Joe Burrow Out for the Season, Fantasy Reaction

Barely a day removed after news that Browns QB Deshaun Watson would be done for the year, the AFC North took another quarterback hit Friday with news that Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will miss the rest of the season after tearing ligaments in his wrist Thursday night. 

The 26-year-old Burrow ends his fourth NFL season after 10 games with 15 touchdowns against 6 interceptions. His 91.0 passer rating and 53.5 QBR were his lowest since his rookie year, and his 6.3 yards per attempt were a career low. A big factor in that was a preseason calf injury that hampered Burrow early in the season, with Burrow also averaging a career-low 2.8 yards per carry and not scoring a rushing touchdown for the first time. 
 

Joe Burrow Done for the Year, Fantasy Reaction

With Burrow shelved, the Bengals will turn to Jake Browning, and they will certainly sign a quarterback as well. Browning did manage a touchdown pass in relief Thursday, but he completed under 50% of his passes. 

In short, the move to a new quarterback is a huge deal for the Bengals offense. Ja’Marr Chase moves from a contender for the top player in all of fantasy to a low-end WR1/high-end WR2. Tee Higgins, when healthy, will be a flex option at best. There are no other pass-catchers in this Cincinnati offense who will be worth starting (or potentially even rostering) in fantasy once Higgins is back. 

The only possible fantasy beneficiary of the Burrow injury is running back Joe Mixon. The offense will be less powerful overall, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Mixon get even more work the rest of the way, if that’s possible. He’s wildly inefficient with his touches, and the team struggling to score probably hurts his ceiling, but Mixon’s floor the rest of the way is very high.