Bengals Select Joe Burrow No. 1 in 2020 NFL Draft

Burrow, the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner, completed one of the greatest collegiate seasons in the history of the sport last year.

The Cincinnati Bengals selected LSU quarterback Joe Burrow with the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on Thursday. 

The Bengals' selection kicked off the virtual event, which went on despite the coronavirus pandemic halting much of the sports world. 

Burrow, the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner, completed one of the greatest collegiate seasons in the history of the sport last year, tallying 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns as he shattered single-season school records for passing touchdowns and yards while throwing just six interceptions.

The Tigers quarterback led his team to an undefeated 15-0 season, which was capped off by a dominant 42-25 win over Clemson in the national championship. 

Despite being an Ohio native, the 23-year-old Burrow grew up a Saints fan. Still, the quarterback elected to initially stay in-state to play college football. He spent the first three seasons of his college career sitting on the bench at Ohio State before transferring to LSU as a redshirt junior. In his first season with the Tigers, Burrow put up 2,894 yards with 16 touchdowns and five interceptions. Last season, he rose from being an average Joe to becoming the presumptive No. 1 draft pick by the end of the college season. 

"Yeah, of course, I want to be the first pick," Burrow said at the NFL Scouting Combine about the possibility of going No. 1 overall in the draft. "That's every kid's dream. I've worked really, really hard for the opportunity and I'm blessed to be in this position. So, I'm just really excited to be in this position."

He estimates that his parents live two hours and 15 minutes from Cincinnati and previously spoke about how he could envision himself on-occasion returning to his parents' house in the Athens area for a home-cooked meal. 

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, on Wednesday, Bengals president Mike Brown officially welcomed Burrow to Cincinnati by sending him a letter that said, among other things, that he looks forward “to building championship football teams with you for many years to come.”

Cincinnati got off to their worst start in franchise history in 2019, losing each of their first 11 games. Under first-year head coach Zac Taylor, they were the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention and finished the season 2-14. 

Burrow will look to change the team's fate next year, and beyond.