NFL Executives Rank Joe Burrow Below Top Two Projected Quarterbacks for 2025 Season

 Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer canvassed the NFL before Week 1 and got the gauge on who the top quarterbacks in the NFL will be at the end of the season.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow checked in at No. 3 on the list behind Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. He was second last year as 88 ballots went to Breer over the past week-plus, with 18 GMs and 16 head coaches among the voters, and all 32 teams represented.

"Burrow was fifth in 2022, third in 2023, and second last year, with those three making up the top three for a third year in a row," Breer wrote. "The remarkable thing is that in each case, Burrow battled through something to attain that ranking. In 2021, he was coming off an ACL. In 2022, an appendicitis cost him the balance of training camp. In 2023, he had a calf injury. Last year, it was a pretty scary wrist injury. So it’ll be interesting to see what he does this year after a clean training camp."

The Bengals' passer could make major history this coming season. He has as good a chance as anyone to set the NFL single-season passing record, currently at 5,477 yards. Peyton Manning set that mark in the 2013 season.

If the defense is as bad as people think, then he will be right around that number if healthy. No defenses have shown a consistent ability to shut down a healthy Burrow with at least one of his main weapons in Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Burrow's yardage pace from Week 10 on last season would have him beat the record by 200 yards.

Now, Cincinnati and Burrow just need to avoid the slow starts that have brought down his numbers and led to losses in years past.

Check out the full ranking here.