Joe Burrow, LSU Football News: Draft Scout Player News

04/05/20 - QB Joe Burrow, rSr/2020, LSU

After leading LSU to the CFP national championship, winning the Heisman Trophy and setting an NCAA FBS single-season record for touchdown passes, quarterback Joe Burrow is the odds-on favorite to be the first player picked in the 2020 NFL Draft. The 85th NFL Draft is scheduled for April 23-25, with the opening night devoted to the first round. The Cincinnati Bengals hold the first selection. If the Bengals (or a trading partner) make Burrow the first of the 32 opening-round selections, the quarterback would become the 20th former SEC player to be the No. 1 pick. It also would be the 11th time that LSU has provided the first player drafted from the conference. An LSU player hasn't been the first pick from the conference since 2007, when the Oakland Raiders used the No. 1 selection on Tigers quarterback JaMarcus Russell, a former Williamson High School star.

Twelve LSU players have been first-round choices since then, including eight among the top six picks, but none was the first selection from the SEC. The first SEC player picked in the 2019 NFL Draft was Alabama defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, who went to the New York Jets with the third choice. That marked the 13th time that an Alabama player had been the first SEC selection, the most in the conference. If Burrow beats Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa off the draft board on April 23, the 2020 NFL Draft would be the 28th in a row without the same SEC member providing the first player picked in consecutive years. That most recently happened in the 1991 and 1992 drafts, with Tennessee offensive tackle Charles McRae joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 7 in 1991 and Volunteers defensive back Dale Carter joining the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 20 in 1992. - Birmingham News

rSr/2020