The Cincinnati Bengals are fortunate to have their quarterback of the future in Joe Burrow and there’s a lot riding on the young man as he enters his second season. During a segment on Good Morning Football, Kay Adams said she thinks Burrow is a ‘dark horse’ candidate for NFL MVP this year. High praise for the former No. 1 overall pick.
Nick Kosko of 247 Sports wrote more about the segment,
"“He’s a good dark horse,” Adams said. “Before his injury last year, he showed us some things. If he can, in that gauntlet of a division, get his team into a playoff contention situation then you have to give him some love as an MVP candidate. He’s got Ja’Marr Chase, he’s got Tee Higgins and there’s no reason he can’t put up monster numbers this year. I think it sounds a little wild, but … year two we saw Lamar Jackson win it year two, we saw Patrick Mahomes win it year two. So why not Joe Burrow?”"
Adams brings up valid points here. The Bengals made sure to surround Burrow with top-tier weapons and spent their first-round pick on his favorite target from his college days. Ja’Marr Chase joins the likes of Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins plus the Bengals have Joe Mixon returning as the RB1 as well.
The Bengals won’t get much attention due to playing in the difficult AFC North but as Adams said, he battled in a tough division and if he’s able to put up points against those teams, people will take notice. While Burrow has his work cut out for him to win the prestigious award, it’s not an impossible scenario.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow could find himself in the MVP conversation.
This would be quite the feat, of course, as a Bengal hasn’t been crowned MVP since Boomer Esiason did it in 1988 after throwing for 3,572 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. Looking at those numbers, the NFL was a much different animal in the 1980s, that’s for sure.
Burrow was on track to have quite the impressive rookie season before getting injured and Bengals fans are hoping he can make it through the entire season without getting hurt. That’s priority No. 1 for Burrow this year. If he comes out red hot, however, and leads the Bengals to a few unexpected wins, don’t be shocked if he can stay in the MVP discussions throughout the season.
It won’t be easy but Joe Burrow has a chance to stake his claim in the NFL this year.