Depending on who you ask, Joe Burrow ranks anywhere from the second-best quarterback in the NFL to outside the top 10. Given that the latter is likely an outlier, there have been significant speedbumps to his career that warrant the caution. Burrow has revolutionized the Cincinnati Bengals offense and organization as a whole. Despite that, he is continuously being overlooked in favor of the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, both quarterbacks he’s out-dueled and owns a 5-1 record against, including playoffs.
However, unlike those two, Burrow has not only suffered injuries, he’s missed an entire season’s worth of games to this point. In 2020, he was knocked out in Week 11. Last year, his season ended in Week 11 as well. In addition to those two injuries, he had his last two offseasons derailed with an emergency appendectomy and a freak calf strain.
Perhaps due to those injuries — as well as the slow starts to each season stemming from those injuries — Burrow is starting to slink back into the crowd rather than stand out as one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks.
Based on his play on the field, this isn’t a fair assessment and Burrow is motivated to show that he is better than the 13th-place ranking (fourth-best quarterback) that our Last Word on Sports peers assigned him this offseason.
Burrow Tumbles to 13th in Latest LWOS Top-40 Rankings
Mahomes (first), Allen (second), and reigning MVP Lamar Jackson (fourth) are the three quarterbacks ahead of him. While Bengals fans — this author included — could and would go to the grave defending the honor of their franchise quarterback, these three make sense to rank ahead.
Mahomes is easily the top player in the NFL and despite those three head-to-head losses to Burrow, he has three rings and a loss to Tom Brady in the Super Bowl. He’s well on his way to supplant Brady as the GOAT and, objectively, you can’t really argue against it.
The bromance between Bengals and Bills fans has seemingly worn off. Gone are the days of donating to Andy Dalton‘s charity for breaking the drought and coming together in support for Damar Hamlin. Now, it’s fisticuffs on social media if you dare compare Burrow and Allen. The Buffalo quarterback is a star and, like Mahomes, we’ve never seen someone like Allen before. The jump he made from his second to third year was unprecedented and it’s going to be a while before we see anything like it again.
However, as we will likely see this year, Allen has been carrying the Bills kicking and screaming into the playoffs. The Bengals were lucky to have a competent backup and decent roster last year to claw to get to a 9-8 finish with a backup quarterback. Without Allen, the Bills are in “are they tanking or just really bad” territory.
As for comparing Burrow to Jackson, it’s difficult because they are two incredibly different players. Could Burrow run the Baltimore offense like Jackson? Could Jackson run the Cincinnati offense? Those two MVPs, despite any real playoff success and having injury concerns as well, warrant the ranking a bit.
What the Experts Say
Burrow will continue to pop up on top player lists because he is, without a doubt, one of the elite players in the NFL. The injuries and a healthy dollop of recency bias/amnesia have contributed to his fall.
Our Mike Kashuba put it succinctly:
As a Steelers fan, this hurts to write, but Burrow is a top-five quarterback in the league. When healthy, he can slice and dice a defense with his pinpoint accuracy and quick decision-making. It will be good for the league to have a healthy Burrow back behind center.
While the LWOS ranking seems low considering he clocked in as the second-best player heading into 2023, it’s consistent with CBS Sports‘ Pete Prisco, who had him 15th:
He was limited to 10 games in 2023 because of a calf strain followed by a season-ending wrist injury, the latter basically ending the Bengals’ playoff chances. When on the field, he’s a star. But he has to stay there. That’s the only thing holding him back. (Last season: No. 3)
Taking a Step Forward
Working back from an injury is not foreign to Burrow. At Ohio State, he broke his wrist and lost out on a competition with the late Dwayne Haskins to take over the Buckeyes in 2018. He suffered a rib fracture in the 2019 College Football Playoff. In 2020, he had to deal with the COVID restrictions in training camp and then had his knee obliterated. In 2021, he dislocated his pinkie. During the run to the Super Bowl, he strained his knee and re-aggravated it in the Super Bowl itself. The freak calf strain affected the beginning of the 2023 season which ended with the torn ligaments in his wrist.
He has added weight this offseason and “wants to give people something to talk about” in 2024. He’s more than motivated to get back to full strength and bring the city of Cincinnati its first Super Bowl and first professional championship since the Reds’ 1990 World Series (assuming this year’s Reds team isn’t about to go on a tear).
He takes too many sacks, sure, but they don’t bother him. The Bengals Super Bowl window is open for as long as Burrow is back there.
Main Image: Cara Owsley/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
