Burrow for Rookie of the Year
The Year of Joe Burrow
Joe Burrow had just about the best college season ever in the year 2019. The Heisman winner was able to throw for 48 touchdowns and 4,715 yards. The phenom was also able to rush for 289 yards for three scores on the ground. Pretty impressive for a player who didn’t see any playing time at Ohio State and left for LSU. His first season at LSU was his junior year and it did not go as planned. Burrow struggled and was entering his senior season of college football labeled as a mid to late 5th round draft pick. Look ahead to 2020 where Burrow is going to be the starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals for the next decade to come. On top of his personal statistics and accolades, Burrow was able to lead the LSU Tigers to the College football playoffs where they steamrolled both of their competitors to win the National Championship.
In the first round vs Oklahoma, Burrow threw for 493 yards and seven Touchdowns to rout the Sooners 63-28. In the Championship game against the power house Clemson we all expected to get a nail biter. That was far from the truth as Burrow threw for 463 yards and five Touchdowns and LSU won a lopsided 45-28 matchup. A perfect season and the number one draft pick shows how fast an athletes career can change. If Burrow wasn’t given the opportunity at LSU who knows where he would be now. However, he is set to be the next rising star in the NFL and is hands down my pick to receive the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.
Ready to Play
Burrow was selected as the number one pick by the Bengals and they are ready to let their franchise lie on the shoulders of the young quarterback. With their second round pick in the draft they went out and selected Tee Higgins, wide receiver out of Clemson who had nothing less than a fantastic college career. Now Burrow will have a strong supply of weapons when it comes to their 2020 passing attack.
A.J. Green is coming back from a season ending injury in 2019. Tee Higgins should make an immediate impact with his NFL ready physique. Tyler Eifert when healthy can easily be a top 10 tight end. Joe Mixon also adds a dynamic skill set out of the backfield with his ability to take a screen pass to the end zone on any given play. The Bengals are no threat to reach this years postseason. But, their offense can have an opportunity to build some momentum and turn this franchise around. Burrow will most likely be trailing most of this seasons games which can result in a stat padding rookie season. I predict the Bengals to go 5-11 and Burrow to throw for 3,700 yards and 21 touchdowns. It won’t surprise me if he uses his legs to get in the end zone once or twice as well.
-Fred O’Brien (@FOBSportsNFL)