Go on any NFL mock draft in the country, including CBS NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson's newest mock draft, and you'll see Joe Burrow's name beside the Bengals' logo as the No. 1 overall pick. While anything can happen, it's almost a foregone conclusion that the Bengals, who appeared to move on from the Andy Dalton era last season, will draft Burrow, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner who led the LSU Tigers to an undefeated, national championship season in 2019.
Earlier this week, Geoff Hobson of the Bengals' team website revealed that Burrow will begin workouts with Jordan Palmer, a former Bengals quarterback who has made a post playing career out of helping prepare young quarterbacks for the next level. Palmer's annual quarterback training summit has previously included current NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Sam Darnold, Jared Goff and Daniel Jones (among others) working as counselors.
Hobson added that Burrow's workouts with Palmer will also include T.J. Houshmandzadeh, a former NFL receiver who spent eight of his 11 seasons with the Bengals. Houshmandzadeh, a Pro Bowler during the 2007 season, caught a league-high 112 passes that season, a mark that stands as the franchise's single season record.
"If I can drop him a nugget, help show him what an NFL receiver sees, every little bit helps," said Houshmandzadeh, who helped the Bengals win two AFC North division titles in 2005 and in 2009. "It showed his pocket presence and his ability to scramble and pass and run was impressive early on and that pretty much held true the rest of the season.
"Love (Burrow's) tape. To me, anticipation is what makes a quarterback accurate. Accuracy comes from throwing it before he's open and you're throwing him open. And that's accuracy. That completion percentage he had in college, he does that very well. I think Joe is going to be really good."
While Bengals head coach Zac Taylor coached former Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert to an MVP performance during the Senior Bowl, the Bengals are still expected to draft Burrow, an Athens, Ohio native who started his college career at Ohio State before flourishing at LSU. The 6-foot-4, 216-pound Burrow enjoyed a stellar two seasons with the Tigers, throwing for 8,565 yards with 76 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. In 2019, Borrow led the Tigers to a 15-0 record while throwing for 60 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
Houshmandzadeh added that Bengals fans shoudln't be worried about himself and/or Palmer saying anything derogatory about the Bengals following Carson Palmer's (the Bengals' former Pro Bowl quarterback and older brother of Jordan) recent criticism of the franchise. Palmer, the franchise's fourth all-time passing leader, famously retired after the 2010 season (he ended his retirement in 2011, signing with the Raiders before finishing his career with the Cardinals) instead of returning to the Bengals for the upcoming season. Palmer was angry over what he perceived as a lack of commitment to winning from the team's ownership.
"We've talked about it. We're not going to say anything negative to Joe about the Bengals. Why would we?" Houshmandzadeh said. "Teams are bad because their players aren't good enough. If they get that player that's good enough, guess what happens? Your team isn't so bad anymore. I'm sure that's what they're thinking. I'm sure that's what Joe thinks. Negative? Not at all."
