Fantasy Impact: Joe Burrow Out for the Season
As if it wasn’t bad enough that we lost fantasy superstar tight end Mark Andrews (ankle) on Thursday night, we’ve also lost one of the league’s best young quarterbacks, Joe Burrow. He suffered an injured wrist in a loss to the Ravens, and it’ll unfortunately cost him the rest of the 2023 campaign. It’s a huge loss both for the Bengals and fantasy fans, who have dealt with multiple quarterback injuries.
Burrow joins a list that includes Aaron Rodgers, Anthony Richardson, Kirk Cousins, Daniel Jones and Deshaun Watson, who have also been lost for the year. These absences have thinned the quarterback spot in fantasy leagues to the point where some folks are left to start the likes of Jordan Love or Gardner Minshew.
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Without Burrow, the Bengals will move to Jake Browning at quarterback. This is a huge downgrade, of course, as Browning is an undrafted free agent who signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2019. He was waived by the team in 2020 and landed on the Bengals’ practice squad in 2021. Browning eventually would beat out Trevor Siemian to become the team’s primary backup in training camp.
Before Thursday night, he had thrown one pass in the NFL. It came in Week 1.
Browning will no doubt be added in many super flex leagues, but it’ll be hard to trust him in most traditional formats. The same can be said of his supporting cast, even Ja’Marr Chase. The stud wideout entered Week 11 averaging more than 20 points per game. Without Burrow, you have to wonder if he can average even 15.
What’s more, this could mean we don’t see much of Chase late in the season if the Bengals don’t make some sort of a surprise postseason push. Already dealing with a sore back, Chase has a better chance of getting shelved. If you can trade him and get any kind of value, it might be a good idea. The same goes for Tee Higgins, who is dealing with an injured hamstring. It’ll be hard to have faith in him, too.
This is a worst-case scenario for the Bengals and fantasy managers, as the trade deadline has passed and the best free-agent option off the street might be Joe Flacco. But for a team that’s now a long way from the playoffs, the Bengals might lick their wounds, stick with Browning and look ahead to 2024. And if you’re in a competitive league, your best options off the waiver wire could be guys like Minshew or Kenny Pickett.
Since there’s only been one game so far this week, you have time to add a quarterback off the wire now. And if your trade deadline hasn’t passed, who has quarterback depth and make an offer to try and replace Burrow ASAP.