Joe Burrow was the No. 1 pick before the Bengals knew they had the No. 1 pick

Joe Burrow was always going to be the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Following a wildly impressive 2019 campaign that was topped off by a Heisman Trophy and national championship victory, Burrow entered the draft as the clear No. 1 prospect. The Bengals knew he was going to No. 1 on their big board all along.

When Bengals.com’s senior writer Geoff Hobson sat down with the team’s director of college recruiting, Mike Potts, he got to talking about Burrow. Potts had nothing but praise for the young stud.

“He was the No. 1 overall pick in my mind before I knew we had the No. 1 pick. In my opinion, he took the game over … The poise and composure on the sidelines between series and on the field between plays in the huddle and during the plays are among the best I’ve seen at that position,” Potts said.

The Bengals officially locked up the No. 1 pick prior to Week 17, so the team knew they had the selection well before the season ended.

While the next several months had the fanbase anticipating a Joe Burrow selection, it seemed Potts knew he would be the pick well before the team lost that Week 16 matchup to the Dolphins.

“You could feel his presence. I think from that point on he was at the top of our draft board and in my opinion it was going to take something crazy to change that from early November,” Potts said.

With 60 touchdowns, 22 of which against teams that finished in the top 10 to along with a mere six interceptions, Burrow proved that he can perform, and now he’ll be able to do just that in the Queen City.