NFL prospects pondering threat of season lost to virus

COLUMBUS, OHIO — Joe Burrow was a competent if unspectacular quarterback as a backup at Ohio State and during his first post-transfer season at LSU. In 2019, he transformed into Super Joe.

Imagine if a pandemic had shortened or wiped out that last, golden season for Burrow, who won the Heisman Trophy and led LSU to the national championship. Would he still have emerged as the first overall NFL draft pick by the woeful Cincinnati Bengals?

These times have brought extra anxiety for current college players hoping for a Burrow-like season or at least one that will raise their profile with NFL scouts. The virus threat did away with spring football and in-person workouts on campus. And nobody can say yet what the 2020 season will look like, or if there will be one at all.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Ohio State’s Josh Myers, a second-team All-Big Ten center last year and an NFL prospect. “That’s time we can never get back.“

“It’s a critical (year) for development, getting that much more experience and elevating our games to an even higher level,” said Myers, a fourth-year junior. “So even the thought of not playing this season is terrifying and absolute worst-case scenario.”

There are examples all over the NFL of how important a college season can be. Dwayne Haskins Jr. — who beat out Burrow as the starter at Ohio State, leading Burrow to transfer — went from backup to one-year superstar in 2018. He threw for 50 touchdowns and led the Buckeyes to a 13-1 record and Rose Bowl victory. The 15th overall pick in the 2019 draft, he is now the presumptive starter for the Washington Redskins.

Burrow acknowledged becoming a different and far better player in one year. “I wasn’t very good my junior year,” he said. “I worked really hard to get better.”

Burrow didn’t have the challenge of being sheltered at home for a long stretch, missing spring practice and being left to his own devices to work out, eat right and study film in preparation for a season that might not happen.

Penn State tackle Will Fries announced in December he would return for a fifth year, before the pandemic changed everything. He insisted he doesn’t regret the decision. “There’s nothing I can do about it,” said Fries, an All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2019.

Myers and fellow Ohio State lineman Wyatt Davis, an All-American who passed up the draft to return for a fourth year, are unequivocal about their need for a 2020 season, whether it involves playing in empty stadiums, extreme quarantining and even signing a waiver of liability. “I was looking so forward to this season, because I felt like last season I was just barely breaching the surface,“said Davis. “This is a very big year for me.”

Since shutdowns interrupted spring football practices in March, coaches are trying to stay on top of their squads with video meetings and calls. Still, it’s mostly left to players who are 18, 19 and 20 years old to keep themselves in game shape and act right.

ASSOCIATED PRESS 2017 Penn State offensive lineman Will Fries announced in December he would return for a fifth year, before the pandemic. He says he doesn’t regret the decision, adding, “There’s nothing I can do about it.”