NFL Draft: The Potential Franchise Quarterbacks Part 2

BY ADAM GREENE

We’re still breaking down Joe Burrow’s film from Part 1 because, frankly, he’s the best prospect coming out of college I’ve ever seen.

We were talking about Burrow’s innate ability to forgo rushing opportunities for big first downs to instead gain monster yardage or toss touchdowns down the field.

I mean, look at this one. Any other QB (and certainly the next two on the list) would probably take off here and rightly so. That’s a 20-plus yard gain on the ground, easy. He’s already taken his eyes down and moved forward to avoid the rush. The only guy on the screen that could even hope to make a tackle before the yellow line is the referee for God’s sake. Burrow has a blocker in front of him. There’s no reason not to run… unless you are a stone-cold murderer who scoffs at your easy 20 yards. Burrow wants it all.

And then there’s this. He already has the defenders beaten with his feet. Nothing but green grass ahead of him. Once again, the only guy with any hope of making a play and stopping Burrow from picking up a first down with his legs is the back judge. Every Ole Miss defender is out of the play. Running is the smart move, the easy move, a guaranteed first down and one where Joe-B trots out of bounds without even getting touched.

Dude is not interested in that. This is Patrick Mahomes-level stuff. It’s the kind of thing that, once again, can not be coached. It is in him. He is a sniper in the weeds keyholing enemy victims at will.

And it’s not because he’s not athletic and can’t run. He’s got plenty of wheels and his rushing statistics back that up. The thing is, if Burrow had to, he could do that kind of thing all the time but he doesn’t. Because he can read a defense, recognize what he sees pre and post snap, he can fire the ball the second his back foot hits the ground. This is exactly what you want. Sometimes he’s so quick, smart and decisive that the ball is out of his hand the second it’s snapped to him from center.

There is nothing a defense can do to stop that. They can only hope he made a bad read. He so rarely does, frankly, I feel like it would be more work than it’s worth to find an example of it.

This is just inside Joe Burrow. This is what the Cincinnati Bengals will be getting when they turn in that card. Or email it in, considering the NFL needs to hold the draft remotely this year.

There’s no telling what the future holds. Guys that looked like they’d be sure fire talents turn into busts. Guys that look like nobodies can turn not only into franchise QBs, but Hall of Famers. But to pretend, based on all the available evidence, that Burrow isn’t the best QB prospect in this draft is just dumb.

We hit on the other two potential franchise QBs in Part 3.

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