CINCINNATI (AP) — Joe Burrow’s next challenge is daunting: return to his home state and resurrect the woebegone Bengals.
Cincinnati took the Heisman Trophy winner first overall in the NFL draft Thursday night, a move expected by everyone, including Burrow. The national title winner at LSU has spent weeks fielding questions about going to a franchise synonymous with futility.
He knows exactly what he’s getting into.
Burrow developed his quarterback skills a few hours away in southeastern Ohio, leading his prep team to the playoffs. A failed stint at Ohio State became a launching point to a national title and Heisman Trophy at LSU.
For the draft Thursday, he wore a white shirt with the outline of Ohio and the 740 area code for southeast Ohio. He also held a black Bengals cap, waiting for the pick.
When the Bengals called to make it official, he donned the cap and became the face of the franchise.
“We will never pick at No. 1 again,” coach Zac Taylor said. “We don’t want to pick in the top 10 again. We’re looking at this as the only time you’re going to get this caliber player to add him to the program, so obviously this is a big deal.”
Burrow’s roots in Ohio made him even more desirable for a team that’s had some of the league’s lowest attendance figures for years and will be renegotiating its lease for the stadium — named after founder Paul Brown — in a few years.
There’s a lot riding on this draft pick.
“He’s been in the area and he knows what we’re all about,” Taylor said. “There’s probably people in the area who know what he’s about and will probably be drawn to the Bengals.”
He moves to a team that went 2-14 last season in Taylor’s first year, losing a club-record 11 games in a row. Cincinnati has lost 21 of its last 24 games.
That’s what the Heisman winner is up against now.
Not that it’s all up to Burrow, of course. In Cincinnati, it’s about ownership. The Bengals have been through a dizzying list of coaches, coordinators and quarterbacks during one of the worst stretches in the league’s 100-year history.
They’ve had only seven winning seasons in the last 29 years, a stunningly bad result in a league built upon parity. They haven’t won a playoff game since the 1990 season, the fifth-longest streak of postseason futility.
The Bengals have had 18 different starting quarterbacks over that span, including Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer in 2003 who eventually demanded a trade rather than stay with the franchise.
Burrow’s career bloomed in Athens, Ohio, where his father, Jim, was an assistant coach at Ohio University. He took his high school team to the playoffs and went to Ohio State, where he failed to win the starting job. He transferred to LSU, where he had one of the best seasons by a quarterback in college history. Burrow threw a record 60 touchdown passes as the Tigers rolled to the national title last season.
The Bengals were impressed by his accuracy and good decision-making. Burrow really won them over when they talked during the lead-up to the draft.
“He came across to me like a guy that’s been playing NFL football for 10 years,” offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. “His knowledge was far superior to most kids coming out of college.”
He’ll supplant Andy Dalton as the face of Cincinnati’s franchise. Dalton has one year left on his contract and the Bengals are considering keeping him around to help Burrow get acclimated in an unusual offseason limited by coronavirus precautions.
One constant in this unique NFL draft: Joe Burrow at the top
In this most unique of drafts, filled with technological concerns and even uncertainty when real football might return, there was one constant Thursday night: Joe Burrow.
For months, the national champion quarterback from LSU was linked with the Bengals. Cincinnati began the draft by sending the name of the Heisman Trophy winner to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in the basement of his home.
This digital/remote/virtual draft — take your choice — was up and running.
No fireworks on the Las Vegas Strip. No bear hug between Goodell and Burrow; the commissioner said he would miss those, even if his body wouldn’t. The most basic of selection meetings, organized in this manner due to the coronavirus pandemic, has team personnel making picks from their homes. And players learning their future employers in their homes.
The NFL canceled all draft activities in Las Vegas when the national shutdown of large gatherings began. The league had gone full-bore into free agency last month and, now, seven rounds of the draft through Saturday.
“I do believe this draft is going to be the most memorable we have ever had,” said Goodell, noting that it is accompanied by a “Draft-A-Thon” to benefit six organizations on the front lines battling the pandemic.
“I just believe that our job is to continue on and operate within whatever guidelines are necessary to keep our personnel safe, whether it’s players or coaches or their executives or league personnel. We need to make sure that we’re doing things safely and put public safety No. 1, but we also need to carry on. We need to move toward the future. We need to make sure that we’re prepared when we come out of this to be in a position to start our season on time and play our season. That’s our role.”
Normalcy, at least among the picks, was the order of the early evening, though.
First came Burrow: In his spectacular senior season, he threw for 60 — yes, 60 — touchdowns with only six interceptions. The Tigers beat six top 10 teams on their way to the national title.
“To jump up to No. 1 overall is crazy to me,” Burrow said. “But it’s a dream come true. I wasn’t very good my junior year. I worked really hard to get better, my guys worked really hard to get better, and we jelled as a team.”
Bengals coach Zac Taylor was confident Burrow could turn the franchise around after a 2-14 season.
“We will never pick at No. 1 again,” Taylor said. “We don’t want to pick in the top 10 again. We’re looking at this as the only time you’re going to get this caliber player to add him to the program, so obviously this is a big deal.”
The second overall selection, Ohio State All-America edge rusher Chase Young, also was predictable. Washington fielded several offers for that spot, but many scouts and personnel executives felt Young was the best player in this crop.
At 6-foot-5, 264 pounds, Young led the nation with 16 1/2 sacks and forced fumbles with six last season. The All-American won the prestigious Bednarik and Nagurski awards in 2019, leading the Buckeyes to the Big Ten title.
He joins a Redskins team that went 3-13 and allowed 435 points.
If not for the NFL’s obsession with finding the latest, greatest quarterback prospect, Young might have been the top overall selection. That QB infatuation saw three passers taken in the first six picks.
Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa went fifth to Miami, followed in the next spot by Oregon’s Justin Herbert to the Los Angeles Chargers. They were preceded by Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah, the highest-rated cornerback, to Detroit, and Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas to the Giants.
Tagovailoa’s health issues didn’t turn off the Dolphins.
The Alabama quarterback went to a team that was accused going into last season of “Tanking for Tua.” Tagovailoa comes off major hip surgery, which made his landing spot one of the first round’s biggest uncertainties.
Blessed with a quick release, excellent mid-range accuracy and nimble feet, Tagovailoa threw 76 touchdown passes in 24 starts the past two seasons. He helped the Crimson Tide to the 2017 national title.
Herbert had a strong postseason, including a terrific Senior Bowl week that raised his stock. At 6-foot-6, 236 pounds, he has the size the pros like, and he’s a good athlete. But he also is not as accurate passing as he’ll need to be.
Los Angeles had a burning hole at quarterback after letting go of long-time starter Philip Rivers. Plus, the Chargers plan to move into a new stadium and could use someone to help sell tickets.