Bengals HC Taylor: Burrow is 'as advertised'

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Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is getting excited about the potential of having Joe Burrow as his quarterback.

The Bengals, who hold the first overall pick, are widely expected to select the LSU product to open Thursday night's draft.

"We feel very comfortable with him as a prospect," Taylor told ESPN's "Get Up" on Wednesday morning, according to Ben Baby. "We talked to a lot of guys, but certainly formed a really good relationship with Joe, and been really impressed with everything we've seen from him."

Burrow threw for 60 touchdowns - an NCAA FBS record - 5,671 passing yards and owned a 76.3 completion percentage in 2019. He totaled just six interceptions. Burrow also won a national title and the Heisman Trophy, capping off one of the greatest seasons by a signal-caller in college football history.

"He's as advertised," Taylor said. "All the things we heard about him, we saw from our first meeting with him and as we've gotten to know him over the last couple weeks."

The Bengals think so highly of Burrow that they're not entertaining any trade-down scenarios, reports ESPN's Dianna Russini. One source told her "we could just turn our ringers off on our phones" in regards to a trade.

During Taylor's first season as an NFL head coach in 2019, the Bengals went 2-14. Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton, who's still on the team's roster, started 13 games last year, completing 59.5% of his passes for 16 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and 3,494 yards.

Cincinnati hasn't held the first overall pick since 2003 when the franchise selected USC quarterback Carson Palmer.

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