Week 2 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings & Projections: Joe Burrow Rebound Looms

Check out our Week 2 fantasy football quarterback rankings and projections, including top starts, bust candidates, and sleepers to help set your lineup.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) shakes hands after the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 1 game between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. The Bengals begin the season with a 17-16 win over the Browns. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season, the top 10 quarterbacks were full of surprises. The only name quarterbacks to play up to expectations in fantasy points (4-point passing TDs) were Josh Allen (1st – 42.70), Lamar Jackson (4th – 31.45), Patrick Mahomes (6th – 28.60), and Jalen Hurts (10th – 25.80). 

Fifteen quarterbacks finished with higher than 20.00 fantasy points, with three players passing for more than 300 yards (Josh Allen – 394/2, Geno Smith – 362/1, and Justin Herbert – 318/3). Aaron Rodgers led the week in passing touchdowns (4).

Here’s a look at the other quarterbacks that finished in the top 12:

• Daniel Jones (32.70)
• Justin Fields (31.70)
• Justin Herbert (26.30)
• Aaron Rodgers (28.20)
• Michael Penix Jr. (27.00)
• Caleb Williams (26.30)
• J.J. McCarthy (24.65)
• Baker Mayfield (24.25)

Based on our Week 1 quarterback projections, these six players delivered close to our expectations or higher: Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Caleb Williams, J.J. McCarthy, and Baker Mayfield.

Quarterback Bust of Week 1 

Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

He passed for only 113 yards with touchdowns while gaining only 4.9 yards per pass attempt. I expected him to make a run at 5,500 passing yards and 55 passing touchdowns in 2025, so he has plenty of stats corrections coming.

Runner Ups: Dak Prescott (188/0), Bo Nix (194 combined yards with one touchdown and two interceptions), and C.J. Stroud (188/0 with one interception and 32 rushing yards)

Each week, I’ll release my weekly depth charts and projections on Wednesday, with a neutral eye that is dictated by hinting stats from previous results or in-season injuries. These statistics represent baseline outlooks, with their potential already factored in. Touchdowns create impact scores and winning fantasy days, especially in non-PPR formats. Who scores them each week is the Holy Grail that the fantasy market searches for weekly.

My projections will be sorted into rankings, which won’t look anything close to the weekly consensus. My man, Matt Brandon, is in charge of finding a balance between my player outlooks and the public view of each week's rankings.

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Week 2 Top 12 Fantasy Football Quarterbacks

2025 Top 12 Quarterback Rankings Week 2 | Shawn Childs

Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

Last week, the Bengals defense struggled to get Cleveland’s offense off the field, leading to them losing the time of possession battle (24:11 to 35:49). Cincinnati ran a balanced offense (23 runs and 23 passes), with its offensive line allowing three sacks.

In 2024, Jacksonville gave up the most passing yards (4,496) in the NFL, with quarterbacks gaining 7.75 yards per pass attempt with 30 passing touchdowns. Their defense finished with only 30 sacks.

Burrow should have a correction game this week, which would be helped tremendously if the Jaguars can push them on the scoreboard. 

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) looks for a receiver against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

My projection indicators suggested the Cowboys will score three touchdowns this week, with two coming via the pass and one on the ground. I was tempted to push Prescott to three passing scores, but I can’t trust the Giants’ offense to score 20+ points. In the past, Prescott has been a much better quarterback play at home, but he comes off a disappointing season. Dallas upgraded his WR2 with the explosive George Pickens, giving the Cowboys more excitement on the passing side of the ball. 

The Vegas posted an over/under of 44.5 for this week’s matchup, suggesting a 25 to 19 type outcome if the Cowboys are going to cover the spread (-5.5).

Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

I have him projected outside the top 12 quarterbacks this week, partly due to the Lions’ offense expected to deliver rushing touchdowns this week. In Week 1, the public opinion is that the Packers’ defense played well and Detroit struggled on the defensive side of the ball. The Lions ran 65 plays compared to 47 by Green Bay. Their defense gave up 266 combined yards, compared to the Packers allowing 246 yards. Detroit won the time of possession (35:25 to 24:35). 

The failure of their offense was their offensive line, highlighted by allowing four sacks and a losing day running the ball (22/46 – 2.1 yards per carry). In addition, the Lions’ new offensive play calling led to Jared Goff dumping 14 passes off the running back position (14 catches for 49 yards on 14 targets), while gaining only 3.5 yards per catch.

Detroit should bounce back in a big way at home this week, while exposing the Bears’ weakness on the defensive side of the ball. 

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Click HERE to view our Week 2 fantasy football quarterback projections!

Here are the late Week 2 quarterback projection changes:

Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

He has a slight bump on his passing yards outlook due to his Week 2 projections being influenced too much by the Jaguars’ passing yards per attempt (4.4) in Week 1.

Mac Jones, San Francisco 49ers

With Brock Purdy ruled out for multiple weeks, I downgraded the 49ers’ offense across the board. Jauan Jennings is listed as questionable, despite missing practice all week. As a result, receiving outlooks have been reshuffled, with another ball expected to drop on Sunday. Christian McCaffrey will remain active, but his chance of scoring looks diminished.