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LSU Football: The moment NFL teams took notice of Joe Burrow

By Zach Ragan

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - DECEMBER 28: Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers plays against the Oklahoma Sooners during the College Football Playoff Semifinal in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - DECEMBER 28: Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers plays against the Oklahoma Sooners during the College Football Playoff Semifinal in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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LSU football’s Joe Burrow is poised to be the first player selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Prior to the 2019 season, no one on earth thought LSU football’s Joe Burrow would finish the season as the Heisman Trophy winner and likely top selection in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Burrow’s 2018 season was good at best. In his first season in Baton Rouge, Burrow tossed for 2,894 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions. Again, good….not great.

There was certainly nothing in those numbers that suggested Burrow was going to take the college football world by storm in 2019.

But there was actually a moment in the 2018 season when NFL teams started looking at Burrow in a different light. And it came in the Tigers’ win against UCF in the Fiesta Bowl.

According to ESPN, NFL teams “took notice” after Burrow threw a pick-six against UCF.

Burrow was hit pretty hard on the play by defensive lineman Joey Connors.

But that hit wasn’t enough to knock Burrow out of the game. In fact, Burrow recovered quite well, tossing for 394 yards and four touchdowns. NFL teams were impressed by the way he “kept his composure”. They were also impressed by his “toughness” and “leadership”.

Of course, we all know where Burrow’s career went from there. The former Ohio State quarterback opened the 2019 season by throwing five touchdowns against Georgia Southern. The next week, against Texas, he thew for 471 yards.

Amazingly, the 471 yards against the Longhorns were Burrow’s third most in a game in 2019. That’s absolutely bonkers.

I’ll give NFL teams credit for taking notice of Burrow at the end of the 2018 season. But there’s absolutely no way they could predict that Burrow would throw for over 5,000 yards and 60 touchdowns in 2019. No one saw that coming.

Except, maybe, Joe Burrow. He’s always believed in his ability. And he’s always trying to accomplish more.

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I can’t imagine what Burrow is going to accomplish at the next level, but I have a feeling he’s going to add a few rings to his collection.

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