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As the Bengals coaching staff prepare to coach the South team in the Senior Bowl, they talked about Joe Burrow’s ability, smiling in anticipation of him being their quarterback of the future, according to Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson.
The Bengals get the job of coaching at the Senior Bowl due to their poor 2019 record. A chance to spend a week with some of the best prospects in practice and game planning is a perfect opportunity to get a leg up on scouting. There is still some hope that Burrow will attend the Senior Bowl, as either a full participant or possibly attending a few days but not playing. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has reached out to Burrow and his family about attending. There are plenty of connections between Burrow’s family and the Bengals and there’s little doubt that Cincinnati will take the Heisman winner first overall, so he may end up accommodating the team in some way.
But, even if Burrow doesn’t end up heading to the Senior Bowl, offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt have seen plenty to be excited about when it comes the skill-set Burrow already has in place.
“He’s got natural pocket feel. He feels it,” Callahan said. “It seems like he never takes his eyes off down the field. He extends the play really, really well. He’s a lot faster than you might assume when you see him running away from all those SEC guys. He’s got incredible up-field accuracy. The ball hardly ever hits the ground in a game, which is rare. He just naturally puts the ball in places where those guys can make plays.”
Callahan went on to say, “We’ve got a lot of similarities with their pass game. A lot of NFL offenses do. He ran a lot of elements of what they did in New Orleans. Getting guys in space. Getting people in matchups. You see a lot of pro passing concepts in their offense and they did a really good job.”
Burrow should be a natural fit in any pro offense, but the Bengals get first crack at him and they won’t miss, as all signs point to Burrow becoming the next Bengals quarterback. The odds for Burrow going No. 1 overall are -2000, so, if you want to pocket an extra $50, you’ll need to fork over $1,000. The next closest player is Chase Young, Ohio State’s stud defensive end, who is going off the board at +700 to be the first pick. We would need some truly odd trades to go down for anyone other than Burrow to get the first nod.