Nick Wright Mailbag: Dan Orlovsky's INSANE QB rankings, Patrick Mahomes vs. Josh Allen

**Nick Wright** (0:03)
All right, welcome in What's Wright? with Nick Wright episode 491 This episode of What's Wright? with Nick Wright is presented to you by Boos Mobile. It's our Friday bonus episode where we do mailbag stuff where, you know, some topics that we didn't get to in the week. Sometimes we stray a little more from sports in this episode. And so here's what we're going to do today. It'll be a relatively quick episode. But Dan Orlovsky did his quarterback rankings and it's just too good not to discuss. So we have that. Then there's three or four emails that I want to get to. And then maybe one sports media note on the back end of the show. Reminder, everybody, like, rate, subscribe and review. Also, a reminder to everyone, next week, Ty Butler and Damon Bruce will be filling in for me and Demonsi the next couple of weeks. Then I'll be back August 31st back in the States, September 1st, right back here in your guys' feeds. Again, Damon and Ty will be filling in. But I'll be back in your feeds and on YouTube September 1st and we'll be rolling for football season. But, Dan Orlovsky, credit to Dan, who again, I know a tiny, tiny bit. Everyone who does know him speaks about what a great guy he is. Some of his opinions have been the subject of my scorn over the years, but it's never been a personal thing with Dan. I think, I hope, I would assume he knows that.
So, he discusses, and credit to him for having an opinion people care about to where I'm discussing it here. He ranked, I'm going to read his words exactly, I ranked the top ten quarterbacks by seven different traits. Arm strength, ball placement, mechanics, decision making, pocket presence, second reaction, creativity, pardon me, and rushing ability. These lists are based on current performance and expectations for the 2026 season. It's how I would rank the QB group at this exact moment. I only included starters and leaned on what I see on tape to form the rankings. Okay, great. Sounds fun. I'm going to jump right to the reason we're discussing this, and then we're going to do a bigger picture, chat on it briefly.
The category decision making with the football. And he then describes it as here are the league's top problem solvers. Being a good decision maker means making the right choice when things are going to plan. But it also means making the only choice when things are falling apart. Find the correct outlet, but avoid mistakes, turnovers and negative plays.
The number one decision making with the football quarterback in the year of our Lord, 2026, according to Dan Orlovsky, is Josh Allen.
And this is where so much of my Josh Allen frustration comes from.
I think he's the second best quarterback in the league. Of all the quarterbacks in the league, who don't have a Super Bowl ring, the one that I think has the best chance of getting one, I don't want to say ever, because the younger guys have an edge there, but over the next five years is Josh Allen. Josh Allen at his best is the only quarterback in the league that if both guys play their best, can go toe to toe with Patrick. That is Josh. I have given him, I think, a ton of credit for those things.
But the frustration that you guys hear in my voice when discussing Josh Allen, so often comes from the way he is covered in the media.
And I've already had to hear that from Greenie, no one's ever played the position better. I've had to hear from folks for years that he's the best quarterback in football. And now, what I consider to be one of his only weaknesses, decision-making, not panicking, avoiding awful mistakes, one of the only actual verifiable weaknesses the player has, I'm told he's the best in the league at it. The best! Number one, the last game we saw him play, he had one of the worst turnovers in playoff history. And it wasn't the pick that lost him the game.
The last playoff game he played against the Chiefs, AFC Championship game two years ago, tried to throw picks on two of the first three passes of the game. And the year before that, fumbled the ball three times. Since he's come into the league, no player in the league has turned the ball over more.
And he's number one at decision making, like that's just crazy.
It's just, and again, I think he's such a great player. But this is damn near the sports version of gaslighting, where we're taking one of the players' only fair weaknesses or critiques and saying not only is it not a weakness, he's the best in the world at it. Like, I don't even think Josh Allen thinks Josh Allen is the best decision maker in football.