Dan Orlovsky Unveils His Controversial List Of 'Elite' Quarterbacks In The NFL

ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky appeared on First Take Monday afternoon and was blasted after releasing the quarterbacks he believes are "elite" in the NFL.

The craziest thing about the list is that Orlovsky had nine quarterbacks he put the elite tag on, which seems like a lot, and he got the same reaction from Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe , who both had five or less.

Dan Orlovsky's elite quarterback rankings

• Josh Allen
• Joe Burrow
• Justin Herbert
• Lamar Jackson
• Patrick Mahomes
• Brock Purdy
• Aaron Rodgers
• Matthew Stafford
• CJ Stroud

Orlovsky retweeted the post with a simple response of "9", after the controversial list was revealed.

However, despite having the bulk of the list correct in many's eyes, Orlovsky did catch a lot of slack for specific players. Mainly, Brock Purdy, Matthew Stafford, and CJ Stroud, who Smith and Sharpe did not have on their lists.

They also both didn't have Herbert. Smith had Rodgers, while Sharpe didn't. Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, and Jackson were the unanimous top four for all three on the panel, and many would probably agree with that.

The controversy stemmed from having rookie CJ Stroud on the list, but Orlovsky said he needed to see "a little bit more" from Jordan Love , who over the last ten weeks of last season was debatably the most efficient quarterback in the NFL and won his first playoff game, just like Stroud did.

He also left off key names like Jalen Hurts , Dak Prescott , and Tua Tagovailoa , who, from a numbers standpoint, you could make a serious case for over some of the names listed.

Now, Purdy has some gray area because he has made back-to-back NFC championships and played very well in the eyes of Orlovsky last season in the Super Bowl, but he is also flooded with talent around him, and Smith and Sharpe highlighted the "body of work" being a key reason some of the younger quarterbacks were left off their lists.

Nonetheless, Orlovsky was a former quarterback in the NFL, and when he has the opportunity to show his support for the position, he does just that.

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