Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has had many comparisons over the years.
A new one? Ben Roethlisberger.
While explaining to Emmanuel Acho and Marcellus Wiley on “Speak for Yourself” that Burrow’s franchise traits suggest a big early impact, LaVar Arrington noted the following:
“…historically speaking, that says Joe Burrow will be able to come in and do things like Ben Roethlisberger, who came in and started and won 13 games as a starter with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sure you can argue he was on a much better team…but I’m comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges. Ben Roethlisberger is a fine quarterback that was considered to be a franchise-caliber guy and so is Joe Burrow.”
Indeed, Big Ben played 14 games as a rookie in 2004, throwing for 2,700-plus yards with 17 scores for a 15-win team that won a playoff game.
Heated rival or not, the Bengals sure wouldn’t mind a Big Ben-esque outcome to Burrow’s rookie season in 2020.
Easier said than done, of course. Besides the usual rookie hurdles, Burrow has to deal with this odd offseason with unusual meetings and practices and might not get the benefit of preseason games or even 11-on-11s in practice.
Of course, Burrow excelling the way Big Ben did as a rookie would mean…beating up on Big Ben’s Steelers this year. From a Bengals perspective, it’s not a hard idea to like.
