Joe Burrow Sees Himself as the NFL’s Top Quarterback Right Now

In five seasons, Joe Burrow has led the Cincinnati Bengals to two AFC Championship games, the most by any Bengals QB.

Joe Burrow Sees Himself as the NFL’s Top Quarterback Right Now

Joe Burrow (Image via Bustle)

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The Cincinnati Bengals, often overlooked and undermined, shot to an unparalleled level of confidence and comeback in 2021, defeating top seed after top seed to advance to their first Super Bowl in the 2000s. They might have lost the game, but they repeated their stellar performance with a conference championship game appearance in the next season.

In two seasons, the Bengals rewrote their identity, and leading this was their quarterback, Joe Burrow. The former LSU product and Heisman winner has become the poster boy for the Bengals with his talent and charisma. Although he sustained an injury in 2023, Burrow rose back in 2024 with a league-leading performance. He posted 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns from 460 completions and 652 attempts.

Burrow also managed to register his best completion rate and his best passer rating with the lowest interceptions (9) in a full-played season. In fact, Burrow is the only quarterback in history not to be awarded the MVP title when they have thrown for more than 4500 yards and 40 touchdowns with fewer than 10 interceptions. Heading into the new season, a lot is riding on Burrow.

He has been in one of the best recorded forms of his career. In a press conference last month, he admitted that he feels better than ever before when it comes to his plays and throws. Recently, Burrow opened up on his goals and vision for the next year.

Talking to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Burrow claimed that he believes that he outperforms everyone in his position and cemented the belief in himself.

I’m not sure I would say anyone is playing the position better than I am right now. I’m pretty confident in my ability to go out and do that every Sunday.

However, Burrow further added that it doesn’t mean everything. He admitted that what separates legends is doing it for 5–10 years straight, not just one season, acknowledging the fact that he hasn’t proven that yet.

I think what separates the legends is being able to do it year in, year out for five, 10 years at a time. So, trying to be able to find that consistency in my discipline and my process, doing the easy stuff in my sleep and then making the hard stuff look easy, then making a couple of great plays here and there, that’s what I am trying to do every week.

Joe Burrow is still 5-10% away from being completely healthy

In 2023, Joe Burrow suffered a wrist injury while playing against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11. He had to forego the rest of the season due to the injury. Despite returning to action in 2024, Burrow was not completely fit.

Joe Burrow
Joe Burrow (Image via Bodyarmor)

The Iowan told Breer that he played the last season with a wrist issue affecting his play. He acknowledged that while he was able to throw it in the intended hands, the spin rate and his natural throwing motion were far from being perfect. He added that the wrist still doesn’t feel one hundred percent.

The quarterback noted that the wrist injury is much like an ACL injury where it heals as soon as one gets out from it. He claimed that it takes several years to recover from such an injury, noting that he’s at a 90-95% healed right now. Nevertheless, Burrow mentioned that he feels good right now.

As they head into a crucial season, the Bengals need Burrow healthy. The need is highly visible, especially in the incident that invoked a scuffle in the camp. The words spoken by Ted Karras, calling Burrow their whole world and hope, highlighted their convictions.

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