Burrow selected No. 1 overall by Bengals

BATON ROUGE – LSU’s Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Joe Burrow added his name to exclusive list Thursday night as he was selected with the first overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL Draft.

Originally scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, the NFL Draft was held virtually due to Covid 19. Burrow got the call from the Bengals at his parents home in Athens, Ohio.

“It’s a dream come true,” Burrow said during an interview with ESPN shortly after he was selected.

Burrow becomes the third LSU Tiger selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft, joining running back Billy Cannon in 1960 by the Los Angeles Rams and quarterback JaMarcus Russell in 2007, who was picked by the Oakland Raiders. He’s also the 43rd first round pick in LSU football history and the fifth for head coach Ed Orgeron.

Burrow is the 20th player in SEC history to be selected No. 1 overall and the first for the league since Myles Garrett (Texas A&M) in 2017.

Burrow joined Cannon as LSU’s second Heisman Trophy winner in December. He led LSU to a 15-0 overall mark and the 2019 national championship as a senior. Burrow becomes the first Tiger drafted by the Bengals since running back Jeremy Hill was taken in the second round in 2014. The Bengals selected former Tiger running back Charles Alexander in the first round in 1979.

Burrow, the most decorated player in LSU history, set numerous records on his way to leading the Tigers to the most dominant season in college football history. Burrow set the NCAA single-season record for passing TDs in a season (60) and TDs accounted for (65)

As a senior, Burrow broke nearly every passing record in school history, completing 402-of-527 passes for 5,6721 yards and 60 touchdowns. His 76.3 completion percentage in 2019 ranks No. 2 in NCAA history.

Burrow directed an LSU offense that led the nation with 48.4 points per game and 568.4 total yards a contest. LSU became the first team in NCAA history to feature a 5,000-yard passer, two 1,000-yard receivers and a 1,000-yard rusher.

Burrow is the first of what could be as many as five Tigers selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.