Joe Burrow’s rookie season might have been cut short for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2020, yet his strong impact is still resonating.
Over at NFL.com, a team of experts picked up the quarterback index, which ranks all 59 passers who logged a start in 2020.
Burrow, somewhat incredibly, lands 18th overall, as explained by Ali Bhanpuri, Tom Blair, Gennaro Filice & Dan Parr:
“Late November seems like a long time ago, but remember, Burrow was keeping pace with Justin Herbert in their assault on the rookie passing yards record prior to his season-ending knee injury. The first overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft was doing magical things despite receiving horrible pass protection.”
For context, that’s above names like Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger. He fell behind plenty of expected names, with fellow rookie Justin Herbert notably landing ninth.
Burrow appeared in 10 games as a rookie, completing 65.3 percent of his passes with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions, logging five 300-plus yard games. That happened behind arguably the league’s worst line and just two notables as far as weapons around him. The team surged to wins and might have posted even more had Burrow remained healthy.
Moving forward, the hope is Burrow remains on track to start Week 1 after rehab after the team upgrades the offensive line this offseason.
