Is it time to hit the panic button in Cincinnati? Things are getting out of hand.
Two anonymous GMs recently said that the Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson and Chicago Bears’ QB Caleb Williams have a higher ceiling than Cincinnati Bengals Joe Burrow.
Cincinnati drafted Joe Burrow with the #1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and that choice proved extremely beneficial.
Burrow is one of the best quarterbacks in the game and he’s led Cincinnati to back-to-back AFC Championship Games. Despite his success, one NFL general manager believes Caleb Williams would’ve been the top pick in 2020 or 2021 when Trevor Lawrence went No. 1 overall.
Williams Vs Cincinnati Joe
Mark Miller spoke with an anonymous NFC scout who offered an even more detailed take on what sets Caleb Williams apart from so many others.
If the expectations for weren’t high enough already, these comments are just fuel added to the fire. In a relatively short period of time, Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence have seen great success in the NFL.
So, Caleb Williams will have a lot to live up to.
What about Lamar?
Lamar Jackson is younger than Joe Burrow
If they both reached the same “passer” and “decision making” ceiling, then Lamar’s running/athletic ceiling would be higher than Joe. Lamar is more athletic than Joe.
However, Joe Burrow doesn’t do anything that Lamar can’t do. Yet, Lamar does A LOT things that Joe Burrow could never do on his best day. Joe Burrow is 100% dependent on his pass catching talent. Lamar can carry a subpar talent around him to a win.
Lamar is the Ravens’ future. Joe is costing the Bengals $29.7Million.
Jackson was selected two years ahead of Burrow in the draft, giving him an advantage in his career. Both players are Heisman Trophy winners. After joining the league in 2018, Jackson finally took over as the starting quarterback in his first season and he was nothing but remarkable.
Meanwhile, Burrow is at 13,982 career passing yards and 598 rushing yards to go along with 96 touchdown passes and 10 rushing scores in 51 career games
Jackson averages 180 passing yards, 61 rushing yards and just under two scores per game (1.75).
Perception VS Reality
The issue here is that there has only been one weakness Burrow has had in his career at Cincinnati, it’s availability and he’s got to find that a balance. Not all quarterbacks have to do this but he’s rare in that he’s long, he’s tall, he’s got long arms long legs that provide a blend of big muscle armor. On the other hand, Lamar can still move in the pocket and move around and be slippery and extend plays that many QBs cannot.
There’s a precipitous drop off when we talk about individual accomplishments and ability. Lamar took over for a losing team and took them to the playoffs.
He was MVP that season and he led the league in passing touchdowns.
Burrow trails Jackson by just a small margin as a passer despite playing 29 fewer games. Regardless, it doesn’t appear like the two are especially close in numbers. Although Burrow averages 274 passing yards a game, he is completely outmatched by Jackson in the run game.
An argument could be made for either party, but when it comes to wins as a potential tiebreaker, Jackson clearly gets the nod. The Baltimore quarterback has a 52–19 record while Burrow is barely above .500 at 29–21–1. The postseason, though, is an entirely different animal.
Burrow has missed 13 games in 4 seasons – that’s an entire season. That has to matter.
He is just as likely to finish the season injured as he is to finish the season in the AFC championship
It is either an “A” grade or he doesn’t attend the class – with Joe Burrow it is feast or famine in Cincinnati.
He has to show up and he has to play the whole season in Cincinnati. He has to go back to where he was when healthy, so he has a lot to prove. You cannot be a top player in football or an absentee. The best ability is availability.
Despite being quite different players, both provide nearly the same amount of scoring but in different ways. It is much less of a gray area in terms of winning, though. Jackson had far greater success throughout the regular season, but Burrow shines during the postseason for the Cincinnati Bengals.