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Factoid

Joe Burrow

Bengal looks like an Index guy

With the way rushing production tends to be rewarded in fantasy leagues, Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts are tough to beat, as long as they stay in the lineup. But there's a lot to be said for top passers too, and Joe Burrow looks like he'll outperform the vast majority of quarterbacks in that regard.

On our initial board, Burrow comes in 2nd at the quarterback position. I think continuity helps (when you consider that Hurts is in a new offense and Allen has essentially a brand-new receiving corps), plus there's the fact he's been really good. Last year was cut short by injury (his second such season when that's happened), but he's been really good on the field, and was playing at a high level last year. In his last three full games (against stellar competition: San Francisco, Buffalo and Houston) he averaged 326 passing yards and threw 7 touchdowns. He also averaged 22 rushing yards in those games, though that's not a huge part of his game.

But over his four-year career, not many quarterbacks have finished with better passing numbers than he has. Among quarterbacks to start at least half the time, only three have averaged more passing yards. One of those guys (Justin Herbert) is in a brand new, likely run-focused offense.

In a draft I'm participating in right now, I just took him as the 7th quarterback off the board. If that continues, I'm clearly going to have him on a lot of teams this year.

Table sorted by passing yards per game over the past four seasons.

QUARTERBACKS PER START, 2020-2023
PlayerStPYdTDPRYdTDRPts
Patrick Mahomes65292.52.2022.1.1226.6
Justin Herbert62277.81.8414.7.1823.9
Dak Prescott50273.62.1013.3.1624.6
Joe Burrow52270.81.8711.6.1923.4
Kirk Cousins57269.52.026.9.0722.9
Josh Allen66265.82.0837.4.5628.9
Matthew Stafford57263.51.774.0.0220.9
Matt Ryan45257.91.335.4.0919.4
Jared Goff63257.31.564.4.1020.3
Derek Carr65250.91.526.0.0519.6
Tua Tagovailoa51244.51.597.5.1020.0
Kyler Murray49243.41.5138.9.4525.0
Geno Smith35242.21.5415.4.0920.5
Aaron Rodgers50242.22.226.9.1422.6
Trevor Lawrence50235.41.1619.3.2219.8
Russell Wilson60232.01.7821.9.1722.0
Jalen Hurts51228.01.2947.5.8026.2
Jimmy Garoppolo37226.91.323.9.1117.7
Ryan Tannehill53217.71.3413.4.3219.7
Baker Mayfield57217.51.379.5.0717.8
Carson Wentz37215.61.4917.1.2220.2
Mac Jones42212.31.107.8.0216.0
Lamar Jackson55210.21.5161.0.3124.6
Daniel Jones47201.8.8134.8.2318.4
Justin Fields38173.81.0557.5.3420.8

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index