How the media is putting too much pressure on Bengals QB Joe Burrow
By Zach Ragan
Former LSU football quarterback Joe Burrow already has a Heisman Trophy award in his closet.
Could he be adding an NFL MVP award to his collection in the not-so-distant future?
Good Morning Football’s Kay Adams certainly thinks that could be the case.
“He’s a good dark horse,” said Adams on Friday (via 247Sports).
“He’s got Ja’Marr Chase, he’s got Tee Higgins and there’s no reason he can’t put up monster numbers this year,” added Adams. “I think it sounds a little wild, but…year two we saw Lamar Jackson win it year two, we saw Patrick Mahomes win it year two. So why not Joe Burrow?”
Should we pump the brakes on the Joe Burrow MVP talk?
I absolutely think Joe Burrow, the No. 1 pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2020 NFL Draft, has NFL MVP potential. In fact, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t win an NFL MVP award at some point in his career.
But I can’t see it happening in 2021.
There’s just too much working against Burrow.
For one, he’s still recovering from a torn ACL that ended his rookie season early. While it sounds like Burrow is on track for a full recovery, we have no idea how he’ll perform on the field post-ACL surgery.
Then there’s the offensive line that Burrow is playing behind. The Bengals’ offensive line should be better in 2021 — thanks mostly to the addition of offensive tackle Riley Reiff — but the unit still has a long way to go before it’s among the best in the league.
And until Burrow is playing behind a top 10 offensive line, it’s hard to imagine him winning an MVP award.
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Burrow’s time is coming. And it’s going to be fun to watch. But there’s no need to put too much pressure on the former LSU standout this early in his career.
National talking heads always want to be the ones who correctly called the next big breakout star. But their insistence on crowning a player before they’ve truly “arrived” can be detrimental to a player’s development.
I don’t think Burrow will succumb to the pressure — he’s proved he can be a calm presence in tense situations — but there’s still no reason to throw any MVP talk on Burrow’s plate this early in his career.
If it happens, it happens. That’s as far as it needs to go.