Now that Joe Burrow is officially a member of the Cincinnati Bengals , it’s time for him to get to work learning his new team’s offense. At least, it would be, if he hadn’t apparently already started to do that. A new story by Bleacher Report ‘s Mike Chiari claims that Burrow has actually been studying the Bengals’ offense for weeks, as he assumed they would be the team taking him.
The report went on to say that because Burrow has been studying the offense for weeks, he’s far ahead of where other first-round picks will be. That will give him a very good shot of competing for the starting job right out of the gate.
Chiari points out that Burrow is assumed to be the starting quarterback regardless of whether he has studied the new offense. The Bengals still have their veteran signal-caller, Andy Dalton, on the roster, and he’s made it clear he wants to be on the team in 2020. But Dalton has also said he is willing to return even if it’s as the backup quarterback.
Burrow is expected to be the Bengals’ starting quarterback in the first week of the regular season, but Chiari noted that his studying is bound to help him in his rookie season regardless.
It also helped that the former Ohio State and LSU product has heard for weeks that he was going to the Bengals. The team’s front office didn’t exactly work hard to dispel those rumors. As The Inquisitr reported earlier, the team gave Burrow a heads up they would be taking him even before the 2020 NFL draft.
Chiari also identifies a concern with Burrow, which is the lack of pre-season camps before the regular season. In typical times, he’d be getting ready for his first of several OTAs. But because of the coronavirus outbreak, it’s not clear which, if any, camps will be held before this fall. It’s expected that teams won’t be able to come together before the end of the summer — and even that estimate might be too early.
The analyst observed that it appears the first overall draft pick is trying to take care of his lack of preparation on his own. There are also those in the NFL community who wonder if a season will take place at all in 2020. Some have talked about moving the start date back, but with a tight schedule all year long, it’s not clear how that would be handled.
