Mike Evans vs Joe Burrow

“Yet, Samuel could be Brock Purdy’s top wide receiver at some point this year given Mike Evans ‘ recent injury history”

“A fully healthy Mike Evans in this Kyle Shanahan system is a lock for 70+ receptions, 1,000+ yards ( obviously ), and 8+ TDs…that baseline would have been enough to finish as the overall WR11 in 0.5 PPR scoring in 2025, and is the exact reason The Path to a WR1 Season for Mike Evans is paved with gold.”

“Big Mike joins an offense with arguably the best overall RB, TE, and head coach in the entire league, and although this sounds like a recipe for disaster for a veteran recovering from a season plagued by injury, I tend to look at his move west in a similar light to all those optimistic prospectors from the mid-1800s…becuase let me tell you, Mike Evans on this 49ers team is going to be fantasy gold .”

“Mike Evans has a new home with the 49ers, and he looks like a wonderful value in fantasy drafts.”

“49ers FB Kyle Juszczyk had high hopes for new WR Mike Evans , but he was still surprised by the veteran’s ability to completely dominate practice, especially during red-zone periods. “The expectations we had for Mike were already high … he’s a Hall of Famer … and he blew us all away,” Juszczyk said, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic . “He was unguardable in practice, especially in the red zone. And he fits in so well.””

“Evans is almost 33 years old with an accumulation of injuries over 12 years. We are dangerously close to the performance cliff here, so it is perilous to assume that he will just absorb most of the 168-target vacancy.”

“Watch this space with the arrival of Mike Evans in San Francisco. Evans has been an integral part of one of the most efficient offenses in this category during his time down in Tampa Bay, and it will be interesting to see if that advantage translates to the same extent in Kyle Shanahan's system.”

“The offense will also no longer have Mike Evans after he departed in free agency for the 49ers.”

“The concerns revolve around durability and age. At 33 years old, Evans enters a completely new offensive environment while carrying a long history of hamstring issues. Erickson suggested fantasy managers may eventually want to capitalize on a fast start by trading him before those risks become more significant later in the season.”

“Evans joins an offense led by Brock Purdy after building a career around scoring touchdowns and producing 1,000-yard seasons. Erickson believes that touchdown upside remains very real, making Evans capable of delivering week-winning fantasy performances.”

“Investing in Evans can be risky, but we know he's got talent, is in a good situation, and is paired with a solid quarterback. This could be shaping up to be 2025 Davante Adams, which was a smash value in drafts.”

“Mike Evans scored 1 RecTD, 180 RecYds, 12 REC, and earned 1 100+Rec bonus for 39 fantasy points in Week 9.”

“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.”