Chase Young, Joe Burrow Top The Athletic's 2020 NFL Draft Consensus Big Board

Unsurprisingly, former Ohio State edge-rusher Chase Young finished at No. 1 on The Athletic's 2020 NFL draft consensus big board published Monday with Heisman Trophy-winning LSU quarterback Joe Burrow coming in at No. 2. 

"For seven years, I've gathered rankings across NFL draft media of the players eligible for the draft," The Athletic's Arif Hasan explained. "This allows me to produce a 'consensus' or aggregate ranking of those players, producing data that we can break down even further to find out more useful nuggets about the draft."

Hasan continued: 

"One type of analyst, the 'forecasters,' tend to have much more access to NFL and college personnel, which gives them information about injury concerns, character, off-field issues and behind-the-scenes information that could change our understanding of a player one way or the other. The other group, the 'evaluators,' rely on public data—primarily college game film and advanced statistics."

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller also had Young and Burrow at Nos. 1 and 2 respectively on his latest big board. Burrow was evaluated by Miller as being the most accurate, having the best pocket awareness and becoming the best day one starter among all quarterback prospects. Miller graded Young as the best 4-3 end as well as possessing the best speed and best potential as a day one starter.

Burrow has been widely projected to go No. 1 overall instead of Young because of the Cincinnati Bengals' desperation for a franchise quarterback.

The league-worst 2-14 Bengals benched veteran starter Andy Dalton last October for 2019 fourth-rounder Ryan Finley, who underperformed enough for Cincinnati to tap Dalton again as the starter to finish the season. Carson Palmer is the Bengals' last first-round quarterback, taken No. 1 overall in 2003.

"He's worthy of being the No. 1 pick," Palmer said, per Forbes' Michael LoRe. "There's no doubt in my mind about it."

Burrow produced one of the all-time best collegiate campaigns by a quarterback last season, leading an undefeated LSU to a national championship. The Ohio native set multiple records with 5,671 yards, 60 touchdowns and six interceptions on 76.3 percent accuracy.

However, Burrow likely won't enjoy the same success right away in Cincy. Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning disclosed on ESPN that he has warned him of that (h/t Yahoo Sports):

"He called me about some of the things that I tried to do when I was a rookie that maybe he can apply to his NFL career—looks like it's going to be with the Cincinnati Bengals. I said, 'Joe, when you're the first pick in the NFL Draft, you are going to a team that has really earned the first pick in the NFL Draft'. There are going to be some holes there and there's a reason the Colts are picking number one that year, there's a reason the Bengals are picking number one this year.

"So other people have to step up, have to give him some help. But I tried to tell him it's a marathon, not a sprint."

The Bengals haven't won a playoff game since 1990.

As for Young, he doesn't seem phased by the foregone conclusion he will go No. 2 to Washington, whose FedEx Field is just 15 minutes away from where he played high school football at DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Maryland:

Young became the all-time Ohio State leader in single-season sacks with 16.5 last season despite being suspended two games for violating NCAA rules after accepting a loan from a family friend.

Washington used its first-round pick last year on an Ohio State product by drafting quarterback Dwayne Haskins at No. 15 overall.

The team is entering a new era in many respects. Long-time president Bruce Allen was fired and Ron Rivera was hired as the new head coach in December. Rivera is a defensive-minded coach who will look to improve a 27th-ranked unit from 2019. Young would certainly accelerate that process.