NFL Quarterback Power Rankings 2020: Patrick Mahomes is head of the class

Placing a rookie starter around the midpoint of a quarterback power ranking when the player hasn’t even played a snap yet seems a little ridiculous, but Joe Burrow isn’t an ordinary rookie. If you’re ranking the top quarterback prospects to come out of college in the past decade, Burrow and Andrew Luck stand above the crowd significantly. The LSU product is that kind of special.

From a pure prospect standpoint, Burrow puts previous first overall picks like Mayfield and Murray to shame. NFL Network draft analyst Lance Zierlein compared the LSU product to Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner. Burrow also received a 7.07 prospect grade on NFL Network’s 8.0-scale.

As a senior at LSU, Burrow led the Tigers to a National Championship against Clemson and Trevor Lawrence. During the collegiate season, Burrow completed 76.3 percent of his pass attempts for 5,671 yards, 60 touchdowns and six interceptions. As you may expect, he broke all kinds of records.

Burrow already possesses an elite football IQ, and his short to intermediate accuracy is ridiculously good. There are some concerns about his arm strength and ability to maintain that pinpoint accuracy on deep balls, but he completed plenty of highlight-reel deep throws in college. He’s got great footwork, anticipation, and he commands the pocket.

Burrow also possesses enough athleticism to extend plays and scramble for first downs, similar to what Patrick Mahomes did at the NFL level last year. However, this athleticism and desire to make something out of nothing can sometimes lead to unnecessary sacks taken. That’s something coaches can easily fix at the next level.

So, while putting Burrow ahead of nearly half the starters in the NFL seems crazy, I don’t feel bad about it.