2020 NFL mock draft: Cincinnati Bengals take Joe Burrow at No. 1, as you’d expect

The SB Nation NFL writers’ mock draft is a spring tradition like none other. We’ve been putting together this group mock draft since 2007. While the faces and names making the picks have changed multiple times over the years, the mock draft has carried on. In its 14th year, the mock draft calls on the SB Nation NFL team sites to make the pick for their favorite team.

This involves you, too. For each pick we’re running a poll asking for your grade. That’s right: mock draft pick grades, something even better than actual way-too-soon draft grades. We also want your predictions on what will happen next in the comments. So check back often because over the next two weeks, we’re running picks every day until we finish off with the Kansas City Chiefs. Now enough introduction and on to the first pick of the mock:

The top of the 2020 NFL Draft is a little anticlimactic. Even before the Cincinnati Bengals secured the first selection in the draft, it seemed destined LSU quarterback Joe Burrow would become the No. 1 pick.

For Jason Marcum of Cincy Jungle, the choice is an obvious to get us started.

Marcum: This is an easy call for the Bengals, as Burrow is a can’t-miss QB prospect who will breathe new life into a franchise that’s fallen on hard times. Burrow did it all at the college level and has the tools needed to be a top-tier passer in the pros. He’ll be a strong Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate with weapons like A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, Auden Tate, John Ross, and Joe Mixon at his disposal. And Burrow has shown he can play great even when his offensive line struggles, something he’ll have to get used to in a hurry with the Bengals still deficient throughout the trenches.

While the Bengals have rarely won big in their long history, they’ve had some great quarterbacks come through the Queen City, and Burrow has a chance to be the greatest of them all. This should be the easiest call to make for any NFL team in the entire 2020 draft, and no trade offer should keep the Bengals from making Burrow the No. 1 overall selection.

Analysis: There’s not a lot to say about this choice at this stage. In our standard weekly Monday mock drafts, I’ve run out of ways to say why the Bengals should or will take Burrow. It is purely logical. The greater issue becomes what they do with incumbent quarterback Andy Dalton. Could he be a draft weekend trade? Ideally, Burrow should start as a rookie to get acclimated to that group of offensive weapons. It’s the best chance for the Bengals to crawl out of the AFC North basement.

Coming up next in the 14th annual SB Nation NFL writers’ mock draft is Ken Meringolo of Hogs Haven making the pick for Washington.