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          Nick Saban expects Joe Burrow to have a 'fantastic' NFL career

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          How Joe Burrow reads the defense for a big play (1:34)

          Nick Saban breaks down how effectively Joe Burrow adjusted to the Clemson defense in the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship. (1:34)

          • Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterApr 13, 2020, 06:40 PM
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              Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
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          Alabama coach Nick Saban believes former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow can carry his college success into the next level.

          In an episode of "Detail" that debuted on ESPN+ on Monday, Saban praised the projected top overall pick in next week's NFL draft as he broke down Burrow's performance in LSU's victory over Clemson for the national championship in January. Burrow, the Heisman Trophy winner, was 31-of-49 passing for 463 yards and five touchdowns to cap LSU's undefeated season.

          Saban complimented Burrow's accuracy and decision-making.

          "I think Joe Burrow's got great vision, does a good job with pre-snap reads and knowing where he's going to go with the ball," Saban said. "He also can extend plays [and] scramble to throw, which I think is really, really important and puts a lot of pressure on the defense. So Joe Burrow's going to have a fantastic career in the NFL."

          During the 20-minute episode, Saban dissected Burrow's performance and his ability to read defenses and find favorable matchups against Clemson and Brent Venables, who is considered one of the top defensive coordinators in college football. LSU knocked off Clemson to win its first national championship since 2007.

          Earlier in 2019, Saban and the Crimson Tide had a firsthand look at Burrow's skills. Burrow was 31-of-39 for 393 yards and three touchdowns in LSU's 46-41 victory over Alabama and Tua Tagovailoa, who is also one of the top quarterback prospects in this year's draft.

          ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. projects the Cincinnati Bengals to select Burrow with the first overall pick. At the NFL scouting combine in February, Bengals coach Zac Taylor praised what Burrow put on tape during his final year at LSU.

          "He's very accurate," Taylor said on Feb. 25. "Just look at the targets his receivers had and the amount of catches they had; the catch-to-target ratio is incredible. That speaks a lot to the accuracy of the quarterback. There are a lot of factors that play into it, but obviously to throw 60 touchdowns to six interceptions is a special year and you have to be doing something really good."