Boomer Esiason believes the Bengals will put Joe Burrow in a position to succeed
The Bengals are going to select Joe Burrow with the top pick in the NFL Draft, despite plenty of offseason chatter saying otherwise.
Some believe Cincinnati should trade the pick to address other weaknesses on its’ roster. Others think Burrow should ‘pull an Eli’ and force his way to another team like Eli Manning did after the Chargers selected him No. 1 overall in the 2004 NFL Draft.
There are plenty of people that believe Burrow will be set up to fail in Cincinnati. The Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since January 6, 1991. They’ve had four straight losing seasons.
Despite their issues as an organization, former Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason believes the organization will put Burrow in a position to be successful.
“I go all the way back to when I first gave him the helmet on NFL Today after he had won the Heisman Trophy and I said look ‘this is not the dead end street for NFL quarterbacks that you may think it is.” Esiason said on the Bengals Booth Podcast with Dan Hoard. “As a matter of fact there have been a number of us that have flourished in Cincinnati because Mike Brown understands that he’s going to put good players around you and get the most out of you. Just ask Kenny Anderson, ask Andy Dalton, ask Carson Palmer and ask me. No team has had four quarterbacks start at least 93 games in the modern era of the NFL. That tells me that the franchise understands about stability for that position and I tried to impart that on Joe.”
Esiason was named NFL MVP in 1988 after he led the Bengals to a 12-4 record and a Super Bowl appearance. He spent 10 seasons in Cincinnati.
“I equated it to LeBron James going to the Cavaliers about three weeks ago and I got roasted for that,” Esiason said. “I’m not saying that he’s LeBron James, what I’m saying is that he’s the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft and he’s coming from a town that’s two hours outside of Cincinnati. At the end of the day he can do for Cincinnati what LeBron James did for Cleveland.
“Now that he’s realizing that it’s his hometown team, that all of his buddies are going to be able to watch and see him, which will be a whole other set of circumstances he’s going to have to deal with, but that’s going to be exciting for him. I just wish all of this was taking place in Las Vegas so he could enjoy the entire pomp and circumstance of this very special night, but at the end of the day it’s his hometown team.”
Burrow is determined to be the Bengals’ savior and Esiason thinks the organization will give him the help he needs to be successful.
