Bengals take Burrow, believe his "earned confidence" will help him succeed in the NFL

The Cincinnati Bengals picked Joe Burrow with the No. 1 pick, they believe his earned confidence will help him succeed in the NFL

The Bengals were all smiles on Thursday night. Head coach Zac Taylor had nothing but praise for Joe Burrow after the team took him with their No. 1 pick. 

"He's got an earned confidence," Taylor said. "He's got a great edge to him. It's a confidence that he's earned because he's put in the work. He's achieved the success on the field by winning the National Championship, winning the Heisman Trophy. I can tell he doesn't take that for granted. He knows he's going to have to continue to work even harder than he ever has before at this level. There's going to be new challenges that he hasn't faced before. You can just tell he's very comfortable in his own skin and he's very comfortable with what we're going to ask him to do."

Burrow, 23, has gone from backup to No. 1 pick in less than two years. He has all of the physical and the mental tools the Bengals were looking for in a franchise quarterback. 

He led the nation in multiple passing categories including yards (5,671), passing touchdowns (60) and completion percentage (76.3).

"He sure is, both statistically and just watching him, he is the most accurate [prospect] I've graded in my years in the NFL so far," offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. "The only guy that was probably close in terms of the total package was Andrew Luck when he came out. He's exceptionally accurate. It's by far one of his greatest strengths." 

Bengals owner Mike Brown sent Burrow a letter on Wednesday with multiple jerseys and other gear welcoming him to the team. 

"It means a lot," Burrow said. "He also wrote one to my mom and dad as well. That shows the kind of person he is, and I'm excited to be his quarterback for a long time."

There was a lot of pre-draft talk about Burrow 'pulling an Eli' and trying to avoid Cincinnati. In reality, the Bengals never had to convince or sell Burrow on their organization. 

Cincinnati did commit nearly $150 million to eight free agents this offseason, including six projected starters. Their actions, not their words, got Burrow's attention.

“I was very excited about it. It shows the direction that this franchise wants to head. I think it’s going to be a winning franchise for years to come and I hope to play a big part in it.” 

The Bengals and Burrow believe this is just the start of something great in Cincinnati.