Despite what you may be hearing to the contrary, it appears Joe Burrow is a lock to be selected by the Cincinnati Bengals with the No. 1 overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft.

The only thing that could derail Burrow’s selection in Cincinnati appears to be a trade but it’s unclear why the Bengals would trade away the option of drafting a potential franchise quarterback considering the team’s need for a starting signal-caller with 32-year-old Andy Dalton coming off arguably his worst season as a Bengal.

Dalton is also entering the final year of his contract with the Bengals in 2020.

With all signs pointing toward Burrow’s selection, Bengals coach Zac Taylor didn’t do much to quell that speculation during a recent appearance on the Cincinnati Enquirer Bengals Beat Podcast.

Here’s what the Cincinnati coach had to say when asked to share his thoughts on Burrow leading up to the draft.

“He’s put a lot of great things on tape. He’s one of several guys that we’ve studied. You can certainly see why he’s in that conversation,” Taylor said on the show. “He led the team to a championship. You know that, that goes a long ways. Certainly, guys that are winners and guys that have won championships, those are all things that we’re trying to achieve. And so he certainly has put himself in that position, it’s well deserved on his end.”

Of course, Taylor would have to have his head in the sand to not hear the mounting speculation that Burrow may not want to play for the Bengals and that Cincinnati would be a bad fit for the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.

Here’s what the Bengal coach had to say when asked to address that speculation.

“It’s not something you pay attention to. You can’t always avoid things that are said but you don’t need to pay attention to it,” Taylor answered. “They don’t know what’s going on in our building, and the things that we’re doing to improve it. So it’s just, it’s a lot of talk right now, and that’s kind of what happens in the offseason, you have to endure it. And again, we’re just going to continue to try to make the improvements we can make.”

It’s unclear based on Taylor’s response what exactly he’s heard when it comes to Burrow and the quarterback’s representatives but the Bengal coach gave no indication that the team will do anything other than select the consensus top quarterback prospect by the time the 2020 NFL Draft arrives.