Burrow vs. Herbert

[Fan_in_Kettering]

If this was 2003, not 2020, drafting Justin Herbert over Joe Burrow would make sense. Back then the Bengals had a credible offensive line and a more aggressive approach toward pushing the ball down the field. If we take personalities out of the equation and examine this issue purely analytically, Justin Herbert is much more like Carson Palmer.

The 2020 Cincinnati Bengals do not feature a wide open offense. The playcalling is necessarily conservative due to the substandard offensive line. The knock on Joe Burrow is he does not throw an accurate deep ball. For the moment that may be true but that’s not a concern in 2020. As another poster accurately stated, placing Justin Herbert behind the current Cincinnati offensive line would be a disaster. His statistics would not nearly look so good. For now we are forced to admit the Chargers have a far better offensive line than the Bengals do which gives Herbert protection while deep routes develop.

In the near future with a better line the Bengals will begin throwing deep again and I have no doubt Joe Burrow will increase his precision and accuracy on long passes. For now, however, I’m very pleased where Joe is at this point in the season. I’ll take completed passes on ten yard slant routes and checkdowns all day.