NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 13: Quarterback Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers during the College Football Playoff National Championship game against the Clemson Tigers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. LSU defeated Clemson 42 to 25. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
The Cincinnati Bengals haven’t yet signed anyone who will help tutor Joe Burrow. If they want him to develop faster, they should.
It had been nine seasons since the Cincinnati Bengals drafted a quarterback with designs of him being the franchise guy. In the 2011 NFL Draft, the Bengals selected Andy Dalton from TCU with the No. 35 overall pick after a disappointing 2010 season – the last season with Carson Palmer steering the ship.
Now, nine years later, the Bengals have drafted another quarterback. However, expectations surrounding this one are heightened. Joe Burrow was the No. 1 overall pick for the Bengals in the 2020 NFL Draft after a historic season with LSU. Burrow threw for 5671 yards, 60 touchdowns and six interceptions in his final season in Baton Rouge and went on to win the National Championship as well as the 2019 Heisman Trophy.
Suffice to say: Burrow is the real deal.
With Andy Dalton out the door and now residing in Texas with the Dallas Cowboys, Burrow is the undisputed starting quarterback for the Bengals and will be thrown into the fire once the 2020 NFL season gets underway. He’s primed and ready and the Bengals are buying into that notion, so much so, that they have no plans to sign a veteran quarterback to tutor Burrow, per ESPN’s Ben Baby.
As of this moment, the Bengals have three quarterbacks on the roster: Burrow, Ryan Finley, and Jake Dolegala. Finley started three games for the Bengals as a rookie last year, posting two touchdowns and two interceptions and completed just 47-percent of his passes. Dolegala has only seen time on the field during the 2019 NFL preseason and was an undrafted free agent that offseason.
Not signing a veteran to help ease in the transition of Burrow from heroic college quarterback to starting-caliber NFL quarterback could prove to be costly. That’s not to say that Burrow definitively needs a veteran presence around for him to be successful in the NFL, but it could certainly help in his early years.
Having a veteran presence in the quarterback room and on the sideline can be a valuable tool for young quarterbacks in the NFL. Whether the rookie shadows the starter – think Patrick Mahomes and Alex Smith in 2018 – or the young star usurps the veteran in his debut season, the signs are there.
Burrow could use a mentor by his side, leading him through the rigors and physicality of a full NFL season, while handing him valuable advice and guidance along the way. Be it on the field advice or something cliche as telling him to stay grounded, having someone who has been around the block a few times in your ear can only be construed as a positive for a young quarterback and his team.
Current Bengals head coach, Zac Taylor, is something of a quarterback guru himself. He was the Los Angeles Rams quarterback coach during their Superbowl run in 2018 and was a big reason why Jared Goff was so successful. But with a whole roster to preside over, Taylor can’t do it all by himself. That’s where the veteran steps in.
The NFL quarterback market has proven to be a saturated entity in 2020, with the likes of Cam Newton and Joe Flacco still free agents in search of a new home. Both likely have aspirations of becoming starting quarterbacks in the league once again, so probably won’t settle for a guaranteed back-up role, but a quarterback of a lesser ilk – such as Blake Bortles or even Josh McCown – could provide the necessary guidance for the future of the Bengals franchise in the early years.
McCown provided the very same service for the New York Jets and Sam Darnold in 2018 and likely helped Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, settle into the league a lot faster. A veteran quarterback will likely keep Burrow on his toes too, with the team hoping a move would get the best out of him, something the Cleveland Browns are hoping for this season after signing Case Keenum to back up Baker Mayfield.
The Bengals may well buck the trend and roll with three young quarterbacks this season, but if presented with the opportunity of signing a back-up, they should take it.