Sports
Joe Burrow Taken No. 1 Overall by Bengals in B/R User 2020 NFL Mock Draft
Gerald Herbert/Associated PressThe Cincinnati Bengals were projected to select LSU quarterback Joe Burrow with the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft as part of Bleacher Report’s user mock draft Friday.Voting was conducted on the B/R app.Burrow won the 2019 Heisman Trophy after completing 76.3 percent of his throws for 5,671 yards with 60…
Gerald Herbert/Associated Press
The Cincinnati Bengals were projected to select LSU quarterback Joe Burrow with the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft as part of Bleacher Report's user mock draft Friday.
Voting was conducted on the B/R app.
Burrow won the 2019 Heisman Trophy after completing 76.3 percent of his throws for 5,671 yards with 60 touchdowns and six interceptions in 15 games. He added 368 rushing yards and five scores on the ground while leading the Tigers to an undefeated record and the national championship.
The 23-year-old Iowa native will be expected to take over from Andy Dalton as the Bengals' new franchise quarterback, and he should be a Day 1 starter as a rookie.
Cincinnati is still searching for its first championship since the organization began play in 1968. It hasn't come anywhere close to ending that drought since the late 1980s, and the team has been trending in the wrong direction in recent years amid four straight playoff-less seasons.
The Bengals posted a 12-4 record in 2015 but failed to win a playoff game, dropping their Wild Card Round clash with the AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers. They've posted a sub-.500 record every year since 2016, including a 2-14 mark last year to secure the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft.
Although quarterback is the team's most glaring need, filling that void alone won't be enough to vault the club right back into playoff, and eventually title, contention.
Cincy has a myriad of other needs, including edge-rusher, linebacker, offensive line and tight end, that must be addressed in order to keep pace in the highly competitive AFC North.
The wide range of necessary roster upgrades raised questions about whether the Bengals may put the first pick on the trade block in exchange for a king's ransom. Head coach Zac Taylor shot down the idea Monday on the Dan Patrick Show (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer).
“If there is a guy there that you believe in that can really change the franchise over the next 10-15 years, then that's a hard thing to pass up on,” he said. “You know, people all the time ask me what would it take to give up that pick and if there's somebody there that people are willing to give up a lot for, that they believe in, then that just really verifies what we think about those players as well.”
So the Bengals will turn to Burrow to help lay the foundation for their eventual turnaround while the front office works to address the other needs later in the draft, in free agency or via trade.
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