Joe Burrow Making Adjustments Like a Veteran

[*psychdoctor*]

There is a pay wall but sounds like Burrow is ahead of the curve, which is probably not surprising to us Bengal fans.

"That’s what guys who've been playing for 8 years do. The adjustments are so easy for him because he has such great understanding of how the pieces of an offense fit together.”

Inside what the #Bengals learned during a virtual Joe Burrow crash course. https://t.co/BejDc0yFui

— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) June 22, 2020

[HarleyDog]

Sucks we couldn't read the article. He is going to be excellent for our team.

[*bengalfan74*]

I'm chomping at the bit to see him on the field, even if it's practice.

[*psychdoctor*]

Here is a similar article...very nice.

https://www.essentiallysports.com/nfl-news-joe-burrow-is-as-advertised-cincinnati-bengals-head-coach-opens-up-about-top-recruit/

[fredtoast]

If the guy is an offensive genius then why did we have to bring plays from his college team for hinm to be "comfortable". Seems like a guy with the knowledge of an 8 year NFL vet wouldn't need that.

[*Synric*]

(06-22-2020, 02:37 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: Sucks we couldn't read the article. He is going to be excellent for our team.

Quote:CINCINNATI — Even in a world where every day feels like a surreal alternate universe, it’s hard to find much more surreal than Joe Burrow screaming cadence and audible calls to his teammates, designed for use around 65,000 fans, against the walls of his parents’ house in Athens.

A few steps away is where his folks make lunch.

“It’s a weird world we are living in,” offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said, “but that’s what it was.”

What it was, more precisely, was the Zooming of Joe Burrow.

This has been the setting most days over the last month for one of the most telling and encouraging exercises in his short professional career.

Coaches were forced to carve a new path over this digital offseason teaching a rookie quarterback a system he’ll be asked to master once training camp begins as he meets many of his teammates in person for the first time.

This task required creativity, imagination and impeccable Wi-Fi.

What emerged, however, is an experimental test case in how to immerse young quarterbacks in the NFL experience and a cementing of the reasons the Bengals have always been all in on Burrow.

“Everything I would have hoped to have seen in this weird format, I saw,” quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher said, as the offseason program officially wrapped for the Bengals last week. “There’s that big void there of taking it to the field and doing it, but we have evidence of him doing it at arguably the highest level a college quarterback has ever done it six months ago. It is college football and the jump, but it’s been what I expected and he’s pleasantly verified what I thought I was going to see.”

‘That interaction was so important'

When head coach Zac Taylor, Callahan and Pitcher huddled before this unprecedented offseason program, they set a goal to get as close to simulating the basics of an in-person offseason as possible for their new quarterback.

Some elements will just be impossible. There will be no learning from interceptions. There will be no showing off physical skills or limitations. There would be no football.

There would be four two-hour Zoom sessions per week.

But the advantage would be the program could focus on teaching the offense completely without interruption from practices, all the way down to explaining the library of drills that would be used whenever practice resumes.

“We got to have these lengthy conversations about a lot of things where you don’t get the time to do that until they just come up and you are forced to do it,” Callahan said of an installation that in an average year would be based around installing enough to be able to pull off the next day’s practice. “He could wrap his brain around how everything that works for us and how he can manipulate it and spin for what he wants to do as a quarterback.”

That includes talking through the creation of a playbook that brings to life concepts Burrow liked from LSU and meshing them into the Bengals’ system.

“We looked at (LSU tape) with him and he was able to share his thoughts about what he really liked and wanted to continue doing,” Pitcher said. “He and Brian would talk about it, say, ‘We very easily can incorporate these because we already do something similar. Maybe these are new but worthwhile. These couple can go on the back burner.’ It was a natural process that takes place.”

Finding anything natural in this unnatural environment was considered a win. It’s also why the staff came away excited by what they witnessed in Zoom walk-throughs that evolved over the last month.

Once they felt like Burrow was comfortable in the offense, they wanted to re-create what would happen on the field in a normal June.

Taylor and the staff mostly didn’t want to come away from this program with teammates uncomfortable with Burrow’s voice and communication skills, specifically his vocal relationship with center Trey Hopkins running the pre-snap routine.

So, they set up a Zoom call with the entire offense. With everyone looking at film of a play, they all would be muted except for Burrow and Hopkins. Taylor then would be on a FaceTime call with Burrow with his Zoom muted. The quarterback would have an earbud with Taylor’s call acting as the helmet speaker.

Taylor would relay the call as the entire group looked at the play on film up on the screen. The play clock would start and then Burrow and Hopkins would need to work together to relay protections, audibles, checks and fire off the snap count.

A player at that point would be quickly asked to talk through their responsibility on the play or what they were thinking in the route or protection.

“It was interesting, for sure. You are trying to find every way possible to simulate him getting a play call in his ear and having to relay that information to the team and visual stimulus of a play in front of everybody,” Pitcher said. “We had to be as inventive as we could be with some of that stuff … I’m sure he had to let (his parents) know he was hollering out the cadence and not locked in a closet or something.”

The staff can joke about the process, but the communication these exercises established has turned out to be quite valuable.

“That allowed Joe to call the play, he would be with the offense, they would hear him talk, they would hear his snap count,” said Callahan, estimating they’d done this for some period of time every session since late May. “They’d hear all the things him and Trey would communicate about pre-snap. They would hear him talk through whatever the criteria was for any checks or audibles or whatever the protection calls were. Him and Trey would have a dialogue. Trey would start to point and Joe could trump it and change it and make it something else. Just to get that interaction was so important for a young quarterback, to be in front of the unit.”

‘I don’t anticipate there being a lot of mental failing’

Taylor spent most of the spring bouncing around each positional meeting and probably spent more time listening to what was going on then in a normal year. There was no dropping in on each group without the interruption of the head coach opening a door or walking around halls.

With an increased involvement elsewhere, the coach left most of the schooling of Burrow to Pitcher and Callahan.

Outside of an early meeting when the first-year quarterbacks coach accidentally forgot to let Taylor into a QBs meeting for 15 minutes as the Zoom host, the results left everyone as confident as possible heading into the potential return of practice next month.

Rookie quarterbacks always go through the failing on the field while trying to gain instinctive knowledge of the system. The process has been inverted here, with the system fully going in first and Burrow being able to take over on the fieldwork from this point forward.

This portion of the program played into his wheelhouse, but it will be interesting to see what kind of efficiency it creates in how fast he can start playing well between the lines.

“It’s a unique case study,” Pitcher said. “Something to this extent hasn’t happened before. The failing — there’s value in that. There’s value in testing the physical limits. Seeing, OK, I’m going to fit this throw in there, not the best idea. Or maybe I can fit this throw in there. We are very fortunate working with Joe and his skill set, I don’t anticipate there being a lot of mental failing when it comes to Joe. He works extremely hard — don’t get me wrong, he’s a rookie but he’s going to make mistakes as any rookie in that are — but getting to work with him as much as we have between Zac and Cally and myself, I feel really good where we are at as far as that goes.”

‘I know you are, but we’re not’

Many have wondered about Burrow getting the group of receivers together for a throwing session as we’ve seen other quarterbacks put together around the league — whether Josh Allen with the Bills in Florida or Matt Ryan with the Falcons in Atlanta.

The hope is a group, led by Burrow and A.J. Green, is aiming to throw something together after the Fourth of July holiday. Even just starting to establish chemistry and relationships will be a plus, but the logistics are still in motion and obvious uncertainties abound.

Regardless, when they arrive together whenever training camp or a potential earlier acclimation period begins, Burrow won’t be coming in blind in the first steps toward establishing leadership and belief in his abilities from teammates and coaches.

He may be a rookie and treated like a rookie, but it’s clear they are dealing with somebody different. The instinctual nature of Burrow’s football knowledge, particularly in analyzing the big picture of every play, was the most obvious takeaway of the last few months.

“He’s a coach’s kid, so he’s been hanging around football since he was a little kid,” said Callahan, notably also a coach’s kid, son of former head coach and current Browns offensive line coach Bill Callahan. “He’s got such a feel for it. A lot of these things aren’t new for him. Maybe the translation of how it hits his brain and word of it is different, but it’s not new. He picks things up really quickly and has an analytical brain where once he has command of it, now he knows how to fit the pieces together. What if I do this and this in this situation? Great, I love that, that’s what guys who have been playing for eight years do. The adjustments are so easy for him because he has such great understanding of how the pieces of an offense fit together versus a defense.”

Callahan acknowledges Burrow probably got bored at times, not just from being tired of Zoom meetings along with the rest of the working world, but the coaches made a point to coach everyone at a rookie pace even though his thought process might be many steps ahead of those basics.

“Sometimes he would say things early on and I’d say, we are not talking about that right now, let’s just get through what we need to get through here and then we can revisit that later,” Callahan said. “We will probably answer that question you have in a day or two days or three days because we are not there yet. I know you are, but we’re not.”

There’s only so much you can show in these sessions. The coaches used an app called Notability that allows you to share screens and write live with the Apple Pencil to simulate whiteboard work. They found that handy to help Burrow or Ryan Finley or Jake Dolegala work the board and constantly be teaching the plays and concepts back to the coaches.

Anything to break up the monotony.

The consistent takeaway from all the coaches involved was Burrow’s unrelenting desire to make sure he had this system understood. That much was obvious. As was the advanced nature of his acumen.

These are all traits they knew they were getting from Burrow or had heard enough stories about during the draft process to assume it to be true, but to see it in motion in this unorthodox setting was striking.

“The ability to take a concept that takes some guys maybe an offseason to learn, it would take a huge concept and he’s immediately thinking about the next level of things,” Callahan said. “’What can I get to that’s better than this? What if we get this coverage, I don’t like this look here what can I do?’ Well, here’s your options. OK, good.

“His processing information and applying it to the next level was what was really impressive to me.”

The field awaits. Putting the arm in lockstep with the brain comes next. He’s still a rookie and nobody expects perfection. But he enters with a base of knowledge for what the Bengals are trying to accomplish that almost no rookie quarterback is afforded upon taking his first snap in a pro helmet.

Will that make a difference? Nobody knows. But forced by life to find a new way to groom a rookie quarterback, the Bengals did just that and feel as good as you can about what they were actually able to get from it.

Specifically, what Burrow was able to get from it. It lays the foundation of not just learning the offense, but also earning the respect of the entire team.

“He comes in right away because he understands all of it and he has a ton of confidence and a ton of command,” Callahan said, “and I think those guys are immediately drawn to that.”

[Essex Johnson]

To be honest I read the article and really read like a fluff piece of Bengals beat writer that many beat up on would have put together..

[Nicomo Cosca]

(06-22-2020, 02:37 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: Sucks we couldn't read the article. He is going to be excellent for our team.

The Athletic usually offers a free trial.

I love this part...

“Sometimes he would say things early on and I’d say, we are not talking about that right now, let’s just get through what we need to get through here and then we can revisit that later,” Callahan said. “We will probably answer that question you have in a day or two days or three days because we are not there yet. I know you are, but we’re not.”

No wonder the coaches don’t feel like Burrow needed a veteran backup.

[impactplaya]

(06-22-2020, 03:04 PM)fredtoast Wrote: If the guy is an offensive genius then why did we have to bring plays from his college team for hinm to be "comfortable".  Seems like a guy with the knowledge of an 8 year NFL vet wouldn't need that.

What's the point of drafting a QB and handing him a playbook 
He has no.concept of?  Aren't you farther ahead of the curve 
By instilling a system with concepts and terminology he already 
Has a good working knowledge of?
Gruden did the same with AD.
Nothing wrong in how ZT and BC are adapting a playbook 
To Burrows strengths. 

[Nicomo Cosca]

(06-22-2020, 03:09 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: To be honest I read the article and really read like a fluff piece of Bengals beat writer that many beat up on would have put together..

Wtf are you talking about? “Fluff piece?” It’s bit of BTS insight on how the team is handling these unprecedented times where they can’t have everyone together. Personally I found it pretty interesting. I’m also grateful this all didn’t happen under Marvin and the old regime tbh. I can only imagine those old school guys trying to handle all the technology, simulations, etc. Other than the QB coach forgetting to add ZT to the group for a few minutes (lol) it sounds like they’re doing a pretty good job under the circumstances.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(06-22-2020, 04:08 PM)impactplaya Wrote: What's the point of drafting a QB and handing him a playbook 
He has no.concept of?  Aren't you farther ahead of the curve 
By instilling a system with concepts and terminology he already 
Has a good working knowledge of?
Gruden did the same with AD.
Nothing wrong in how ZT and BC are adapting a playbook 
To Burrows strengths. 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

(06-22-2020, 04:56 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Wtf are you talking about? “Fluff piece?” It’s bit of BTS insight on how the team is handling these unprecedented times where they can’t have everyone together. Personally I found it pretty interesting. I’m also grateful this all didn’t happen under Marvin and the old regime tbh. I can only imagine those old school guys trying to handle all the technology, simulations, etc. Other than the QB coach forgetting to add ZT to the group for a few minutes (lol) it sounds like they’re doing a pretty good job under the circumstances.

Didn't even make it to the end of the bolded and I yelled out, "oh GOD no!"

[Pat5775]

(06-22-2020, 04:08 PM)impactplaya Wrote: What's the point of drafting a QB and handing him a playbook 
He has no.concept of?  Aren't you farther ahead of the curve 
By instilling a system with concepts and terminology he already 
Has a good working knowledge of?
Gruden did the same with AD.
Nothing wrong in how ZT and BC are adapting a playbook 
To Burrows strengths. 

Never ever give Fred what he wants: attention

[Lucidus]

I'm extremely excited to see Joe Burrow leading the Bengals. I hope so much that we get to see that this season.

[Wes Mantooth]

[*Nately120*]

(06-22-2020, 03:04 PM)fredtoast Wrote: If the guy is an offensive genius then why did we have to bring plays from his college team for hinm to be "comfortable".  Seems like a guy with the knowledge of an 8 year NFL vet wouldn't need that.

Because there is a chance ZT isn't exactly Bill Walsh and needs all the help he can get?

[*bengalfan74*]

(06-22-2020, 04:57 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote:

Yep

[HarleyDog]

Great article. Thanks for posting in full Synric. Although I read 1 line too far thinking it was a quote from Burrow, but it was Dangerfield

[George Cantstandya]

Here is something I have been wondering about as far as Joe mania recently. Joe has not signed his contract yet as well as many other 1st and later round picks. I read somewhere that some draft picks are waiting to see what happens with Covid-19 before signing. Say the 2020 NFL season ends up being canceled due to Covid-19 and Joe has not signed by then. From what I understand NFL teams only retain signing rights of those drafted during the current season. So... If he doesn't sign before then and the season is canceled he could have a reason not to sign since he would not be playing in 2020 anyway. I guess the main reason to still sign during a canceled season would be the guaranteed 1st round 1OA money. But if for some reason he isn't really sold on being a Bengal and wanted to take a chance being drafted by another team, maybe he'd pass and wait for the 2021 draft where he would most certainly be taken in the top 3 anyway.

Then of course there is the question of what the 2021 draft would look like if there is no 2020 season. Many suggest it would be a lottery system weighted on the 2019 standings. That certainly does not give the Bengals a guaranteed 1OA pick by any means to redraft him. It could be very complicated. I guess in the case of a canceled 2020 season the NFL could try to make arrangements with the NFL Players Association to do something to make sure NFL teams retain the signing rights of their 2020 draft picks. Maybe in the case of a canceled season, teams would still hold signing rights to 2020 drafted players through 2021 season. Otherwise there may be a lot of players that were drafted in 2020 that didn't sign before the season was canceled entering the 2021 draft again. Many of those would have a lot more value than current college players that may not get to play this year to prove themselves more and were planning to play this year and enter the 2021 draft.

So I'm thinking one way or the other, if the 2020 season is canceled, the NFL would have to find a way for teams to retain the signing rights of their 2020 draft picks through 2021.

[Nicomo Cosca]

A lot of draft picks aren’t signed yet at this point of the summer even in normal years. I don’t think we need to start worrying about him not being a Bengal again. We’ve already been through all that nonsense.