(01-21-2020, 11:18 AM)Cleatwood Wrote:

(01-21-2020, 11:12 AM)Kane Wrote: Well I'm not sure how you define success because a lot of them fail being on bad teams.
Jones and Murray both found some success this year (and they are on bad teams)
Mayfield was pretty good as a rookie.
Lamar Jackson, the guy getting so much love in this thread is younger than Burrow and had tons of success right? A kid surrounded by men all over the field, juking em out their shoes.
You're talking about 1 year or so being the difference in being all-pro? That stuff comes with many years, usually. That's why it isn't stacked with 2nd year players either.
Yeah being older matters when its quite a few years. 1 year or 2 doesn't matter as much as the weight you're trying to put on it (or maybe back peddling with a bit now saying "not a massive one")
Burrow was good because he was good, not because he was 23 and guys on Clemson's defense are 19-21
The difference from 22 year old Burrow and 23 year old Burrow was coaching and scheme. Not some magic that happened in a year and made him bigger, stronger, faster, and better lol

Let me ask you this. If you took a team of 23 year old division 1 athletes and had them play in college, how would that turn out? 

I'm not saying Burrows age is the end all be all but it absolutely played a small part. He was able to see things for 5 years. 5 years of coverages. And if the difference for Burrow was coaching and scheme, should he really be the #1 pick?

I'm just trying to play both sides here instead of just labeling this dude the next great thing.

I don't know if he absolutely should be the #1 pick. That ain't my job and my job ain't on the line if I'm wrong lol.
Out of all the QBs this year I believe he should be the first QB taken. If Tua was healthier, I'd probably lean toward Tua though. But being good in the NFL depends on the whole team, not just the QB. Roster, scheme, coaching, everything.

I agree having 5 years in college helped him. I've always liked QBs that stayed in school for 4 years more than the 2 year guys . Maturity and learning before hitting the NFL I think goes a long way. (4+ year guys with 2+ years of starting tend to play out better than 3 year guys with 1-2 year of starting, imo)
I just don't predicate Joe's success in college to him being older and therefore a better athlete. I believe his ability probably has gotten better with age, everyone's should. I just don't think it's as simple as "grown man playing against boys" at the collegiate level. I mean.. there are 19 year olds and 22 year olds scattered all over those college rosters. But in his 4th year he was older than most and seen a lot and was just OK. What magic happened between year 22 and 23?
That's why I'm like "yeah his age matters but not much" It was much more about the staff changing their scheme around him and the weapons they had.

To be clear... I don't think Burrow is the next great thing. Or a can't miss guaranteed 15 year franchise guy. I just think he's the best QB prospect in this draft, all things considered.
And if I'm the Bengals, with Dalton and Finley as my QBs, I'm taking Burrow and he's my day 1 starter. And I try to put a good OL in front of him (they have a solid RB in Mixon) and put some speed at WR and try to replicate a lot of what he did in college, at least in his first year.

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