NEW YORK -- Nate Burleson has caught some passes from good quarterbacks over the course of his career. THE NFL TODAY studio analyst and "CBS Mornings" co-host played 11 seasons in the NFL, having receptions from Daunte Culpepper, Matt Hasselbeck, and Matthew Stafford -- all of which earned Pro Bowl berths in their careers.
Burleson, who was a 1,000-yard receiver in 2004, has 5,630 receiving yards and 39 touchdowns in his decade-plus career. He has seen his fair share of good quarterback play over the years.
If Burleson played in today's NFL, who are five quarterbacks he'd like to catch a pass from. Burleson had to think about it, yet these are the five he named (in the order he mentioned them, not an official ranking) in a 1-on-1 interview with CBS Sports.
- Patrick Mahomes
- Lamar Jackson
- Russell Wilson
- Michael Penix Jr.
- Joe Burrow
Mahomes was the first quarterback Burleson thought of, saying "definitely" before mentioning Mahomes' name. Burleson gave an explanation for the other quarterbacks he chose.
"If I ran one route and he starts running in the pocket, that DBs eyes are gonna go directly to the quarterback. It's so hard to stop a receiver running one route, so when we get into scramble route and I spin out of that go route and go deep -- that DB is gonna lose me for a second.
"And he has to pick and choose. All right, do you help with Lamar screaming up the sideline? Or do you stick with me? Either way, it's a win, win for the quarterback and receiver combo.
"I still think Russell Wilson throws one of the prettiest deep balls. I think he's gonna do great with the Steelers, so I'll go Russ."
"Throws a pretty, a pretty football. And he's gonna be one of the most accurate quarterbacks. And I've never played with a left-hander."
"I like his swag."
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After the Burrow swag comments, the Eminem cut was brought up to Burleson. Let's just say he's a fan.
"I do. I respect it," Burleson said. "If you look online and put 'Nate Burleson hair styles,' I got some blonde hair in there. I've had some wild hair styles. This is calm for me (current crop)."
Burleson wanted to add Matthew Stafford, but he caught passes from Stafford from 2009 through 2013. "I do feel like he's gonna be really good," Burleson said when he spoke about Stafford's season.
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Burleson certainly thought about the five quarterbacks before deciding, but Penix was the most surprising. Penix isn't expected to start for the Atlanta Falcons this season as the No. 2 quarterback will learn under Kirk Cousins.
Wilson is in a battle with Justin Fields for the Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback job, but is the leader in the clubhouse at this point. He also has a Super Bowl title and has thrown 334 touchdown passes in his career. Mahomes, Jackson, and Burrow are three of the top-five quarterbacks in the league, so it wasn't surprising to see them on the list.
There were some omissions, but Burleson was limited to five. The cutoff line had to be somewhere.