It's pretty clear that the NFL media is in the doldrums of the offseason when pieces from respected reporters and writers are so blatantly ill-intentioned that it leaves you scratching your head. At least that's what just happened to me when I came across CBS Sports' Pete Prisco's latest article on the top-100 players heading into the 2026-27 NFL season.
Prisco had recently traded edge-rusher Myles Garrett as the first player on his list. And it's hard to argue about that, as Garrett is coming off a season where he broke the sack record at 23 quarterback takedowns. He then followed that up with the reigning MVP Matthew Stafford, widely beloved Bills signal-caller Josh Allen, and arguably the best receiver in the game, Ja'Marr Chase, at spots two through four.
While there is, to say the least, a strong argument that Mahomes is better than all four of those elite players, it stands to reason that, coming off an ACL injury, he may not be the only guy eligible for the number one spot. That's hard to keep for as long as he had in the first place. But to have Mahomes at the seventh spot, and Bengals QB Joe Burrow two slots above, makes next to zero sense, and it further shows how odd the Burrow-Mahomes rivalry is viewed.
Joe Burrow ranked one spot above Mahomes on CBS Sports' top-100 players heading into 2026 season
Prisco's reasoning for Burrow at the number five spot wasn't much to speak of at all. "After playing 17 games in 2024, the injury bug got him again last season as he played just eight games," Prisco said. "He threw 17 touchdown passes and five picks in those games. The key for him is staying on the field."
And what he said about Mahomes at seven? Kind of the same thing: "He is coming off a torn ACL, and his numbers haven't been as good as they were early in his career, but he's still one of the best – if not the best – quarterbacks in the league. Don't let the numbers fool you," Prisco said.
Both quarterbacks are coming off injuries on lesser teams of the past. What's significant about those pasts is the discrepancy in how much #15 in red has accomplished in comparison to #9 in orange. Say what you want about how poor Burrow's defenses have been over the years. The Chiefs' defenses in both 2024 and '25 have been statistically fine, but the things that actually change games, like sack numbers and forced turnovers, have become few and far between.
Offensive line has been a turnstile for Burrow throughout the majority of his career, and while Mahomes had typically benefitted from a very good interior three, the tackle position on both sides has been a team detriment for much too long.
And when it comes to offensive weapons, at least since the Chiefs traded Tyreek Hill in 2021 and after Kelce lost a step, Burrow has to his advantage had an elite number one option in Chase. And a number two option in Tee Higgins, who is probably a top-20 wideout in his own right and would be the No. 1 on half of the league, including the Chiefs.
Burrow hasn't been in a playoff game since the 2022 season and is still living off that singular win Cincinnati had over KC in the 2021 playoffs. In fact, since Burrow's last playoff win, Mahomes has beaten him en route to the 2022 Super Bowl victory, repeated as a champion in 2023, and made it back to a third straight Super Bowl in 2024.
Obviously, QB wins aren't everything, but when you've dominated the league to the extent that Mahomes had, along with numbers that are, admittedly, poor relative to what we know he can do, but still better than most signal-callers, it's pretty clear that there is no world where he should be ranked below the Bengals starter. The 2026 season will be a big one for both, but as far as Chiefs fans are concerned, Patrick Mahomes has very little left to prove, if any, in this league, while a good season for Burrow would just be staying healthy and actually making the playoffs for the first time in four years.
Add us as a preferred source on Google