Bengals: 5 bold predictions for Joe Burrow as he preps for his debut

Burrow will blow away former rookie quarterbacks

Cincinnati made Burrow the third straight quarterback selected at number one so he will always be compared to Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray when looking at rookie years. Both Murray and Mayfield delivered great performances in year one that had their teams believing they were franchise guys. In 2020, Burrow will blow them both away.

Burrow has the talent, arm strength, decision making, and tools around him to outperform both Mayfield and Murray in every statistical category. Burrow will throw for more than 3,700 yards throughout a healthy season by relying heavily on Tyler Boyd and A.J. Green. 30 or more touchdowns will come through the deep stable of receiving options. Not to mention, he threw fewer interceptions during his collegiate career than both Murray and Mayfield, speaking to his ability to taking care of the football.

Burrow is used to facing top-level competition in the SEC and that should help him translate over to the NFL better than either Murray or Mayfield. During his career playing Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, Burrow went up against the top defenses in the NCAA routinely.

Now, there is a big difference between the NFL and the SEC, but he should be able to adapt quickly and make smart decisions. He will end 2020 as the golden child for what a top overall pick should look like during their rookie season.