The 2020 NFL draft takes place on Friday, April 24, and for the second year in a row, it’s a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and an Ohio State defensive end that will likely headline the draft class. In 2019 it was Kyler Murray and Nick Bosa, and this year, LSU’s Joe Burrow and Ohio State’s Chase Young sit atop most mock drafts with the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins having the luxury of drafting a potential franchise-altering player.


But just how much of an impact can Burrow and Young have in their first NFL season? Let’s take a look back at the seasons that Murray and Bosa had in their rookie year and see what could be in store for Cincinnati and Washington.

 

  

Kyler Murray Embedded Image


After throwing for 4,361 yards, winning the Heisman and leading Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff in 2018, Murray went first overall to the Arizona Cardinals, running 2018 first-round pick Josh Rosen out of town. Murray’s impact was immediate, throwing for 308 yards and two touchdowns and scoring 18 fourth-quarter unanswered points in a Week 1 tie against the Detroit Lions.  Despite throwing for more than 240 yards in three of his first four games, Murray would have to wait until Week 5 to pick up his first career win, beating the Bengals 26-23. Murray followed that up by winning NFC Player of the Week in a career-best game, throwing for 340 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers. When all was said and done the 22-year-old quarterbacked the Cardinals to a 5-10-1 record (up from the team’s 3-13 record in 2018), he sat 15th in the league with 3,722 passing yards and logged 20 passing touchdowns. His dual-threat ability saw him rush for 544 yards and four touchdowns. At times Murray struggled with turnovers, throwing an interception in half of his games while throwing two interceptions in a game twice and had a career-high four turnovers in a Week 13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Some of Murray’s struggles would be, thanks to the Cardinals offensive line, giving up 3.2 sacks per game in 2018, and the issues continued in 2019 as Murray was sacked 48 times – tied for the league high with Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson. Despite the turnovers and O-line issues, Murray and the Cardinals ended the season on a high note, winning two of their last three games by beating the Cleveland Browns and taking down a Seattle Seahawks team that was fighting for first in the division. Murray’s rookie campaign was good enough to see him take home 2019 NFL AP Offensive Rookie of the Year honours.

 

Nick Bosa Embedded Image


It wasn’t a picture-perfect ending to his Ohio State career in 2018 as Nick Bosa underwent core-muscle surgery in September and on Oct. 16 announced that he was withdrawing from Ohio State for the rest of the season. But NFL scouts had seen enough during his first two seasons in the NCAA and Bosa went second overall to the San Francisco 49ers. Similar to Murray, Bosa wasted no time making his mark and picked up his first career sack in a Week 1 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bosa would get his first NFL primetime opportunity in Week 5 during Monday Night Football against the Cleveland Browns. Bosa’s talents were on full display with four combined tackles, three QB knockdowns, and two sacks as the 22-year-old was too much to handle that night and the 49ers cruised to an easy 31-3 win. The best game of Bosa’s season came just a few weeks later, when he recorded a career-high three sacks and caught his only NFL interception in a win over the Carolina Panthers; he won NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Browns and Panthers, and Player of the Month in October. The Florida native was a mainstay on a 49ers defence that went from basement dwellers to the No. 1 seed in the NFC; his nine sacks were second on the team behind the 10 from Arik Armstead. In the playoffs, Bosa was big, recording at least one sack in each of the team’s three games (four total) making 15 combined tackles and pressuring the quarterback 12 times. Bosa won 2019 NFL AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and was recognized with some of the other game’s best players by being named to the Pro Bowl team.

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