College football 2020: 5 QBs who could pull off next “Joe Burrow” leap
By John Scimeca
Which returning college football quarterback will see a seismic leap in production, win the Heisman and lead his team to a national title?
Admit it, you didn’t see Joe Burrow’s senior year coming before the fall of 2019.
The Ohio native didn’t even throw 40 passes total in his three seasons at Ohio State, the first of which was spent as a redshirt freshman. Upon arriving at LSU as a junior, Burrow completed 57.8 percent of his passes and only threw for 16 touchdowns while directing a run-oriented Tigers offense. The Bayou Bengals would finish that season (2018) with three losses.
Fast forward to 2019 and to the story that all of us know well: Joe Brady from the New Orleans Saints came to implement the new passing attack, Burrow spent the offseason improving his accuracy, a talented wide receivers corp jelled, and LSU quickly became the team to beat of the season.
The Tigers vanquished every opponent last season and celebrated under the confetti in the Superdome after Burrow completed 76.3 percent of his passes, threw for nearly double his passing yardage from 2018 (5,671 yards), and connected for an astounding 60 scores. In the four seasons prior to 2019, LSU quarterbacks completed a combined 59 touchdown passes.
Who could complete a similarly drastic improvement in 2020?
To make this list, these quarterbacks must be in their fourth year entering the 2020 football season. They must also slightly underachieve but have some untapped potential. Lastly, they must have a talented supporting cast returning that’s ready to propel the program past the juggernauts of Clemson, Alabama, and Ohio State to lift up the national championship trophy.
Here are five quarterbacks who could, against the odds, pull a “Joe Burrow” and lead their teams to glory in 2020.