Carson Palmer thinks Joe Burrow was one of the ten best QBs last year

The Cincinnati Bengals’ former no. nine, Carson Palmer, heaped praise on the new no. nine in stripes, Joe Burrow. In an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, the seasoned, and now retired, veteran didn’t hold back in his evaluation of the rookie. At one point, Palmer even went so far as to say he was ‘shocked’ by the first-year signal-caller’s overall performance.

A grizzled looking Palmer, now enjoying his post-playing days in Idaho, certainly isn’t alone in his astonishment. After all, few were expecting Burrow to join the Bengals in the midst of a pandemic, without preseason games, let alone a traditional training camp, and make a smooth transition.

But that’s exactly what Burrow pulled off. Before falling victim to a gruesome victory, the LSU product racked up 2,688 passing yards and 13 touchdowns in just nine full games and he was doing it while completing 65.3% of his passes. He kept the Bengals in nearly every game, despite a talent deficiency, and looked well on his way to establishing himself as one of the superstars of the league.

Speaking of superstars, Palmer believes Burrow played like one in his first year,

"“On a team that was not quite as good as every team they played… he [Burrow]… still played like one of the top ten quarterbacks in the league. I was Blown away. He didn’t have those rookie moments.”"

That’s quite the praise coming from a guy who was a top-ten quarterback in the league himself during his prime.

The sky’s the limit for Joe Burrow

If Joe Burrow played like a top-ten quarterback a season ago, with the injuries and lack of protection he dealt with, there’s no telling how high the stock of the cigar-smoking signal-caller can go.

This offseason, the Bengals have the cap space and draft capital to significantly improve Burrow’s offensive line and they may just be able to pool their resources together to get him help on defense and add speed amongst his pass-catchers too.

With that in mind, WhoDey Nation is in for an exciting sophomore campaign from the king of the Queen City.