Carson Palmer picks his best QB in the NFL, and it’s not Patrick Mahomes

Being a football fan is synonymous with being a Patrick Mahomes fan these days. Carson Palmer has eyes for someone else, though.

As the Kansas City Chiefs square up to face the Philadelphia Eagles in this year’s Super Bowl, Patrick Mahomes has turned into the media’s darling and public’s favorite quarterback. How can anybody hate him?

Teams that were eliminated by him, probably.

The Chiefs beat up the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals en route to Super Bowl LVII, and one former Bengals player had a spicy take on the current NFL quarterback landscape.

FanSided’s Matt Verderame and Patrick Allen sat down with Carson Palmer during Super Bowl media week courtesy of Level Select CBD to discuss the best quarterbacks in the league right now, and Palmer eschewed Mahomes in favor of Cincinnati Bengals superstar Joe Burrow.

Per Palmer, Mahomes and Burrow were “totally different” in terms of how they played the game. He elaborated:

“Going back to Joe’s final year at LSU, in the biggest moments, in the biggest games, he consistently throws perfect throws. He’s always in control, and he’s played like a mature, 10-year vet from day one. He doesn’t have the magic that Mahomes has, but his pocket presence is the best in the league.”

Carson Palmer’s hot take: Joe Burrow is a better QB than Patrick Mahomes

As far as Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen being included in the conversation, the FanSided team and Palmer agreed that Allen hasn’t played as “maturely” as Burrow has in his career and could be ranked a step below both his rivals.

In his argument for Burrow being the best overall, Palmer touched upon the NFC Championship game in which Eagles’ Jalen Hurts missed some open looks despite the blowout score. Burrow, however, rarely makes those kinds of mistakes and has been playing like a veteran for his entire career.

Or so Palmer says. Burrow did throw two picks in the AFC Championship and arguably recorded a worse stat line than Mahomes even though Mahomes was playing on an injured ankle.

Palmer gave plenty of praise to Mahomes for his resilience this postseason but had an angled side note on how Mahomes’ throws make him look good on Instagram and how the fans go wild whenever he completes a no-look pass. Burrow, on the other hand, “just plays within his own game.”

Sure, Mahomes could be seen as the flashier passer between the two, but almost everything that Palmer said about Burrow applies to Mahomes, too.

Palmer included this compliment about Burrow:

“What excites me is seeing a guy that’s getting hit in the mouth time and time again, get back up and continuously deliver the ball in big moments.”

Delivering in big moments is Mahomes’ middle name, as is evident by his 13-second miracle against the Bills last year and this year’s last-second scramble against the Bengals to set up the AFC Championship game-winning kick.

In any case, the debate rages on.

Carson Palmer spoke with FanSided courtesy of Level Select CBD.