2. Joe Burrow
With the number one overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Bengals jumped at the chance to draft LSU's Joe Burrow, who just put together a college football season for the ages. Burrow won the Heisman Trophy and led the Tigers to a National Championship in the 2019 college football season and the Bengals hoped he'd finally be the signal-caller who could change things for this franchise.
So far, it appears that Burrow is indeed the changing force in the Bengals organization.
While his rookie year didn't go according to plan due to an injury that sidelined him for the second half of the season, he came back swinging in 2021. Burrow helped lead the Bengals to their first-ever playoff win after the turn of the century and lead them to a Super Bowl appearance.
In his third season at the helm, he nearly got the Bengals back to the big game but they came up just short. More importantly though, for the first time in what's been a long time coming, the Bengals are a perenial Super Bowl contender every year and it's because of Joe Burrow.
Once the Bengals win a Super Bowl with Burrow, he'll be bumped to the top of this list but right now, only one player is ahead of him. You can probably guess who that is.