Joey B has had his fair share of injuries in his short career -- he tore his ACL and MCL in his rookie season, forcing him to miss the final six games ... and, more recently, suffered a calf strain in July that continued to give him trouble early on in his 2023 campaign.

He's now proving he's back to his usual self after leading the Bengals to four straight wins ... and Ochocinco says this version of Burrow is all the evidence he needs to put him at the top of his QB list.

"A healthy Joe Burrow is the best quarterback in the NFL," 45-year-old Johnson -- who played for the Bengals from 2001 to 2010 -- said this week.

"You can argue Patrick Mahomes, you can argue what other quarterbacks, but he just is."

Burrow has been balling out lately ... with big wins over San Francisco and Buffalo over the past two weeks as the Bengals find themselves in the contender conversation once again.

Since Burrow was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in 2020, he has led the Bengals to five postseason wins and a Super Bowl appearance ... something Johnson said shouldn't be ignored.

"What he's done for that franchise in such a short amount of time, I mean, how can he not be [the best]?"

Speaking of Burrow, he appeared on this week's edition of "Inside the NFL" -- which airs Tuesdays on the CW -- and Johnson said he had a blast interviewing the Ohio product.

"It was a joy for me," Johnson said. "It was really, really dope."