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Joe Burrow is a 2-time Pro Bowl selection, and the former LSU star was selected to the Pro Bowl this season and is in Orlando for the festivities this weekend.
He threw for a staggering 4,918 yards this past season, which was a career-best, with an NFL-best 43 touchdown passes and just 9 interceptions. He nearly willed his Cincinnati Bengals into the playoffs where he’s taken the Bengals to multiple AFC title games previously and been to 1 Super Bowl.
But all of that didn’t matter on Friday during ESPN’s First Take.
Burrow, beyond all the glossy stats and deep playoff runs for the longtime woeful Bengals franchise, hasn’t gotten Cincinnati into the playoffs for 2 straight seasons now, so ESPN NFL analyst Chris Canty claimed Burrow wasn’t an elite quarterback.
“We got to get out of this thing where we want to anoint everyone (as an) elite quarterback,” said Canty, a former NFL defensive lineman, who got some backlash on the ESPN set. “There ain’t but 3 spots on the medal stand. There’s a gold-medal spot, there’s a silver-medal spot and there’s a bronze-medal spot. The fourth-place guy don’t get an acknowledgement. That’s where I’m at with Joe Burrow.”
Canty revealed that Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen are his “big 3” on the medal stand, and that there wasn’t room for any other quarterback to be called “elite,” including Burrow, who also led LSU to a historical season in 2019 in winning the national title.
As for Mahomes, he’s chasing his “3-peat” in this year’s Super Bowl with a matchup vs. the Philadelphia Eagles. Fans can use our links to find out what betting apps are legal in Louisiana ahead of the big game.
While it’s true Burrow is not in the playoffs, and rings matter, it’s hard to call the NFL’s overall leading passer “not elite” with a straight face. Burrow notably played with one of the league’s worst defenses this season — a fact Cam Newton used to pushback against Canty — while leading Cincinnati to the NFL’s 6th-best scoring offense at 27.8 points per game this year.
We’ll see if the Bengals give Joe Burrow a more complete team to work with next season, especially after hiring former Notre Dame DC Al Golden to reinvigorate the defense.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
