Joe Burrow 6’3 1⁄2 220 LSU

Overview

Burrow’s meteoric rise to stardom during the 2019 season was
historically unprecedented as he took home a National
Championship & Heisman Trophy while compiling a beyond jaw
dropping statline of 5,671 passing yards with 60 touchdowns
against only 6 interceptions while completing a staggering 76
percent of his throws. Burrow also rushed for 368 yards and five
touchdowns. The level of consistent excellence Burrow showed in
executing the Joe Brady offense was almost magical considering
how average Joe was viewed by evaluators coming into the
season. Burrow began his career at Ohio State and was a
reserve/backup player there for two seasons after red-shirting in 2015. Notable- Burrow was a standout HS basketball player and was named first team all state (point guard) as a senior. His
basketball background bleeds through his game on film (we will
come back to this later) Burrow has put himself in a position few if
any envisioned him being in a year ago.

Trait Grades (Burrow)

Arm Talent (B+) Toughness (A-) Anticipation
(A-)

Arm Strength (B-) Pocket Presence (A-) Football IQ (A)

Ball Placement (A-) Intangibles/Off Field (A-) Touch (A)

Delivery/Mechanics (B+) Running/Athleticism (B+) Throw on

Run (B+)

Tape Analysis (Burrow)

Operating as the triggerman for offensive coordinator Joe Brady’s
shotgun based spread coast system, Burrow was flawless in his
execution both on & off script. At his core, Burrow is a timing &
anticipation passer who uses his understanding of pre-snap
coverage & defender leverage to simplify his decision making
process. This speaks to his high football IQ & the system at LSU

was perfect for him in this regard. Burrow was also surrounded by
elite talent on the perimeter that made his job easier but it was still
up to Burrow to make the system function and he did as good of a
job as we have ever seen a college quarterback do in this regard.
What often is overlooked is the amount of work Burrow put in
during the off-season/summer with his receivers during the lead
up to the 2019 season. His pass catchers seemed to always be
on the same wavelength as Burrow and saw the game the same
way he did. As a result, Burrow was able to anticipate their
movements & routes which lead to an almost telepathic level of
communication & Burrow was able to throw to spots on the field
with great trust. This speaks to his leadership ability and making
sure everyone is on the same page, a behavior which is
absolutely vital at the next level.

Burrow is well versed & competent at using his eyes to move
deep defenders in order to open up windows to place the ball in
the intermediate & even deep levels of the field. His ball trajectory
and placement on fade throws (deep & back-shoulder) is the best
in this class & is a strength of his game. There are countless
examples on film of Burrow connecting on back-shoulder throws
with laser-like precision.
His ability to position his feet to match up to the type of route he is
throwing (short intermediate, deep) is uncanny for a college
quarterback & speaks to the fact that throwing with timing &
rhythm is ingrained into his DNA.

As for his ability to feel pressure and escape with great instinct &
agility is a trait developed in large part to his basketball

background where spatial awareness, reaction skills & agility are
required, especially at the point guard position. Burrow being a
distributor of the football is also a transferable trait from being a
high level point guard as his sense for spacing & timing is high
level.

Burrow plays the position with an internal clock that all offensive
coaches love their quarterbacks to have. Burrow is already
polished from this standpoint, which is the starting point for
everything he does as a player.
Shows the ability to change ball speed with ease depending upon
the type of coverage particularly on any sort of out breaking route
(8-10 yard outs, corner route) and routinely throws his targets
open in these situations as his feel for undercoverage defenders
is quite good. He is able to throw over & around these dropping
defenders.

From a technical standpoint, everything checks the box but his
throwing motion could get a bit more clean, specifically to become
a bit more quick. This is nitpicking to a degree but encouraging
Burrow to continue to refine his release & motion needs to be a
coaching point moving forward. The Joe Brady system was as QB
friendly as he will ever play in (most likely at least) so there is a
faction of analysts who say Burrow is somewhat a product of a
system. I am not willing to go that far but I do acknowledge the
fact that circumstances were truly ideal for Burrow to excel in
2019 & he was just an average player before Brady came into the
picture. Adjusting to pro football will put more stress on traits like
arm strength, overall velocity & release. Burrow does not have a

strong arm (NFL standards) so in that sense the system he goes
to will have to cater itself to this fact & not force him to become a
player he is not. One last thing to keep on eye on will be his ability
to deal with blitz pressure consistently. He played behind one of
the best offensive lines in all of college football & when he did
face immediate interior pressure either manufactured or front four,
he became hesitant & pre-determined where to go with the ball at
times resulting in him missing secondary options that became
open post snap. At times Burrow also would perceive pressure
threats (based on a blitz look or un accounted for rusher) as being
more imminent than they actually were.

Video Analysis of Burrow – QB Film Room In-Depth Look, Joe
Burrow
QB Film Room Isolation Series, Joe Burrow & Decision Making

Projection (Burrow)

For all the good that Joe Burrow put on tape in 2019 I do not
believe he is a can’t miss prospect entering Draft Day like the
handful we have seen over the years (Carson Wentz, Andrew
Luck, Matthew Stafford, Carson Palmer, Ben Roethlisberger,
John Elway) However, when you factor in all of the player data on
Burrow (pure passer, ability to throw with anticipation, feet, quick
eyes, internal clock, touch, improv skills, leadership bent, son of a
coach, football IQ & internal drive) you have many of the
hallmarks of a franchise quarterback & we view Burrow in that

light. Burrow will be a top five selection in the 2020 Draft & would
be able to play right away & produce in the right system. At best,
he will end up being a Pro Bowl player who a team can
consistently win with for years and at worst he will end up having
an opportunity to at least become a franchise quarterback in the
league but not live up to expectations. We believe that with the
right coaching & system Joe Burrow can end up being a solid,
Top 15 level starting quarterback in the league someday.