Joe Burrow vs Kyle Pitts

“For Pollard to find his way into the top-12, we need a Drake Maye / Joe Burrow -esque second season from Ward.”

“Joe Burrow paired with Ja’Marr Chase is obviously a nightmare matchup to go head-to-head against, but the variance the pair would inject into your lineup is prohibitively high in this format. An explosive game from them will only truly save your season when the rest of your team lays some eggs.”

“But if Bengals QB Joe Burrow, who missed nine games last season, enjoys a season of good health, McPherson should have his fair share of FG and PAT opportunities.”

“The trio of Joe Burrow , Ja'Marr Chase , and Tee Higgins forces defenses to respect the passing game.”

“When Joe Burrow was healthy, he was a top-three quarterback last season”

“Joe Burrow (QB – CIN) According to Sharp Football Analysis , the Bengals have the second-easiest schedule this season, which bodes well for a passing attack featuring Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins”

“For example, fantasy players would need to use four of their first five or six picks to build a Cincinnati Bengals stack of Ja’Marr Chase , Chase Brown , Tee Higgins , and Joe Burrow”

“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.”

“The much-maligned Kyle Pitts is being drafted in the seventh round.”

“Fantasy managers spent years paying for the Kyle Pitts breakout before it happened. Now that it finally did, no one seems interested in paying for it.”

“10.04: Kyle Pitts (TE – ATL) This seems late for Pitts, but the concerns about the quarterback play in Atlanta are giving his stock a hit. That is a legitimate concern, but it should be noted that Tua Tagovailoa was able to get Mike Gesicki and Jonnu Smith career seasons.”

“There are compelling midrange options such as Sam LaPorta and Kyle Pitts .”

“isn’t exactly encouraging, but Kyle Pitts led the team in target share last season at 22.7%”

“Kyle Pitts (TE – ATL) The Falcons’ quarterback situation with a nicked-up Tua Tagovailoa and an injured Michael Penix Jr”

“Those are all elite numbers, and if Pitts had put up those stats all year, especially the fantasy points per game, he would have been the TE1 for fantasy. The problem is that with Drake London active, Pitts had a 19% target share, 42.2 receiving yards per game, 1.43 yards per route run, a 20.2% first-read share, 0.093 first downs per route run, and 9.6 fantasy points per game. All of those per route metrics were still quite strong, but the fantasy points per game mark would have made Pitts the TE20 last year.”

“Last year, Kyle Pitts had a tale of two seasons. Yes, overall it was a wonderful year as the TE5 in fantasy points per game and easily his best statistical season since his rookie year, but it was wildly different with Drake London in and out of the lineup. Without London, Pitts had a 26.7% target share with 84.4 receiving yards per game, 2.81 yards per route run, a 27.8% first-read share, 0.120 first downs per route run, and 19 fantasy points per game (per Fantasy Points Data).”

“Schultz finished tied with Jake Ferguson for third among tight ends in receptions behind only Trey McBride and Kyle Pitts . Schultz finished sixth among TEs in receiving yards.”

“Atlanta used the franchise tag to retain Pitts before reaching a three-year extension, making him the fourth highest-paid TE in the league. Pitts was “drafted to be great,” and 2025 saw Pitts return to high levels of production.”

“Kyle Pitts finished as the TE2 with just 9.8 fantasy points per game — the LOWEST ever for a TE2.”

“Overvalued: Kyle Pitts, Tight End (TE7, Pick 81 Overall) Pitts finished last season with 118 targets, 88 receptions, 928 yards, and five touchdowns. Many peg this as his breakout season, as he finally cracked out of the mediocrity of his last three seasons and came close to kissing the heights he reached in his first year. I, however, am bearish on his chances of returning to his top-five TE (TE2 OVR, TE5 per game) 2025 campaign.”