Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins Lose Fantasy Football Value Without Joe Burrow

Michael Fabiano | Sep 16, 2025

Bengals QB Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury in Sunday's win over the Jaguars. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury during Sunday’s win over the Jaguars that will cost him up to three months of action. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport says that the Bengals fear he suffered a Grade 3 injury, which will require surgery. In this worst-case scenario, the Bengals and fantasy fans will lose Burrow until mid-December (if not all year).

It’s obviously a huge blow, as Burrow was one of the best quarterbacks in fantasy a year ago. In his absence, Jake Browning will take over the reins of the offense. This happened in 2023, when Burrow missed seven games due to an injured wrist.

Browning started seven games that year, averaging an impressive 19 fantasy points per game. He scored nearly 18 fantasy points after taking over for Burrow on Sunday too, so he’s obviously going to be a huge add off the waiver wire this week. If he can continue to post such totals, Browning could be a fantasy starter moving forward.

Where the loss of Burrow could have the biggest fantasy football effect, however, is in the pass attack and the value of wideouts Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

The Bengals threw the ball 36.5 times per game in 10 games started by Joe Burrow in 2023, ranking second in pass percentage. That total dropped to 32.6 times a game with Browning under center. The offense dropped to 11th in pass percentage.  

In those 10 games with Burrow, Chase averaged a robust 10.6 targets, 7.1 catches, 83.3 yards, scored six touchdowns and averaged nearly 19 fantasy points. When Browning took over, Chase saw a decline in production across the board. In fact, he averaged 6.5 targets, 4.8 catches, 63.8 yards, scored one touchdown and averaged 12.2 points.

That’s a drop of nearly seven fantasy points per game.

As for Tee Higgins, he was slightly better with Browning. In seven games with Burrow, he averaged 7.3 catches, 3.8 catches, 46.8 yards, scored two touchdowns and averaged 10.3 points. With Burrow, Higgins averaged five targets, three catches, 65.6 yards, scored three touchdowns and averaged 13.1 points. Still, averaging 13.1 points per game is a huge drop compared to the 18.5 points he averaged in 12 games last season.

Obviously, Browning has proven he can be a fantasy asset so you should put in a claim for him. But unfortunately, losing Burrow is going to hurt the production of Chase (curse of the No. 1 overall fantasy pick again?) and Higgins as we move forward.