The 2020 season didn’t go as anyone had planned for former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow.

But that doesn’t have anything to with his performance — Burrow was on track for Rookie of the Year, completing 65% of his passes for 2,688 yards, 13 touchdowns and 142 yards rushing yards with three scores on the ground.

But his season was brought to an unfortunate end when he suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee on top of other damage roughly three months ago in a matchup with the Washington Football Team.

When CBS Sports released its latest re-draft for the 2020 NFL Draft, it had the Bengals passing on Burrow, selecting current Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert instead.

“The Offensive Rookie of the Year lands in Cincinnati,” the network’s Chris Trapasso wrote. “His All-Pro upside is too enticing for him not to be the top pick.”

Burrow fell to No. 5, and instead of heading back to Ohio, joined the Miami Dolphins. This gives Miami a different SEC quarterback outside of Tua Tagovailoa, who they actually selected last year.

“The Dolphins don’t think twice about picking Burrow here,” Trapasso wrote.

Looking at this, it’s interesting to draw up hypothetical scenarios and think of how things may have gone differently between all of these players if they had been picked in this order last year.

But let’s be honest with ourselves here — what Burrow brings to the table mentally and what he’s accomplished despite a struggling offensive line and with a shaky supporting cast still make him plenty worthy of being the first overall pick.

Expect big things from the signal-caller in 2021, when he takes the field for what should be a bounceback season.