Why Top Overall Pick Joe Burrow Projects As A Great Fit For The Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Burrow’s selection by the Cincinnati Bengals with the first overall selection in the NFL Draft Thursday could mark a turning point for a beleaguered franchise that has been stuck in neutral for three decades, having not won a playoff game since January 1991.

Here’s why Cincinnati’s pick makes sense for many reasons. From a football standpoint, Burrow is the most talented player among this year’s crop of quarterbacks, according to a consensus of the evaluators. From a marketing standpoint, his charisma and status as both a Heisman Trophy winner and Ohio high school star should translate into big box office, if and when that box office ever returns. The Bengals finished next-to-last in the NFL in average attendance last season.

But what makes this especially appealing for both Burrow and the Bengals is that Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor uses an offensive system not too dissimilar from the one Burrow recently left behind at Louisiana State. Taylor is the former quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Rams, and thus his offense is a near-mirror image of that of Rams coach Sean McVay’s.  

That means a ton of what are known as “11” personnel groupings (three wide receivers, one running back and one tight end). The Bengals used this particular personal package a higher percentage of the time than any team in the NFL last season, including, yes, McVay’s team.

The LSU offense in which Burrow put up video-game statistics last season (5,671 yards passing, 60 touchdown passes, only six interceptions) often used four and sometimes even five wideouts. Both offenses rely on quick dropbacks and a lot of play-action passes. The LSU Tigers (also sometimes called the, yes, Bayou Bengals) changed up their passing offense before last season, and Burrow, an Ohio State transfer, proved to be a very quick study. He improved his completion percentage from 57.8 as a junior to 76.3 as a senior. 

Yes, critics may call the LSU attack that helped spawn those numbers a gimmick college offense. But it’s worth noting that passing game coordinator Joe Brady, hired by LSU coach Ed Orgeron in the off-season prior to the 2019 campaign, was the one who designed the schemes that enabled Burrow and a consortium of terrific receivers to perform their aerial artistry. 

After the 2019 college season, Baylor coach Matt Rhule was hired to be the Carolina Panthers head coach. And he tapped Brady to be his offensive coordinator. Clearly, he believes Brady’s passing-game concepts can work at the pro level. If Rhule is correct, then that is yet another reason why Burrow’s transition might be smoother than that of most rookie NFL quarterbacks, because he ran an offense that has concepts that can success in the NFL.

Legendary football personnel expert Gil Brandt of NFL Media, who played a large part in building the successful Dallas Cowboys teams of the 1960s and 1970s, wrote on nfl.com that Burrow, coincidentally, reminds him of incumbent Bengals QB Andy Dalton, and that Burrow also is similar to all-time great Peyton Manning in arm strength. “He should be a long-term starting quarterback in the NFL capable of making regular playoff appearances,” Brandt wrote about Burrow.