The Cincinnati Bengals are the first team to fall to 0-8. They are inching their way towards either Joe Burrow or Tua Tagovailoa in the 2020 NFL Draft.
In a game that happened across the pond, the Cincinnati Bengals become the first team to fall to 0-8 on the year. Cincinnati couldn’t do much of anything against the Los Angeles Rams, stumbling in Wembley Stadium in London 24-10 before heading on to their annual bye in Week 9.
While the Bengals’ 2019 NFL season is lost, it’s time to figure out which franchise quarterback they should pick this spring. Should it be last year’s left-handed Heisman Trophy runner-up in Tua Tagovailoa of the Alabama Crimson Tide or the current frontrunner for college football’s greatest award in Joe Burrow of the LSU Tigers?
Every Bengals fan should be glued to a television set on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 3:30 p.m. ET, watching LSU take on Alabama in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup on CBS. In the Game of the Century of 2019, Bengals fans will know if a Bayou Bengal will be coming to Southern Ohio next spring or if it will be a Hawaiian southpaw by the way of Tuscaloosa that will turn the Tide in Cincinnati football.
Of course, the Bengals will need to do their part and lose all of their games this season to ensure that their choice between Burrow or Tagovailoa will be their next franchise quarterback. This includes a must-see television spectacular versus the equally hopeless Miami Dolphins in Week 16. Merry Christmas from South Beach!
So if the Bengals continue to stink worse than any team in the league, who should they go with between Burrow or Tagovailoa? How about the former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback who went Calling Baton Rouge to get some playing time for the one-of-a-kind Coach O? Yes, Burrow is the answer Cincinnati football needs, not Tagovailoa.
To win in the AFC North, you have to be tough and have a strong right arm. While both the Oregon Ducks’ Justin Herbert and the Washington Huskies’ Jacob Eason have more powerful howitzers for right arms than Burrow, this guy plays with an inherent toughness that will make him right at home in the AFC North.
Burrow can make all the throws and is making LSU football look like something out of the Big 12. If you know of LSU’s history slinging the pigskin around the gridiron, then you’ll know what Burrow is doing is simply remarkable and is a huge reason he’s leading the Heisman Trophy race playing for the No. 1 team in the land.
What sets him apart from his SEC West counterpart in Tagovailoa is his durability. Tagovailoa has succumbed to high ankle sprains twice in the last 12 months. Keep in mind that Tagovailoa is playing with the best talent college football can offer in Alabama. Not sure if he has what it takes to carry the worst team in pro football as a rookie. He’s a lefty, but he’s no Boomer Esiason.
Frankly, the Bengals brass may covet the best player in college football in another Buckeye in defensive end Chase Young. He’s better than both of the Bosa Brothers that came before him in Columbus. So going with Young over a quarterback wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, especially if head coach Zac Taylor hasn’t gotten enough of Andy Dalton this year. We’re joking.
All that aside, Cincinnati is likely to take a quarterback in the top-three of the 2020 NFL Draft. Taylor needs his guy for him to have a real future as the Bengals head coach in the 2020s. Tagovailoa has all the hype, but Burrow might be the perfect fit in Cincinnati. Let’s see if the Bengals can bring this Bayou Bengal back to Ohio and win some damn football games for once.