For as much as he's gracing celebrity parties, iconic fashion show red carpets, and other exotic offseason excursions with his presence, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow Is still being somewhat slept on. He'll enter the 2026 season with his best chance to win a Super Bowl by far, at least on paper.
Obviously, it comes down to execution on the field, and Burrow staying healthy for, say, at least 16 games — assuming the Bengals have wrapped up the AFC North by then. But let's let that cheap talk rest until at least some games are played.
What we do have to discuss at present is ESPN's official survey of scouts coaches and executives, wherein they rank NFL quarterbacks.
Bengals' Joe Burrow places fourth on ESPN's QB rankings list...but their own analysis suggests that will soon change
As it turns out, the glamorous cameos Burrow has made to keep himself and the Bengals in the spotlight since last season ended weren't enough to win over the national media. They're still keen to stick him a little lower in the QB hierarchy than he probably deserves.
Jeremy Fowler's write-up mentions that Burrow scored points for his pocket movement, and his line of scrimmage and post-snap processing speed. He even drew favorable comparisons to Tom Brady in those regards.
But being out of action for 16 games in the last three years knocked Burrow out of some survey participants' top five.
Here's the big takeaway from the whole thing that makes me believe Burrow will be the consensus QB1 once he leads the Bengals deep into the playoffs yet again, via an anonymous coordinator:
"Burrow doesn't play in a system. He is the system. He's the whole thing."
That's right. The last time Burrow made it through a full season, he led the NFL in passing yards and passing TDs. Cincinnati's defense was so bad that those efforts were only good enough for a 9-8 record and a missed chance at the playoffs.
The quarterback Burrow was during that 2024 campaign was far superior to the one who led the Bengals to Super Bowl LVI and the next AFC Championship Game.
A lot of people seem to miss this. Three years. Eight total points away from a Lombardi Trophy and another Super Bowl trip. One more '24 victory away from a probable MVP award.
Does Burrow deserve to be the No. 1 QB right now? No. Hard to argue with a top three of Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and reigning MVP Matthew Stafford in that order. Mahomes has won three Super Bowls, Stafford beat Burrow straight-up in one, and Allen has had baffling, cruel misfortunes befall him at almost every turn in the postseason.
To say Joe Shiesty is downright disrespected in this QB rankings poll is a little disingenuous. Let's not get carried away here. I understand you can't rank him No. 1 if he's not on the field enough.
What I will say is, Mahomes is coming off a torn ACL, Stafford is entering his age-38 season, and Allen, for as much as I just defended him, has committed timely turnovers to prevent the Buffalo Bills from being Super Bowl champs.
Mahomes is elevated by Andy Reid. Stafford is elevated by Sean McVay. All due respect to Zac Taylor, he ain't of that caliber. Burrow is the system in the sense that he can execute the called offense as well as anyone in the history of the sport. Although he can improvise very well and make plays out of structure, it's a last resort.
Allen's superior arm strength and athleticism are actually what get him to play a little squirrelly and loose in big moments, where he's prone to the critical error. He committed four turnovers in the Bills' Divisional Round loss to the Broncos his last time out. Nevertheless, it's an absolute roller coaster with Allen, and you have to live with the epic highs and rough lows.
Josh Allen turned the ball over 4 times and put up like a C performance by his standards but was still the 2nd most efficient quarterback over the weekend (and would have been even more so if Cooks had caught the ball) pic.twitter.com/K1A52WMKlf
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) January 22, 2026
Joe Brrr's more consistent, cold, calculated approach to executing an offense with surgical precision, combined with the Bengals' vast improvement on defense, should easily translate to double-digit wins in 2026. He should absolutely be in the MVP conversation if he doesn't win it.
...And that's why, football purist brain talking, Joe Burrow will be regarded as the league's QB1 when this survey comes back around next year. Could even be an MVP and Lombardi Trophy richer!
Despite all those aforementioned missed games, another mic-drop anecdote from Fowler's blurb to play you off:
"Burrow's 16 games with at least 300 passing yards and three passing touchdowns over the past five seasons are two more than any other quarterback."
Add us as a preferred source on Google