Terry McLaurin vs Joe Burrow

“McLaurin is a target of mine because he doesn’t have much competition for targets of his. The Commanders’ passing game is essentially McLaurin and newly signed Stefon Diggs.”

“While everyone had high hopes for McLaurin in 2025, injuries to him and Jayden Daniels ruined his season.”

“The Commanders are desperate for a second pass catcher behind Terry McLaurin”

“Round 6: Terry McLaurin (WR – WSH) The Commanders were a train wreck last season, and part of that was Terry McLaurin only playing 10 games.”

“With Deebo Samuel and Zach Ertz gone, only Antonio Williams and Chig Okonkwo were added to this receiving depth chart; McLaurin should return to his target hog WR2 ways in 2026. He’s a strong bounceback candidate.”

“Round 4: Terry McLaurin (WR – WAS) Terry McLaurin was the counter-pick, sitting in an almost identical ADP range as Waddle. The preference here comes down to target-share ceiling: McLaurin’s worst-case target competition still leaves him with a strong floor, while his best case could push into the high-20s percentage range given how thin the target competition around him currently looks.”

“Terry McLaurin (WR – WSH) McLaurin’s 2025 season was derailed almost from the jump by a training camp holdout that eventually turned into a three-year, $96 million contract extension. That kind of disruption tends to torpedo a season, and it did here too.”

“Terry McLaurin is a favorite draft target in the fifth round based on ADP.”

“Both Luke McCaffrey and Jaylin Lane are fighting for targets behind Terry McLaurin in the Commanders' receiver room.”

“Through the first six weeks, McLaurin averaged just 4.2 PPR points per game, topped 50 receiving yards only once, and seemed to spend almost as much time on the injury report as he did on the field.”

“Injuries also limited Terry McLaurin to 10 games.”

“McLaurin started the 2025 offseason as a holdout. Then, shortly after reaching a new deal with the Commanders, McLaurin sustained a quad injury in Week 3 and did not return fully until the Commanders' season was all but over in Week 13.”

“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.”

“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.”