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Should I drop Joe Burrow for fantasy football Week 3? Is Joe Burrow a safe player to cut? Read the fantasy football waivers outlook.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (toe) made it to just the second game of the 2025 season before suffering a major injury. He injured his toe on a tackle attempt, was pulled from the game, and later ruled out of the contest.
Now, he's slated to undergo surgery on his injured toe, and will miss much of the rest of the 2025 season. In his place, backup QB Jake Browning will start. Burrow isn't likely to return until December of this season.
Though Burrow is one of the league's best passing quarterbacks, and one of its best fantasy players at the position, it can be tough to hold him on rosters all season in many leagues. So should Burrow be dropped in fantasy football now?
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Should I Drop Joe Burrow in Fantasy Football?
It depends. If you have enough injured reserve or bench spots to hold him, it makes sense to keep him on your rosters for now. Burrow, especially in six-point passing touchdown leagues, is incredibly valuable once he shakes off his early-season rust. He scored over 25.0 PPR fantasy points in nine games last season in six-point pass TD leagues.
Burrow also has an elite wide receiver duo in Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, who undoubtedly propel his fantasy output to impressive heights. Both those players are healthy, and could well be healthy when Burrow returns.
BURROW TO JA’MARR FOR THE 64-YARD SCORE 🚀
(via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/MNP271hTuP— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 12, 2023
In leagues with short benches, you probably don't have a choice if you don't have enough IR spots. But in general, I wouldn't recommend dropping Burrow. You don't yet know if you'll need help at the position when he returns from injury. The QBs you still retain could get hurt themselves.
Who Should I Pickup for Fantasy Football?
The window for picking up QBs that will likely be very good for most of the season generally passes in Week 1, but you still have some options. Bengals backup QB Jake Browning is a gunslinger, and racks up fantasy points despite throwing plenty of interceptions. He scored 20.7 points in relief of Burrow.
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford doesn't have much rushing upside to speak of, but he's on a great offense with two legitimate WR1s in Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. He's worth trying to pick up as well. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones played well in relief of Brock Purdy (toe), but it's unknown when Purdy will return.
Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of other good options at QB right now.
Who Should I Pickup Tool
Trying to decide who to pickup off the waiver wire? Check the Who Should I Pickup tool here:
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to pickup...
Who Should I Pickup? Some common 2025 fantasy football waiver wire decisions are regarding players like Mac Jones, Jake Browning, Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford. But not to worry, we are here to help make these waiver wire decisions and build winning teams in 2025. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups in 2025. Our free Who Should I Pickup? tool will help make your fantasy football waiver wire decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to pickup... all free! Make the right decisions.
2025 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on players like Mac Jones, Jake Browning, Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford. They are some of the most common searches for 2025 fantasy football waiver wire pickups.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Pickup? button to see who the recommended waiver wire pickups are based on fantasy football rankings, projections, and more.
Recent Improvements For Who Should I Pickup? You may have noticed, our Who Should I Pickup? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win on the waiver wire in 2025. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football waiver wire rankings and projections based on their research, and updates them constantly throughout the week. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked.
Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Pickup
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Pickup tool for 2025 for Mac Jones, Jake Browning, Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford:
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