NFL Draft: Joe Burrow to Bengals?

ESPN staff writer Ben Baby writes the Cincinnati Bengals have drifted from playoff contention to 2-14, the league's worst record in 2019, and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. Their official attendance was the lowest since 1993. Getting in and out of games requires little time or effort. Enter former LSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow.

Fans and pundits have lavished superlatives on Burrows, who grew up in Athens in southeast Ohio, a region of Appalachia without a strong football pedigree. Nationally, the Bengals find themselves in the same situation. And Burrow, who was overlooked but brought success to another region of Ohio not known for it, could be the person to change it all.

If the Bengals draft Burrow on April 23, calling him a "hometown kid" might be a bit of a stretch, even if he spent the majority of his childhood in Ohio.