LSU 'Unlocked' Joe Burrow's 'Superpower,' Says NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah

A year ago, quarterback Joe Burrow was considered a potential mid-round pick with little hope of ascending into the first-round conversation. After putting together perhaps the single greatest individual season in NCAA history, Burrow is now considered a lock to be the No. 1 overall pick.

So, what changed?

According to NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah, LSU's scheme under Joe Brady helped unlock Burrow's "superpower" to see the entire field.

"You look at this year. He gets [passing-game coordinator] Joe Brady in there. He becomes a master of the offense," Jeremiah told Peter King of NBC Sports. "At the beginning of the season, they were in a bunch of six-man protection, which he's playing really well. And he said eventually Joe Brady said in Week 3 or 4, 'Let's just go five-man protection. Let's get everybody out into the route.' When they did that, [he] completed about 80 percent from that point on.

"His superpower is his ability to see the entire field, to work through progressions, and then throw the ball accurately. So they kind of unlocked that superpower this last year. And the rest is history."

Jeremiah compared LSU's scheme in 2019 favorably to 2018, which saw the Tigers often max protect Burrow with seven players. That limited his ability to scan the field and find open targets.

"Burrow, his greatest gift, and you can see it this year when you watch him, is he has the vision to be able to take a snapshot of the entire field, to see everything, to process, and to throw accurately," Jeremiah said.

"Well, when you're in seven-man protection and you limit the number of guys that can get out on a route, you're limiting the answers you can give somebody. He was handicapped by them trying to mass protect him. There's no room for him to use his athletic ability to take off and go if you want. There's no room for him to slide around, more around, find windows. It was just a congested brand of football."

The numbers speak for themselves. Burrow threw for 2,894 yards and 16 touchdowns against five interceptions in 2018. In 2019, those numbers ascended to 5,671 yards and an NCAA-record 60 touchdowns against six interceptions. Burrow ran away with the Heisman Trophy, receiving a record 90.7 percent of the first-place votes, and led LSU to a national championship.

Burrow, an Ohio native who started his career at Ohio State, will all but surely be heading back to his home state when the Bengals take him No. 1 overall in April. He'll be playing in an offense run by Zac Taylor, a Sean McVay protege who struggled in his first season as an NFL head coach.

Taylor's scheme is similar to McVay's, using a ton of play action and offensive sets with the quarterback lined up under center. Most of Burrow's work last season was done out of the shotgun.