ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. delivered a bit of a head-scratcher during the network's draft broadcast in the moments leading up to the Las Vegas Raiders' selection of Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza as the first pick of the first round.
Kiper said there were questions about Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning being able to carry a team.
Manning was the first overall pick in the 1998 draft; Burrow was selected first overall by the Bengals in 2020.
In 2020, "Get Up" host Mike Greenberg asked Kiper, "It feels like when we talk about this pick and this draft, it almost feels like people are positioning this like Burrow is being set up to fail in Cincinnati. What do you think of that perspective?"
"I'm disgusted by it, Greeny. It makes me sick," Kiper responded. "And I've been screaming about this for months. I hear this garbage everybody wants to spew about the Bengals and it's a horrible place to go ... it's awful ... you've got no chance for a quarterback to have success. What are you dreaming? You want to just throw out inaccurate information? Fine. It makes me sick. '81 and '88 may be too long ago. But they won in '81 with Kenny Anderson, in '88 with Boomer Esiason - that's too far removed? Fine."
"Let's fast forward to 2011, 2015. That's not 100 years ago, guys," Kiper continued. "Okay, they had five straight winning seasons, five straight playoff appearances. Should have beat Pittsburgh - it was a penalty late that cost them that opportunity. They had an 11 and 12 win season mixed in with those five straight years of getting to the playoffs. OK? And with Carson Palmer - he got hurt in a playoff game, where they may have won that game. Andy Dalton had success. So this notion that Joe Burrow's going to a place that's never won, never had success, never had a quarterback do anything - is utterly ridiculous. ... C'mon!"
"C'mon! You're gonna say quarterbacks have never had any success - they've done nothing but lose in Cincinnati?" Kiper insisted. "This notion that Mike Brown and the Bengals don't know how to do it and don't know how to get it done? Yes, it's not the traditional way - the coaches are heavily involved. OK, fine! But it's not like Joe Burrow's going to a place where he has zero chance to be successful. And ironically, nobody wanted Joe Burrow coming out of high school. He said, 'Hey, nobody wanted me.' OK, now you're gonna say, 'I don't want to go to the Bengals?' Now all of a sudden you're gonna flip the script? Uh-uh. Joe Burrow will be fine. The Bengals will be fine. C'mon!"
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mel Kiper Jr. on Burrow, Peyton Manning, Fernando Medoza at NFL draft