When Joe Burrow enrolled at Ohio State he knew he would have to bide his time before he saw significant playing time with quarterbacks J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones ahead of him. I doubt seriously though he thought it would take as long as it did for him to have success as a starting QB, and it would be for another school.
It has been a long, winding road and an uphill climb to achieve that success. However, he was prepared for that because he grew up in Southeastern Ohio.
Growing up in Athens County he was used to taking a winding road practically anywhere he traveled, and it may include an uphill climb.