Fox Sports 1 Breakfast Ball Host, NFL analyst and three-time Super Bowl champion Mark Schlereth ranks Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow the top quarterback in the league.
NFL Analyst Ranks Joe Burrow the Top QB In the League
In a Wednesday morning episode of FS1’s Breakfast Ball, former NFL offensive lineman and three-time Super Bowl Champion Mark Schlereth revealed his top five quarterbacks in the NFL. The order came off quite surprising, with Joe Burrow coming in at one on his list of top five quarterbacks.
.@markschlereth ranks the top 5 QBs in the NFL:
1. 👀👀
2. Mahomes
3. Lamar
4. Allen
5. Stafford pic.twitter.com/oCX23eSdqV— Breakfast Ball (@BrkfstBallOnFS1) July 9, 2025
The convo about the top quarterbacks started after a clip from the “Quarterback” series on Netflix started to circulate on social media. In the clip, the Kansas City Chiefs‘ defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, told Burrow after a week two matchup with the Bengals that outside of his guy (Patrick Mahomes), Burrow was the best there is in the league. Burrow went on to have the best statistical season of his career. He led the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns with 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns. He also finished third in the league in passer rating.
All top-five or top-ten quarterback lists are all subjective. Burrow undoubtedly deserves to be in the conversation among the league’s elite, along with Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson. The only problem with Burrow being ranked first in any top quarterbacks list is Burrow’s lack of postseason appearances, let alone postseason success. The Bengals have missed the playoffs the last two seasons, while the other quarterbacks ranked behind him in Schlereth’s list have all consistently made the postseason and had success.
Allen was the MVP of the league in 2024, and Jackson was the runner-up, so even with what is Burrow’s best season to date, it wasn’t as good as two of his peers who are ranked behind him on this list. As for Mahomes, even though he didn’t have an outstanding statistical season in 2024, he was still quite good, leading the Chiefs to their third consecutive Super Bowl appearance. Even Matthew Stafford the elder-statesman on the list had a playoff win last season and has a Super Bowl win over Burrow.
By default, Mahomes is likely to remain the top quarterback in the NFL even if his statistics are not on par with those of the other elite quarterbacks. With three Super Bowl rings and two MVPs, it would be hard to take him out of the top spot unless Allen, Jackson, and Burrow can dethrone him from reigning in the AFC. Jackson is a two-time MVP, and with Allen, one MVP, are also very well accomplished individually and continue to be among the top in the league.
Burrow’s Success Against the King of the AFC
Even though Burrow hasn’t reached the postseason since 2022, he was the last quarterback in the AFC to defeat the Chiefs in the playoffs. In 2021, Burrow and the Bengals defeated the Chiefs to reach the Super Bowl, which is something his elite counterparts in Jackson and Allen are still aiming to accomplish.
Spagnuolo knows what it’s like to go against the AFC’s best, so for him to come out and say that Burrow was the best in the league other than Mahomes is strong recognition. This offseason, Burrow applied pressure to his front office to make sure the Bengals are doing what they need to do to return to the postseason. Even though there still seems to be significant issues with players on the defensive side of the ball in Cincinnati, they were able to take care of their top playmakers in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins
2025 will have the highest stakes for Burrow and the Bengals since the season they reached the Super Bowl in 2021.
