GAME PLANS

Tanking. Trading. Drafting. Having a lot of money. In the Big Four men's sports there are plenty of ways to put together a title-worthy team. But none of them are easy, and they're certainly not foolproof.

NFL

If you want to win, you need a QB. How you get him is a whole other question.

Just four years ago, Joe Burrow was living a pretty normal existence. Sure, he was a quarterback for a major college football program, LSU. But it's not like he was being mobbed by fans everywhere he went. He'd been a backup at Ohio State before transferring to LSU. When he walked from Tiger Stadium across the street to his car, it was a peaceful stroll.

A year later, that same walk became so perilous that Burrow considered hiring a full-time bodyguard. The reason was simple: LSU was in the midst of a national title run, and when something like that happens the focus of the fans always turns to one player: the quarterback.

It is definitely the most important position in football, and arguably the most important in all of sports. In the modern NFL, a team without an elite quarterback has no chance to win the Super Bowl. The QBs who have done it recently are among the best who have ever played: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees.

Even the teams who have been able to win without a future Hall of Famer under center have relied on a quarterback having a monster season, such as Carson Wentz of the Eagles (2018) and Joe Flacco of the Ravens (2013).

So after Burrow's senior season, in which he threw for 60 touchdowns and just six interceptions and won the Heisman Trophy, the Bengals jumped at the chance to select him with the first pick in the draft.