Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 3 Replacements for Jameis Winston in 2020 NFL Draft
Joe Burrow, LSU Tigers
Stats: 3,687 passing yards, 38 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 78.6 percent completion rate
Coming into the 2019 season, no one thought of Joe Burrow as a first-round prospect. He had a steady if unspectacular debut season in Baton Rouge and was looking to lead the Tigers back into College Football Playoff contention. However, he built on the solid year he had last season and has become arguably the best quarterback in college football.
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According to ESPN’s QBR rating, Burrow ranks third among all collegiate signal-callers with a 93.2 rating. Ahead of him are Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa (more on him shortly) and Ohio State’s Justin Fields.
Furthermore, Burrow has led the top-ranked Tigers to a perfect 10-0 start, with victories over (current rankings) No. 11 Florida, No. 12 Auburn, No. 5 Alabama and previously-ranked Texas. He has LSU on a collision course with the SEC Championship Game with whoever wins the SEC East (likely No. 4 Georgia).
He has the pocket poise, commanding presence and coolness to lead an offense, plus a high football IQ, strong physical attributes and a solid arm. Although he hasn’t had to unleash the deep ball too much in the LSU attack, he could do it within Arians’ offense.
The problem is, he likely won’t be available when the Bucs pick in the draft unless things go horribly wrong with the rest of their season or if they trade up. Don’t be surprised to see him go within the top five picks, if not No. 1 overall.