Ahhhh, the NFL offseason has arrived and it's already filling us with nonsensical takes. The most recent one is in a redraft from Diante Lee of The Athletic who had the Cincinnati Bengals picking Justin Herbert over Joe Burrow.
I'm sorry -- What?
Look, Herbert hasn't been bad by any means but Burrow has led the Bengals to a Super Bowl in his short career. Meanwhile, Herbert has failed to even win a playoff game since arriving in Los Angeles.
Lee's reasoning for making the switch from Burrow to Herbert in this redraft was"I just can't help myself".
It makes no sense for Herbert to go ahead of Burrow in redrafts
At the time of the 2020 NFL Draft, no one had Herbert as the top pick. Tua Tagovailoa had been a popular prospect earlier in the college football season but he was injured and that resulted in his draft stock taking a hit. He went fifth overall to the Dolphins, Herbert went with sixth overall to the Chargers and a lot of people assumed that Herbert wouldn't play much his rookie year.
After Tyrod Taylor couldn't play in Week 2, however, the Chargers were forced to play Herbert and he was so good that he held onto the job the rest of the way. He won Offensive Rookie of the Year for his efforts while Burrow missed the final six games due to an injury.
The only time people were talking about "Did the Bengals make a mistake with the top pick?" was after that 2020 season when Herbert surprised everyone with his play and Burrow was injured. Following the 2021 season, it was clear that Burrow was the right pick and that's been made even clearer after the 2022 season.
For what it's worth, Lee has Burrow going No. 2 to the Commanders in the redraft instead of Ohio State product Chase Young, so the LSU quarterback didn't slide much.
The Burrow and Herbert debate will likely continue for the rest of their careers but the Bengals 100% made the right decision.