If you follow Nick Wright, you know the FS1 talking head is a huge fan of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
As such, the statement he made Monday on "First Things First" about Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow probably raised a few eyebrows.
"If the Bengals win the Super Bowl, then Joe Burrow will have a legitimate claim that he's the best quarterback in the NFL," Wright said. "He's going to be able to make that case. If they win the Super Bowl, and it's like, 'Hey, I played Mahomes twice, I beat him both times. I started one healthy season, I won the Super Bowl. My healthy year in college, no one beat us, we had the best offense ever.' Like, that is at least a legitimate case to be made."
Of course, Wright isn't saying definitively that Burrow is the best quarterback in the NFL. Or even that he, personally, would consider Burrow to be the league's top signal-caller if the Bengals beat the Los Angeles Rams this Sunday in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium.
He's simply pointing out the argument could be made. Although that's a rather bold statement in and of itself considering Mahomes remains excellent, Aaron Rodgers is about to secure his second consecutive MVP award and Josh Allen just showed the world how unbelievable he can be.
All told, Wright expects the Bengals -- who defeated the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game -- to come up short against the Rams, despite Burrow's strong performance in just his second NFL season.
"What I am saying is, we all agree the Bengals' strength is their offense versus their defense. Even if we've slightly underrated their defense, their strength is the offensive side of the ball," Wright said. "Who is the one player in the league best poised to slow down Ja'Marr Chase? That player (Jalen Ramsey) plays for the Rams. And if you were to say, who is currently the one pass rush in the league you least want to go up against with your Swiss cheese offensive line? That pass rush is for the Rams.
"And so I think this is just a brutal matchup, where the Rams defense can take advantage of what the Bengals' biggest weakness is and can somewhat -- not totally -- somewhat neutralize the Bengals' biggest offensive edge, which is (Ja'Marr) Chase or (Tee) Higgins, their passing game as a whole."
Burrow might not be at the top of the NFL's QB pyramid just yet. But he's certainly entering the discussion, which will become even more fascinating if Cincinnati takes care of business this Sunday and wins its first championship in franchise history.
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