Redskins full NFL first-round mock: Is Chase Young the one?
By Ian Cummings
Quarterback. Cincinnati Bengals. Joe Burrow. 1. player. 56.
From Tiger to Bengal.
Joe Burrow’s evolution in 2019 has been one of the greatest stories of college football. Once a mere game manager in an LSU offense perennially hindered by sub-standard quarterback play, Burrow’s game now has teeth.
In his junior season, Burrow completed just 57 percent of his passes and threw for an average 7.6 yards per attempt. In 2019, he’s broken new ground with his efficiency numbers, effectively becoming a completely different quarterback, both on the stat sheet and the game tape. Through eight games, Burrow has logged 2,805 yards, 30 touchdowns, and just four interceptions on 260 attempts. He’s throwing for over 10 yards per attempt, and is completing a whopping 78.8 percent of his passes.
Go ahead. Fire up NCAA Football 14 and try to match those numbers on Heisman difficulty. You won’t.
Burrow has re-imagined his game in 2019, and gone from afterthought to adept. He’s displayed almost every desirable trait imaginable in an NFL quarterback. Poise, confidence, progression work, pocket manipulation, mobility, accuracy, competent arm talent, quick processing ability; it’s all there. Burrow’s one-year emergence has been surprising, but now that it’s happened, he might be the most complete signal caller in the NFL Draft, and he’ll give the Bengals new era life.