Former LSU Quarterback Joe Burrow Ready to Take on Starting Position with Bengals from Day One
When the Cincinnati Bengals drafted LSU quarterback Joe Burrow No. 1 overall, they didn't draft him to marinate on the bench for a few years. They selected him to be the starting quarterback from day one.
The work Burrow's reportedly put in this offseason leads coach Zac Taylor to believe he's ready for the moment.
"We're going to put a lot on Joe right out of the gate," Taylor said in a press conference Wednesday. "Obviously we have weeks to sort out who's starting and all that good stuff, but Joe's going to walk in and take the first snaps at quarterback. He's prepared for that."
Prepared he is. There have been countless tales of Burrow's offseason preparations dating back to a few weeks before the NFL Draft. It was reported then that the Bengals "had maxed out" all of its allotted weekly time with potential players via zoom on Burrow to help get him started on the playbook.
"The training for Burrow has been focused on getting him ready to play in Week 1," SI's Albert Breer reported at the time. "The amount of meetings he’s had with the team that'll likely draft him can’t hurt in that regard either."
That gravitated to after the draft, when Burrow was in his parent's basement screaming out protections and getting the rhythm of the offense down with his new teammates. There were even times when the Bengals coaching staff asked him to slow down in regards to the playbook.
"Sometimes he would say things early on and I’d say, we are not talking about that right now, let’s just get through what we need to get through here and then we can revisit that later,” offensive coordinator Brian Callahan told Bengals.com. “We will probably answer that question you have in a day or two days or three days because we are not there yet. I know you are, but we’re not.”
Burrow took a big step this week to seeing his NFL dream come true. He reportedly signed his $36.1 million contract, which includes a $23.88 million signing bonus which he will receive in full sometime in the next 15 days.
It's also the largest rookie contract signed since Sam Bradford in 2010, who signed for $76 million with the St. Louis Rams. At the end of the day, the Bengals have high expectations of Burrow, who will take his first snap against an opposing team on Sept. 13 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
"We took him because we've got high expectations for Joe," Taylor said. "And from everything I know about him and have seen of him, he's got high expectations for himself. And so he's going to do everything he can to put himself in a position to be successful. I trust that."
