Patrick Mahomes: Outside of his one-game rookie season, Mahomes set or tied career lows in passing yards (3,928) and touchdowns (26). Like Joe Burrow, Mahomes has enough mobility to make and extend plays, but he doesn't use it to rack up significant rushing production (307-389 rushing yards in five consecutive seasons). After finishing as a top-four fantasy quarterback in four of his first five seasons as a starter, Mahomes has finished as the QB8 and QB12, respectively, over the past two seasons. The talented trio of Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown (when healthy and active) provide hope for Mahomes to return to his previous levels of elite production.
Justin Fields: The same year (2022) that Fields threw for 2,242 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, he finished as fantasy's QB6 in points per game and overall. Of course, it was the elite rushing production (160/1143/8) that outweighed his anemic passing stats that year. Even before the Steelers benched him in favor of Russell Wilson in 2024, Fields was the QB6 in fantasy points per game through his six starts.
C.J. Stroud: What a difference a year made, as Stroud finished his 2023 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign as fantasy's QB8 in points per game and as the QB26 in 2024. The coaching staff did him no favors and Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell ended the year on IR with Nico Collins also missing five games in 2024. With the additions of Christian Kirk in free agency and Iowa State rookies Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel in the draft and a new offensive coaching staff in place, there is some optimism for Stroud to rebound in 2025 although the offensive line remains an issue.
Joe Burrow: Burrow, now a two-time NFL Comeback Player of the Year, had an MVP-caliber season in 2024. (Of course, so did Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.) In any event, Burrow led the NFL in both passing yards (4,918) and touchdowns (43). With Cincinnati doling out massive contracts to both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins this offseason, it's all systems go for Burrow and the Bengals offense, who will often find themselves needing to keep up with their leaky defense.
While nobody is right 100% of the time, the Vegas sportsbooks are right more often than they are wrong.
A helpful tool to determine which players to roster or start (or at least to break a tie), especially in daily fantasy football leagues, is NFL implied totals (projected point totals for each team based on NFL odds).
Looking at the over-under alone is not enough. Although it's an obvious statement, the more points a team scores (or is expected to score), the more likely that fantasy points will follow.
NFL implied totals listed in the table below are calculated using NFL odds from FanDuel Sportsbook for Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season and sorted from most to least projected points.
The calendar has flipped to August, and we are now 34 days until the start of the 2025 NFL season.
Curious what new or updated content we have been posted on EDSFootball.com? We will start making a daily post capturing our content updates so that you can track what has changed.
Updated 2025 Fantasy Football Projections
We've updated fantasy football projections for multiple teams today — see below:
Projected fantasy points are based on half-PPR scoring.
Joe Burrow: Burrow, now a two-time NFL Comeback Player of the Year, had an MVP-caliber season in 2024. (Of course, so did Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.) In any event, Burrow led the NFL in both passing yards (4,918) and touchdowns (43). With Cincinnati doling out massive contracts to both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins this offseason, it's all systems go for Burrow and the Bengals offense, who will often find themselves needing to keep up with their leaky defense.
Sam Darnold: How close will the 2025 version of Darnold be to his breakout season last year? That's the obvious question, especially considering last year's environment (coaching and supporting cast) was about as ideal for a quarterback as possible. On a positive note, the former top-three pick is still only 28 years old despite entering his eighth NFL season. Darnold threw for 4,319 passing yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season and finished as fantasy's QB9. It's definitely possible that the fantasy community (myself included) is discounting him too much in 2025.
Bo Nix: Nix started slowly (didn't throw first touchdown until Week 4), but he was one of the most productive fantasy quarterbacks from Week 5 through the end of the season. During that span, he completed 68.3% of his pass attempts for 3,115 yards, 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions while rushing 69 times for 320 yards and two scores. He was fantasy's QB5 (QB6 on per-game basis) from Week 5-18. The Broncos added Evan Engram in free agency and used a pair of top-75 picks on playmakers — R.J. Harvey (No. 60) and Pat Bryant (No. 74) — in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Leading up to the start of the 2025 NFL season, we will use the fantasy football mock draft simulator to complete fantasy football mock drafts. And we will do so using a variety of scoring formats — point per reception (PPR), half-PPR, standard scoring and even 2-QB leagues — and league sizes. The goal is to provide you with a good representation of the team that you may be able to draft given your league settings while also providing the rationale of why we made the picks we did.
In this mock, Bijan Robinson and Saquaon Barkley went 1.02 and 1.03, respectively, but a case could be made for Gibbs to be the RB1. Especially with Ja'Marr Chase (1.01), Justin Jefferson (1.04) and CeeDee Lamb (1.05) all off the board as well, this was an easy choice. Gibbs set or tied career highs across the board in rushing (250/1,412/16, 5.6 YPC) and receiving (52/517/4, 9.9 Y/R) in his second season. Gibbs was also top five among running backs with a minimum of 17 targets in yards per route run (1.67) and YAC per reception (11.5), per PFF. Gibbs was especially good when David Montgomery missed the final three regular-season games (RB1 overall), but he was also the RB3 (RB4 on a PPG basis) from Weeks 1 to 15 when Montgomery was also active.
Brown missed four games in 2024 and the Eagles averaged a league-worst 26.35 pass attempts per game (down from 33.12/G in 2023, 21st). Despite that, he still finished with 67 receptions for 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns. While there were some quiet games, Brown's 2024 per-game averages of receptions (5.2) and yards (83.0) weren't that much lower than his career averages (5.7/86.8). Even with their potent rushing attack, it's possible that they throw more often than 26 times per game in 2025, which would make Brown a bargain here as the 10th receiver off the board.
Higgins will continue to benefit from playing as the 1B to Ja'Marr Chase, with elite quarterback (Joe Burrow) and for an offense that should need to keep up with its leaky defense. While he has missed exactly five games in back-to-back seasons, Higgins finished second (behind only Chase) among all wide receivers in fantasy points per game in 2024.
In the same year that Saquon Barkley rushed for over 2,000 yards, Hurts set a career low as a full-time starter in pass attempts per game (24.1). In fact, that was a drop of 7.5 per game from his 2023 average (31.6). He finished 2024 throwing for only 2,903 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Even with Barkley's rushing greatness last season, Hurts extended streaks of 150-plus carries (three seasons), 600-plus rushing yards (four) and double-digit rushing scores (four). Over the past four years, Hurts has compiled 611/2,779/52 rushing in 62 games, equivalent to 9.51 fantasy points per game from rushing stats alone. In addition, only two players (both running backs) — Derrick Henry (51) and Josh Jacobs (42) — come within 10 rushing touchdowns of Hurts (52) during that span, per Stathead. (Josh Allen is tied for fourth (40) with Joe Mixon and Jonathan Taylor.)
Joe Burrow: Burrow battled a calf strain during the early part of the season, and his performance suffered as a result (182 YPG with only two total touchdowns through four games). While he got into a groove after that point (4-1 record, 296 passing YPG, 12-to-four TD-INT ratio in his next five games), Burrow was lost for the season to a hand/wrist injury sustained in Week 11. Burrow says he'll "be ready to go by the season" even though he won't put a percentage on where he is health wise. The Bengals arguably have the league's best receiver tandem with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Zack Moss: Moss is one of free agency's biggest winners this offseason with Joe Mixon now in Houston. While he'll share the workload with Chase Brown, Moss has shown an ability to handle a heavy workload and he should get the larger share of touches in Cincinnati's committee backfield. Given the high-powered nature of their offense (when everyone is healthy), Moss is a high-upside flex option heading into 2024.
Ja'Marr Chase: Although he's the WR3 in my rankings, a case could be made for Chase to be drafted as the WR1 this summer. Injuries have slowed him and/or Joe Burrow over the past two seasons, but the 24-year-old receiver already has 268/3,717/29 through 45 career games.
Tee Higgins: With both Higgins and Joe Burrow missing considerable time and dealing with injuries, 2023 was a year to forget. Before that, however, Higgins had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons (and top-24 finishes) as the team's 1B to Ja'Marr Chase's 1A. Going into his age-25 season, it appears unlikely that Higgins will sign a long-term extension, but it's good news that he has signed his franchise tender.
Mike Gesicki: Gesicki has underwhelmed the past couple of seasons — 32/362/5 and 29/244/2, respectively. While fantasy managers shouldn't expect a 112-target (and 73/780/2) season like in 2021, there is potential that Gesicki outperforms current expectations and ADP as the third option in Cincinnati's passing game. Outside of deep leagues, however, the athletic tight end shouldn't be drafted.
Joe Burrow: Does any team have as talented of a trio as the Bengals do with Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd? Burrow's rookie season (2020) ended prematurely after sustaining a torn ACL, but he has a 69.3% completion rate, 69 touchdowns (6.1 TD%) and 8.1 yards per attempt average over the past two years. Returning to practice after missing roughly a month, Burrow (calf strain) is on track to play Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns.
Joe Mixon: Missing multiple games in all but two seasons (2019 and 2021), Mixon has been an inefficient (career 4.1 YPC) workhorse (16.4 carries per game). In addition, he set career highs as a receiver in targets (75), receptions (60) and yards (441) in 2022.
Ja'Marr Chase: Chase missed five games in 2022, but in some ways, his numbers were even better in his second season. Chase averaged a 7.3/87.2/0.75 line and fell short of 50 receiving yards in only one of 12 games last season. As a rookie, he averaged 4.8/85.6/0.77 per game, but he failed to reach 50 receiving yards in six games in his debut season. Assuming that Chase stays healthy, bigger and better things should be expected in his age-23 season.
Tee Higgins: Other than perhaps the Dolphins with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle or the Eagles with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, no team has a better WR duo than the Bengals have with Chase and Higgins. As he enters his age-24 season, the former Clemson Tiger already has three years of consistent production with a total of 215 catches for 3,028 yards and 19 touchdowns. Higgins has a minimum of three catches in 38 of the 41 games in which he played at least 50% of the offensive snaps.
Tyler Boyd: Boyd set five-year lows in targets (82), receptions (58) and yards (762) in 2022. Even so, he has extended his streak of top-36 seasons (half-PPR scoring) to five. He's a relatively low-upside flex option, other than weeks where either Chase or Higgins is sidelined.
Irv Smith Jr.: Smith has appeared in only eight (23.5%) of 34 games over the past two seasons. With Hayden Hurst now in Carolina, Smith slots in atop Cincinnati's depth chart. Hurst had 52/414/2 receiving in 13 games last season, and Jets tight end C.J. Uzomah had 49/493/5 for Cincinnati in 2021. Provided his health cooperates, Smith has a chance to at least post similar numbers to Hurst and Ozumah over the past two seasons.
Some teams have already played their final preseason game and as the NFL preseason winds down, we are that much closer to the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Detroit Lions on Thursday Night Football.
That also means that we are in the thick of fantasy draft season.
To help you prepare for your fantasy football drafts, we will continue to keep our fantasy football rankings updated until the start of the 2023 NFL season.
Fantasy managers know exactly what they're getting when they draft Allen, who has finished as fantasy's QB1, QB1 and QB2 over the past three seasons, respectively. Few quarterbacks have as much weekly upside and consistency as Allen. Last season, he finished as a top-six weekly QB in 12 of 16 games played and finished as a top-12 weekly quarterback in two more games.
Hurts set career bests in passing — 66.5% completion, 8.0 Y/A, 4.8 TD%, 1.2 INT%, and 101.5 passer rating — in 2022. Despite his improvement as a passer, aided by the trade for A.J. Brown last offseason, it's especially the rushing production that makes him an elite fantasy quarterback. Over the past two seasons (30 games), the former Oklahoma (and Alabama) quarterback has rushed 304 times for 1,544 yards and 23 touchdowns. That's an equivalent to 9.75 fantasy points per game (from his rushing stats alone).
Despite losing Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins, Mahomes didn't miss a beat and won his second NFL MVP award in 2022. He threw for 5,250 yards and 41 touchdowns, both of which led the NFL last season. While he doesn't have as much rushing upside as Josh Allen or Jalen Hurts, he has more than 300 rushing yards in three consecutive seasons and multiple rushing scores in five consecutive seasons.
There is only one quarterback in NFL history with 25-plus passing touchdowns and 1,000-plus rushing yards in the same season, and that quarterback (Jackson) has done it twice. Of course, the biggest concern with Jackson is durability and the fact that he has missed five games in each of the past two seasons. With the Ravens bolstering their receiving corps by signing Odell Beckham Jr. and drafting Zay Flowers in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft and hiring Todd Monken to run the offense, the dual-threat quarterback has legitimate QB1 (overall) upside if he's able to stay healthy for a full season.
Making improvements as a passer in his second season, Fields also made in-season strides highlighted by the following splits:
Games 1-7: 55.9% completion, five TDs and six INTs
Games 8-15: 63.7% completion, 12 TDs and five INTs
More improvement as a passer should be expected for his third season, but Fields has as much rushing upside as any quarterback in the NFL. He led the NFL in yards per carry (7.1) and ended the season with 1,143 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. Only six running backs rushed for more yards in 2022. Over his final 10 games, Fields was even more dominant as a runner with a per-game rushing line of 11.8/94.9/0.7 (8.04 YPC). In his final 10 games played, Fields finished as a top-10 weekly quarterback nine times, a top-five performer five times and the overall weekly QB1 twice.
Does any team have as talented of a trio as the Bengals do with Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd? Burrow's rookie season (2020) ended prematurely after sustaining a torn ACL, but he has a 69.3% completion rate, 69 touchdowns (6.1 TD%) and 8.1 yards per attempt average over the past two years. It's unlikely for the Bengals to play Burrow in the preseason as he recovers from his strained calf, but NFL Network's Mike Garafolo notes that "it doesn't sound as if Week 1 is in jeopardy right now."
Through three seasons, Herbert has averaged a 17-game pace of 4,696 yards, 31.3 touchdowns and 11.7 interceptions with another 237 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Through three seasons, he has finished as fantasy's QB9, QB2 and QB11, respectively. First-round rookie wide receiver Quentin Johnston adds a vertical weapon to this offense, and a new offensive scheme that encourages more shots down the field should boost Herbert's upside. Of the 36 quarterbacks with a minimum of 200 dropbacks in 2022, Herbert ranked 34th in ADOT, per PFF.
What a difference a year (and a new coaching staff) made for Lawrence! The 2021 NFL Draft's top overall pick completed 66.3% of his pass attempts for 7.0 yards per attempt, while throwing 25 touchdowns and only seven interceptions in 2022. (That compares to 59.6%, 6.0 Y/A and 12:17 TD-INT ratio in 2021.) In fact, Lawrence improved considerably as the season progressed — 69.7% completion rate, 7.4 Y/A and a 15-to-two TD-INT ratio from Weeks 9-18. Bigger things could/should be in store for Lawrence in 2023, as Calvin Ridley joins Christian Kirk, coming off career numbers (84/1108/8 in 2022), Evan Engram, and Travis Etienne.
Appearing in only six games over the past two seasons, Watson started slow (under 13 fantasy points in three of his first four games) but closed 2022 with two solid performances — 21.9 (weekly QB8) and 19.6 (QB6), respectively. Given his dual-threat skill set, he has upside for a quarterback drafted as a back-end QB1.
Prescott missed five games after getting injured in the season opener. From Week 7 (when he returned from injury) through the end of the season, Prescott was fantasy's QB6 — QB7 on a PPG basis. Even without Dalton Schultz as a security blanket, Prescott's overall weapons are improved with a better WR2 (Brandin Cooks). In addition, Michael Gallup should be better, now that he's another year removed from his ACL tear.
Vastly outperforming his 2022 ADP, Smith led the NFL in completion percentage (69.8%) while throwing for 4,282 yards, 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. A repeat top-five fantasy finish may be unlikely, but Smith is a viable QB1 type, especially with the Seahawks drafting Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the first round to complement their dynamic duo of D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. So, in other words, he's undervalued compared his ADP once again.
Underrated as a runner, Jones had 120 carries for 720 yards and seven touchdowns last season after racking up 172/1,000/5 (5.8 YPC) rushing in his first three seasons (2019-21). The Giants have added several new pass catchers to the roster, which should help improve his anemic passing numbers (3.2 TD% and 6.8 Y/A in 2022). Jones, who finished as fantasy's QB9 in 2022, should be drafted as a fringe QB1.
Indianapolis was arguably the ideal landing spot for Richardson. After all, new coach Shane Steichen tailored Philadelphia's offense to best suit the skill set of Jalen Hurts. Ups and downs should be expected for Richardson, but his elite athletic profile gives him enormous rushing upside from the start.
Reunited with his former Washington offensive coordinator, Cousins finished as fantasy's QB7 with Kevin O'Connell in his first year as his head coach. That said, Cousins was 11th on a points-per-game basis (among QBs that played at least half the year) as the veteran quarterback set multi-year lows in completion percentage (65.9%), TD% (4.5), yards per attempt (7.1) and passer rating (92.5) in 2022. With the Vikings using a first-round pick on Jordan Addison to complement Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson, Cousins remains a steady back-end QB1 type heading into 2023.
Tagovailoa sustained multiple concussions, causing him to miss five games (counting a playoff loss) in 2022, and he even considered retiring after last season. When healthy, however, he posted career numbers and led the NFL in TD% (6.3), Y/A (8.9) and passer rating (105.5). Excluding the games he missed or left early (Weeks 4-6 and 17-18), Tagovailoa scored the seventh-most fantasy points over that span. Of course, durability and the potential for missed time factors into his 2023 outlook, but there is plenty of optimism if his health cooperates.
After winning back-to-back NFL MVP awards in 2020 and 2021, Rodgers numbers (without Davante Adams) were well below his career averages across the board in 2022 — 64.6% (65.3% career average), 4.8 TD% (6.2%), 2.2 INT% (1.4%), 6.8 Y/A (7.7) and 91.1 passer rating (103.6). Regardless of how long the next era of his career lasts, Rodgers joins a Jets team that has a better supporting cast than he had last year in Green Bay.
Wilson's debut season with the Broncos was a flop. He set career lows in completion percentage (60.5%), TDs/TD% (16, 3.3%) and passer rating (84.4). From Weeks 1 to 13, Wilson had only one top-12 weekly performance (Week 4), but he exceeded 24 fantasy points in three of his final four games in 2022. Transitioning to Sean Payton's offense improves optimism about Wilson's 2023 outlook (just ask Payton himself), but he should still be drafted as a fantasy QB2.
The Lions finished top five in the NFL in both scoring and total offense in 2022, and Goff was much better in his second season with the Lions than he was in his first. Throwing for 4,438 yards, 29 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, Goff finished as fantasy's QB10. Perhaps he'll push for a second consecutive top-12 campaign and he benefits from playing behind one of the league's better offensive lines and with a talented group of pass catchers, but he's better drafted as a QB2.
The Steelers went 7-5 in Pickett's starts, but he threw more interceptions (nine, 2.3%) than touchdowns (seven, 1.8%) in 2022. That said, eight of his nine interceptions were thrown in his first five games. Pickett had zero multiple touchdown games and only one 300-yard passing game (Week 5, 52-attempt 38-3 loss to the Bills in his first-ever start). Some breakout potential exists if he continues to build upon his late-season improvements in efficiency, but how much will the Steelers open up the offense?
There were concerns with Stafford and his elbow heading into the 2022 season, and the veteran quarterback managed to appear in only nine games due to a spinal cord contusion. Stafford threw 10 touchdowns (3.3 TD%, his lowest since 2012) and eight interceptions and averaged 6.9 yards per attempt (lowest since 2018) with an 87.4 passer rating (lowest since 2014). Stafford is in a better place to start training camp this year, saying that he "feel(s) a lot better physically." If he can stay healthy in 2023, how close will he be to the 2021 version who led the Rams to the Super Bowl and finished as a top-five fantasy quarterback?
Both Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers created (what many would describe as unnecessary) drama towards the tail end of their Packer tenures, but they also provided the franchise with tremendous stability at the position for three decades. Packers coach Matt LaFleur has talked up Love's "complete command" of Green Bay's offense, but growing pains should be expected as the franchise transitions to its next era. The team loaded up on several Day 2 pass catchers (Luke Musgrave, Jayden Reed, Tucker Kraft, etc.) in the draft to help support his growth.
Mr. Irrelevant is the term given to the final pick of each NFL draft, but Purdy, the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, was anything but irrelevant in his rookie season. From December through his final snap of the playoffs, Purdy completed 151-of-224 pass attempts (67.4%) for 1,877 yards (8.38 Y/A), 16 touchdowns (7.1%) and only three interceptions (1.3%). Firmly entrenched as the starter going into 2023, there appear to be no lingering concerns following his offseason UCL surgery.
Tannehill missed five games in 2022 and averaged fewer than 14 fantasy points per game for the season. Even though he was a fringe top-12 weekly quarterback in five of 12 games, he had only one 20-point performance (20.02, Week 11) all season. If the team (or Tannehill) struggles, it wouldn't be a surprise if the Titans transitioned to second-round pick Will Levis at some point during the season. If not, he may be undervalued for those in 2-QB or super flex formats.
Slipping to the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Howell started the season finale and enters 2023 as Washington's starter. Howell completed only 11-of-19 pass attempts for 169 yards (8.9 Y/A), a touchdown and an interception in his lone start, and he also ran for 35 yards and a touchdown on five carries. With a talented receiving corps, a new offensive coordinator and some mobility, Howell has a chance to deliver better-than-expected results in 2023. If Howell struggles at all, however, it wouldn't be suprising to see Jacoby Brissett make starts.
Carr was fantasy's QB15 through Week 16 before being benched in Week 17 by Josh McDaniels last year. Now in New Orleans, Carr improves the outlook for the team's pass catchers (as an upgrade over Andy Dalton), but he remains a solid QB2 in fantasy football. Since 2014, he has finished in the QB13-QB20 range every year except 2016 (QB10).
It was no surprise that the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft was named the Week 1 starter early in the process. While ups and downs should be expected for any rookie, Young is always composed, processes information quickly and thrives when extending and making plays outside of structure.
Replacing Derek Carr with Jimmy Garoppolo is a lateral move, at best, for the Raiders and the offense's outlook overall. From a fantasy perspective, Jimmy G. offers no upside as a runner and is a middling QB2, at best.
Stroud has consistently earned praise from his coaches and teammates throughout the offseason, even though he hasn't officially been named as the Week 1 starter against the Baltimore Ravens. An accurate passer when given time in the pocket at Ohio State, Stroud consistently made plays outside of structure against the Georgia Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff. He's off the fantasy radar in single-QB redraft leagues, but he should increase the overall efficiency of Houston's offense in 2023.
Jones missed some time in 2022, so his counting stats were down, but so were his efficiency numbers — 65.2% completion rate (67.6% in 2021), 3.2 TD% (4.2%), 6.8 Y/A (7.3) and 84.8 passer rating (92.5). Things should be better (than last year) with Bill O'Brien taking over the offense, but Jones' upside is relatively limited. Jones isn't draftable outside of two-QB or super flex leagues.
After Tom Brady's (second) retirement, the Bucs find themselves in the unenviable position of having to choose between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask. Even though Tampa hasn't officially named their starter, it's more likely going to be Mayfield, who is on his fourth team in the past 18 months. Mayfield completed only 60% of his pass attempts in 2022 for 2,163 yards (6.5 Y/A), 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions over 12 games.
Joe Burrow: Does any team have as talented of a trio as the Bengals do with Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd? Burrow's rookie season (2020) ended prematurely after sustaining a torn ACL, but he has a 69.3% completion rate, 69 touchdowns (6.1 TD%) and 8.1 yards per attempt average over the past two years. It's unlikely for the Bengals to play Burrow in the preseason as he recovers from a strained calf, but NFL Network's Mike Garafolo notes that "it doesn't sound as if Week 1 is in jeopardy right now."
Joe Mixon: Missing multiple games in all but two seasons (2019 and 2021), Mixon has been an inefficient (career 4.1 YPC) workhorse (16.4 carries per game). In addition, he set career highs as a receiver in targets (75), receptions (60) and yards (441) in 2022. The Bengals and Mixon agreed to a restructured contract that keeps him in Cincinnati for 2023, but it's still unclear if his legal issues will impact his availability at any point during the season.
Ja'Marr Chase: Chase missed five games in 2022, but in some ways, his numbers were even better in his second season. Chase averaged a 7.3/87.2/0.75 line and fell short of 50 receiving yards in only one of 12 games last season. As a rookie, he averaged 4.8/85.6/0.77 per game, but he failed to reach 50 receiving yards in six games in his debut season. Assuming that Chase stays healthy, bigger and better things should be expected in his age-23 season.
Tee Higgins: Other than perhaps the Dolphins with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle or the Eagles with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, no team has a better WR duo than the Bengals have with Chase and Higgins. As he enters his age-24 season, the former Clemson Tiger already has three years of consistent production with a total of 215 catches for 3,028 yards and 19 touchdowns. Higgins has a minimum of three catches in 38 of the 41 games in which he played at least 50% of the offensive snaps.
Tyler Boyd: Boyd set five-year lows in targets (82), receptions (58) and yards (762) in 2022. Even so, he has extended his streak of top-36 seasons (half-PPR scoring) to five. He's a relatively low-upside flex option, other than weeks where either Chase or Higgins is sidelined.
Irv Smith Jr.: Smith has appeared in only eight (23.5%) of 34 games over the past two seasons. With Hayden Hurst now in Carolina, Smith slots in atop Cincinnati's depth chart. Hurst had 52/414/2 receiving in 13 games last season, and Jets tight end C.J. Uzomah had 49/493/5 for Cincinnati in 2021. Provided his health cooperates, Smith has a chance to finish as a fringe TE1.
