Joe Burrow will more than certainly be the first overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, possessed by the struggling Cincinnati Bengals. If you ask the 23-year-old standout LSU Tigers quarterback whether he saw this coming or not, though, he would answer no.

Well, he was asked this very question, via Albert Breer in Sports Illustrated.

“Absolutely not,” Burrow said, via ProFootballTalk. “I knew that I was gonna play really well my senior year. And I was going into it thinking I was one of the best guys in the country. But I know what recruiting is, and I know how the draft is. It’s always interesting seeing where people go and seeing who ends up panning out. So I knew I had a chance to be a really good pro. But I didn’t think I could do anything to get myself up to the No. 1 pick in the draft. I expected to have the kind of season that I had. But I didn’t expect for it to propel me to the No. 1 pick. I thought I was gonna go third, fourth round.”

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Burrow captured a national title for the Tigers during their 2019 campaign, winning the Heisman Trophy in the process as well. In his final season in the NCAA, Burrow threw for a gobsmacking 5,671 passing yards with a 76.3 completion percentage, connecting on 60 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

Before his success at LSU under head coach Ed Orgeron, Burrow, an Iowa native who attended high school in Ohio, was a redshirt freshman at Ohio State, later transferring to LSU in May 2018.

Thursday, April 23, should be a coronation for Burrow, whose next steps include competing in the NFL for the Bengals.