Dan Orlovsky defends comments about how an NFL quarterback ‘should look’

Dan Orlovsky was pressed on his quarterback favoritism, and now he’s being pressed on his “what it should look like” comment.

While joining ESPN Radio’s Unsportsmanlike last Friday morning, Evan Cohen asked Orlovsky, “Why do you love quarterbacks who haven’t done it versus those who have?” citing his affinity for Justin Herbert and Jordan Love, who have not won Super Bowls, as opposed to Jalen Hurts, who has won.

“Why do you love quarterbacks who haven’t done it versus those who have? Why do you love Herbert… why do you not love Hurts?” – Evan Cohen to Dan Orlovsky pic.twitter.com/sSVRZOh2Wx

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 18, 2026

During his rebuttal, Orlovsky noted he has grown into being a Hurts fan in recent years, and defended his continued belief in Herbert because “that’s what it should look like.”

Every reasonable person listening to Orlovsky’s explanation knew he was talking about the fact that Herbert has elite physical traits. But some people on social media attempted to make it into a racial issue by taking Orlovsky’s comments about “looks” too literally.

Monday afternoon, Orlovsky went on The Pat McAfee Show where he was asked to clarify his “what it should look like” comment that became controversial.

“I said, ‘In relation to Herbert, that’s kind of what big-time quarterback play looks like. And he’s also accomplished a lot in the league historically… when I say, ‘it looks like,’ – big, tall, fast, powerful, strong, smart, big-time accuracy arm. That’s all I said,” Orlovsky explained.

In our initial write-up of the exchange, we similarly noted Orlovsky’s “should look like” comment referred to how a quarterback plays the position. And while Orlovsky might be alone in some of his quarterback rankings, he’s not alone when it comes to fawning over Herbert. NFL analysts constantly tout Herbert as having the potential to be one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, despite never winning a playoff game.

Orlovsky noted Cohen was very apologetic after Friday’s exchange about quarterback favoritism went viral. Orlovsky aptly maintained there was nothing wrong with the question. And there wasn’t. Maybe it wasn’t the question Orlovsky expected to be asked, but it was a fair question and a reasonable answer. Cohen knew what Orlovsky meant by “what it should look like.” Most people watching knew what Orlovsky meant, but the vagueness of the comment let people turn it into something bigger.