Bengals' Joe Burrow 'Might Be the Closest Thing' to Bucs' Tom Brady, Says NFL Coach

After an impressive second season in the NFL, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is drawing comparisons to Tom Brady.

"I hate to compare anybody to Brady, but he might be the closest thing," a veteran NFL offensive coach told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. "What, did he take nine sacks in that playoff game [against Tennessee]? Didn't flinch. Hung in there. He's just got a toughness about him and the ability to think through a game."

A survey of league executives, coaches, scouts and players listed Burrow as the fifth-best quarterback in the NFL, just one spot behind Brady. Though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers veteran has seven Super Bowl titles in his career, Burrow resembled the all-time great while leading the Bengals to the Super Bowl last year.

The second-round win over the Tennessee Titans seemingly stood out to opposing coaches, totaling 348 passing yards while leading a game-winning drive despite getting sacked nine times.

This toughness while getting hit was a theme for Burrow throughout the year, finishing with an NFL-high 51 sacks across 16 regular-season games. He still led the league with a 70.4 completion percentage while totaling 4,611 passing yards, 34 touchdowns and a 108.3 quarterback rating.

Considering this all came after tearing his ACL during his rookie season, Burrow showed a lot of resolve in 2021.

"Innately competitive, driven and mentally tougher than just about anybody," an NFC personnel evaluator said of Burrow.

The 25-year-old still has a long way to go to match Brady, but the potential is there for him to be an all-time great, from both a physical and mental perspective.