It was a formality, but the Cincinnati Bengals indeed drafted Joe Burrow No. 1 overall in this year’s draft. Coming off one of the best seasons in college football history (5,671 passing yards, 65 total touchdowns-60 passing, 76.3 percent completion rate, 12.5 adjusted yards per attempt), he will step right in as the new man in Cincinnati.
The Bengals followed up selecting Burrow by drafting wide receiver Tee Higgins. The Clemson product will join A.J. Green (barring a trade), Tyler Boyd, John Ross and Auden Tate to form a sneaky good group of wide receivers. Joe Mixon is a very good lead back, and Giovani Bernard is a capable player with pass catching chops.
After being in the bottom tier of the league across the board as a pass blocking unit, Cincinnati’s offensive line should be helped by the return to health of 2019 first-round pick Jonah Williams to take over at left tackle. Free agent signing Xavier Su’a-Filo will step in at right guard, and rookie offensive tackle Hakeem Adeniji will provide depth immediately.
With a nod to his running ability (767 rushing yards and 12 scores on ground over two seasons at LSU), Burrow’s fantasy stock is already pretty high in some circles.
Joe Burrow ranks as the No. 14 quarterback
Do you say higher or lower?https://t.co/6ne83m7vy7 pic.twitter.com/jfRPvVa6OR
— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) April 27, 2020
In standard scoring 12-team leagues, at this very early stage, Burrow comes in at QB13 (pick 9.10) in Fantasy Football Calculator’s ADP. That feels like a post-draft sugar high, and his early ranking on Fantasy Pros is a more reasonable QB19.
Andy Dalton and Ryan Finley combined for 615 pass attempts last year, which would have been good for fourth-most in the league for a single signal caller. So Burrow is in line for plenty of volume, even assuming the Bengals’ defense improves some this year.
Even sniffing QB1 territory in fantasy as a rookie is an aggressive projection for Burrow. Until his ADP settles in as more like a low-end QB2, if it does, he won’t be good value in drafts. In dynasty leagues his stock his naturally higher (top 10-12 among all quarterbacks), and Burrow should be the first quarterback off the board in rookie drafts.
Joe Burrow 2020 Projection: 3,550 passing yards, 22 TD, 15 INT; 350 rushing yards, 3 TD
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