Joe Burrow Confirms He'd Play for Bengals If Taken No. 1 in 2020 NFL Draft

LSU quarterback Joe Burrow said Tuesday at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine he's going to "show up" to whichever franchise selects him in the 2020 draft, dispelling speculation he might try to engineer a move away from the Cincinnati Bengals, who own the No. 1 overall pick.

"I'll play for whoever drafts me," Burrow told reporters before noting he hasn't spoken directly to members of the Bengals' front office or coaching staff yet. "Of course I wanna be the first pick."

Here are the rest of his comments about a willingness to play for any team:

Although Burrow never said he wasn't going to play for the Bengals, some of his remarks from earlier in the predraft process led to speculation about his future.

The quarterback said on the Dan Patrick Show in January he wanted to join a franchise "committed" to winning championships. Cincinnati has zero titles in 50 years.

"You want to go No. 1," he said. "But you also want to go to a great organization that is committed to winning. Committed to winning Super Bowls."

Then last week he wouldn't directly answer a question from Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about whether he'd be OK with joining the Bengals.

"Look, this is a long process, right?" Burrow said. "They have their process that they have to go through, and so I am blessed to be in the position I'm in. If they select me, they select me, I'm going to do everything in my power to be the best football player I can be."

He turned the tables Tuesday when asked about seemingly being noncommittal toward Cincinnati.

"You guys kinda took that narrative and ran with it," Burrow told reporters.

Cincinnati won't get a closer look at Burrow on the field this week as he announced he won't take part in throwing drills or other aspects of the workout during the combine.

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner also made headlines Monday with his tongue-in-cheek response to Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson reporting his hands measured nine inches, which is on the small side for a quarterback:

Ultimately, the Bengals were always likely to select Burrow unless he came straight out and said, either privately or publicly, he wouldn't report to the franchise.

He eliminated those concerns Tuesday and is a virtual lock to hear is name called first when the NFL draft gets underway April 23 in Las Vegas.