Orlovsky defends not having 49ers legend Joe Montana among his top-5 all-time QBs

I want to preface this by stating that I enjoy Dan Orlovsky’s breakdowns and often find him insightful. However, the ESPN analyst presented a hot take this week that is sure to attract its share of scrutiny. It even did so among Orlovsky’s ESPN colleagues.

It’s difficult to forget that time David Carr tried, much to the astonishment of his NFL Network colleagues, to explain why Joe Montana wasn’t a top-10 quarterback of the Super Bowl era. The analyst was, unsurprisingly, bombarded with criticism for making such a highly-debatable statement.

Orlovsky finds himself in a similar situation, throwing out his own version of the take when it comes to his top five quarterbacks of all time (h/t Jarrod Castillo of NBC Sports Bay Area). On ESPN’s First Take, when asked which quarterback—Tom Brady or Joe Montana—he would take in a Super Bowl, fellow analyst Keyshawn Johnson went with Montana, admitting it was a difficult choice.

Orlovsky picked Brady, which is fair. Of course, that led to the following question from Johnson.

“If Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback in the history of the game, who was the greatest quarterback before him?” Johnson asked Orlovsky.

“John Elway or Peyton Manning? [Dan] Marino?” Orlovsky responded, unsure of his answer.

Understandably, that response left Johnson in complete shock. The former receiver even questioned (jokingly, I assume) if the former quarterback was using the opportunity to help himself trend on social media. Johnson couldn’t understand how Orlovsky could name three quarterbacks without mentioning Montana.

“What’s wrong with you? Before there was a Brady, there was a Montana,” Johnson added, chastising Orlovsky’s response.