While Joe Burrow had a statistically brilliant season for the LSU Tigers, Cian Fahey does not believe that the quarterback is automatically destined for greatness.
Burrow led the Tigers to victory in the 2020 National Championship Game and won several awards and honours, including the Heisman Trophy for his efforts.
Fahey was speaking on The Snap and while he felt that Burrow has plenty of potential, he warned against reading too much into the impressive statistics.
“I think the first thing you have to do is ignore the numbers because the numbers in college don’t really mean anything.
“Especially when you can go through the historical numbers and the guys who are at the top of each list and they went nowhere in the NFL.
“A guy like Case Keenum had incredible numbers in college and he was one of the better guys in those top ten lists where most of those guys didn’t even play in the NFL."
Fahey also stated that the LSU quarterback owes a lot of his success to his wide receivers, who he tipped to have big futures in the NFL.
“The thing you would mention about Burrow’s numbers though is that he’s at the top of everything. He had the most impressive statistical season a college quarterback has ever had.
“The reason he had that in a large part was that he had an incredible supporting cast. He had two wide receivers there who I think could both be superstars in the NFL.
“Both make incredible adjustments with the ball in the air, both run incredible routes, they’re brilliant after the catch, they’re physical specimens and incredible talents.
“They’re very precise and very accurate in what they’re doing technically and in what they’re doing timing-wise and how they react to situations,” Fahey commented.
While many have compared Burrow to the Patriots’ Tom Brady, Fahey felt that a comparison with the Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan was more apt.
Joe Burrow and Matt Ryan comparisons
“Not to completely take away from Burrow, I think that’s the way you explain his production. Away from his production, you reveal a quarterback at Matt Ryan level.
“For me, Matt Ryan has been one of the top quarterbacks in the league for a decade. He is incredibly poised, incredibly composed, very accurate but not a huge arm.
“The thing I liked about Burrow was his pocket movement and how he can adjust to pressure and read pressure and feel what was happening around him while being able to read what was happening down the field.
“As a passer, I think there are probably some limitations and people would say the same about Matt Ryan. There are some huge limitations in that he doesn’t have a huge arm,” Fahey said.
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