The question was: " Is this stupid, or am i being stupid???". Rodthesod did give an answer to the actual question!
It is possible for the FO to have more total experience and also more experience on the given aircraft type but for some reason has not been promoted to captain with a given company, so in theory he would be better qualified to fly the aircraft to the given limits. That said it is the captain who carries the can so he gets to do it.