The Bengals had a tough choice between Joe Burrow of LSU and Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama. That decision was made easier when Cincinnati was given out of the Tagovailoa suffering an injury during the college season.
It is still safe to say that these two quarterbacks are constantly being compared throughout their careers. Burrow went first overall and Tagovailoa fell to the fifth pick of the first round.
With that said, Burrow has looked forward to this point as the more NFL-ready player, and that idea was reinforced on Friday. First, the Bengals fans looked on as Burrow dominated the team’s control by completing his first eight passes, overcoming multiple false starts, and throwing three touchdowns without AJ Green, John Ross or Tee Higgins.
This is as good as you can get for this point in training camp, and especially since we have no precision games this year. Burrow has just been selected as the quarterback he was advertised for. He gets the best out of everyone on offense.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins in Miami have given Ryan Fitzpatrick most of the first teams snaps and plan to start the veteran at the start of the season. On Friday, Fitzpatrick was given an unknown personal day, allowing Tagovailoa to show where his game was at the moment. Spoiler alert: It did not go so well, according to Hal Habib of Palm Beach Post.
Tagovailoa proved to be overly hyped for the occasion, with recipients consistently overseeing. When he was able to make connections, it was often because receivers like Chester Rogers and Preston Williams were already using their 6-foot-plus frames to make adjustments and fit in passes. He was the tendency to lead recipients beyond boundaries instead of giving them space to run on the track.
To say he needed to settle would be an understatement. Red flag? Tagovailoa comes, after all, from Alabama. The SEC. Has been under pressure for years. That’s all true, but this is the NFL and this is an enormous step from college to the pros. If Dan Marino could not be thrown into this kind of cauldron and come up with a starting job – and no, he did not open the 1983 season as QB1 – it is unrealistic to expect Tagovailoa to defeat 16-year-old veteran Fitzpatrick. Especially not on the strength of a shortened training camp.
Of course, after a few weeks of practice, it’s too early to explain anything about one player or another. It’s still a fun start for Burrow, and it certainly feels better to have your franchise savior perform so well already and not fight to defeat a well-traveled veteran quarterback.
However, Tagovailoa is not the only rookie quarterback who is not expected to start the season. It has already been said that Chargers Tyrod Taylor will start over Justin Herbert, who went one pick to Tagovailoa. This is more to show that Burrow seems to be just as far ahead of the curve in such an early offseason. Also maybe the Bengals were right not to deserve the choice, Maybe maybe.
