D'Andre Swift vs Joe Burrow

“D'Andre Swift is a favorite draft target in the fifth round based on ADP.”

“The Bears have a two-man backfield, with RBs D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai sharing work. But it's worth leaning into the Chicago backfield because the Bears should have one of the better offenses in the league, and Bears head coach Ben Johnson is one of the best running-game designers in the league. I would rather have D'Andre Swift than Quinshon Judkins, even though Judkins is expected to have more touches.”

“Last year, Swift was the RB15, averaging 14.3 PPR fantasy points per game, a higher average than Bucky Irving (13.8) and Kenneth Walker III (11.3). More importantly, he averaged more rushing attempts (13.9 vs. 9.9) and yards per game (67.9 vs. 46.1) than Monangai last year.”

“Going into this season, Swift is going to be the 1A in a duo with second-year back Kyle Monangai, as the team didn't draft any running backs nor sign anyone in free agency, leaving Swift and Monangai with the backfield all to themselves.”

“Swift racked up a career-high 1,087 yards on the ground and scored 10 total touchdowns, and with 34 receptions for 299 yards, averaged 14.3 fantasy points per game, good for RB16.”

“If that happens, Swift could easily be a top-18 running back for fantasy.”

“Swift was the preferred option around the goal line, and it becomes quite hard not to be interested in him at his current cost of RB25, going around pick 60.”

“Swift had a higher explosive run rate (5.4% vs. 4.1%), a better missed tackles forced rate (0.17 vs. 0.10), generated more yards before contact and was the better receiving back.”

“Swift's efficiency numbers bounced back after a horrible 2024 season, ranking 13th in explosive run rate, 11th in rushing success rate, and 20th in missed tackle rate, and should be a mid-range RB2 again this season.”

“D'Andre Swift arguably had a career year last season for the Bears as the RB16 in fantasy points per game, finishing with 257 touches and 1,386 total yards while splitting work with Kyle Monangai.”

“David Montgomery and D'Andre Swift are clean examples because they sit back to back in ADP, with Montgomery at 5.5 and Swift at 5.6 (as of June 3rd). Or do you need Swift's receiving profile and a different ceiling bet if the Bears take their offense to the moon?”

“Yes, he's getting a little older, but those numbers belong to a running back who still has real juice, not one that's falling off a cliff. The Bears' offense is ascending, and Swift is right in the middle of it.”

“Lamar Jackson , Jayden Daniels , Joe Burrow , Baker Mayfield , and Kyler Murray all were selected as top-12 players at the position and finished double-digit slots behind expectations in terms of points per game.”

“Round 1: Joe Burrow (QB – CIN) To kick things off at No. 4 overall, I went with Joe Burrow .”

“Even with a modest target share, Higgins maximizes his opportunities in one of the NFL’s premier passing offenses led by Joe Burrow .”

“The pivot to more under-center passing won’t be as natural and certainly might not be anywhere near as successful for the Bengals, because Burrow clearly isn’t as comfortable and doesn’t perform as well. In fact, if we go back the last three years, Burrow’s under-center dropbacks average just 3.6 air yards, which ranked dead last: #69 out of 69 qualifying QBs. His time to throw of 2.81 seconds was the #5 fastest out of 69 QBs, and he threw just 17% of passes 10+ yards downfield, also ranking dead last.”

“Zac Taylor wants the Bengals to play more from under center in 2026. Unfortunately, Joe Burrow under center is precisely where this offense struggles most, which is why the Bengals haven't used it often of late. How much the Bengals choose to pivot to under-center passing and how much Burrow can improve on these dropbacks might have a large impact on their fortunes in 2026.”

“Overvalued: Joe Burrow, Quarterback (QB4, Pick 59 OVR) Now, this isn’t to say that I don’t like Joe Burrow, or that I don’t think that Joe Burrow is a talented player; I just think that Joe Burrow is capped insofar as he doesn’t rush at all, and the Bengals’ offensive line isn’t strong enough for him to be a consistent top-four player without the rushing.”

“Of the top-10 quarterbacks based on LTV, Burrow is the one quarterback with little to no rushing upside, making him the quarterback I would want to trade away.”

“Burrow was once again impactful when on the field, completing 66.8% of his passes for a 6.6% touchdown rate. Burrow is the only quarterback with a touchdown rate of 6% or higher in each of the past two seasons.”

“Despite finishing the season as the QB29 last season due to missed games, Burrow finished the season red hot. Through the final six weeks of 2025, Burrow was on pace for 4500+ passing yards and 43 passing TDs. Since 2023, Burrow in Week 1 has been atrocious.”

“Over the last four seasons, Burrow has established himself as one of the NFL's premier fantasy quarterbacks even without the rushing upside of the Allen/Lamar types. He finished as the overall QB3 or better for 14 weeks in that span. What's wild is he missed 17 games in that span!”

“Joe Burrow's health has been the biggest hurdle for this team in recent seasons. If he remains healthy, Burrow will put up MVP numbers, and the Bengals will be in the thick of the playoff hunt in a loaded AFC field of contenders.”

“Seeing Joe Burrow go ahead of quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Drake Maye is quite shocking, but Burrow is firmly going as the QB2 on Fantrax. If Burrow were to have another season like 2024, with 45 total touchdowns and almost 5,000 passing yards, he would be worthy of this selection. But we also have to consider the possibility of a repeat of his 2025 season, in which Burrow played only eight games and threw 17 passing touchdowns while finishing with fewer than 2,000 yards in half a season.”