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Joe Burrow is widely viewed as the top quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft and who the Bengals will select with the top pick.
However, one NFC coach believes Burrow is being overrated and would be a major risk to take with the No. 1 overall pick, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com:
“He ends up with a pro coach (Joe Brady) in a really good system with the best players. He’s a great processor and he is everything I’d want in a quarterback—if I took him in the second or third round. He’s not a natural thrower, can’t really pump it down the field. Now, he can throw it back-shoulder and uncovered and he’s got anticipation, but that ball’s wobbling. Love him, but I think he’s a high-risk guy at 1.’”
But not everything in the piece was negative, as two AFC personnel expressed a little more optimism for Burrow’s pro prospects:
An AFC quarterbacks coach said Burrow’s accuracy “jumps off the film. He can throw it into a tight window. He can offset throw versus tight coverage. He can throw the hole shot. He doesn’t have a huge arm. He really kind of crow-hops into big balls.”
”He’s got that elite leadership gene,” an AFC executive said. “A kid from Athens, Ohio, who ended up going to Baton Rouge, Louisiana — it’s just a different culture, and those guys really loved him.”
It’s always interesting to hear what people employed within the NFL think about various prospects. But at the same time, these assessments aren’t always what they really believe, and instead are hoping to hurt a prospect’s stock in hopes he’ll fall to the team employing said coach/scout/decision-maker.
Frankly, that’s what feels like the NFC coach is getting at. Sure, Burrow played in a loaded offense, but his abilities as a quarterback were what made the offense go. The “everything I’d want in a quarterback—if I took him in the second or third round” line is pretty absurd for a guy who just had arguably the greatest season a college quarterback has ever did, and it was done in arguably the best conference in college football, then continued into the SEC Championship and College Football Playoffs.
Heck, maybe this is coming from a Washington or Detroit coach who’s hoping Burrow falls to the No. 2 or 3 pick.