Underhill noted, it’s not like most of America is busy during this pandemic. Might as well milk the draft for all it’s worth.
[vertical-gallery id=912895]