Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert have clearly separated themselves as the two best quarterbacks in the 2020 draft class, and both have clear cases to being the best young quarterback in the NFL.
Burrow and Herbert will be compared for their entire NFL careers, but, through two seasons which one has had a better start to their NFL career?
The sample size is a bit larger with Justin Herbert, as he’s started 31 games. Joe Burrow who is coming off of a torn ACL has started 26 games. But, their regular season records basically mirror each other. Herbert has a 15-16 record, and Burrow has a 12-13-1 record.
Let’s see how their stats matchup with one another:
Image: Stats from Pro Football Reference & RBSDM.com
These numbers truly are neck-and-neck. Burrow has the slight edge in seven of these categories, as Herbert only has five. But, I think the end-all be-all to decide this argument will be playoff success.
Joe Burrow already punched his ticket to the playoffs, as this past Sunday’s victory against the Kansas City Chiefs, allowed the Bengals to clinch the AFC North division title. Burrow will lead the Bengals to their first playoff appearance since 2015.
Justin Herbert and the Chargers haven’t punched their ticket to the playoffs yet, as they need to defeat the Las Vegas Raiders to clinch a wildcard berth. But, the Chargers will certainly be favored to win this matchup. This game against the Raiders will be the biggest game of Herbert’s young career, so we will see if he answer’s the bell.
It would certainly be beneficial if we got to see Burrow and Herbert duke it out this postseason, but, due to current seedings and projections that doesn’t seem likely.
Now, despite their strong starts. Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert aren’t perfect. There are questions about Burrow’s durability, and a lot of that has to do with the Bengals failure to protect him. But, it’s a concern going forward. When it comes to Herbert, we’ve seen him struggle against dominating defenses, and he’s turned the ball over quite a bit this season.
But, if you’re the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Chargers, how can you not feel good about the direction of your franchise?
Both have really been difference-makers, but as of right now, I’ll take Justin Herbert.