2 min read • September 01, 2022
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Joe Burrow was well on his way to a strong start to his third season after a summer of prep and progress as opposed to rehabbing from his Nov. 2020 ACL, MCL, and PCL.
The Cincinnati quarterback's appendix had other plans and postponed his training camp a few weeks, but Burrow remains in a much better position this season.
Even before the Super Bowl run Burrow was playing at a different level: In the final seven games after Nov. 21 – one year since his catastrophic knee injury – Burrow completed 73.8% of his passes for 2,114 yards and 14 touchdowns on 9.0 yards per attempt and rushed for another two scores, finishing as the No. 5 fantasy QB over that span.
Burrow's already-strong supporting cast is also in a strong position to take a leap.
Third-year wideout Tee Higgins had 1,091 yards and six touchdowns while managing a torn labrum in his left shoulder, and Joe Mixon had a career year in his return from a season-ending foot injury in 2020.
The Bengals' enhanced offensive line and the returns of Ja'Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd make Burrow one of the safest scoring floors among quarterbacks this season.
After a tumultuous last nine months it can be easy to forget that Kyler Murray finished 2021 as the No. 10 fantasy QB and No. 4 in points per game.
His Week 8 ankle sprain cost him three weeks and, combined with injuries to key offensive weapons, Murray was much less efficient in November and December.
Even as Murray struggled to ignite the offense, the 25-year-old finished as QB6 in his final six games, driven by his voluminous rushing.
Murray enters his fourth season with a clean bill of health but has multiple factors working against him taking another statistical leap this season.
Murray's rushing element is a double-edged sword: it gives him an elite scoring floor even when he's inefficient through the air and is the reason why he is a high injury risk.
He has thrown at least 10 interceptions in all three seasons and has rushed for 1,786 yards and 20 touchdowns in his career, the second-most for each among quarterbacks since 2019.
The 25-year-old figures to continue to use his legs this season as he bridges the gap before DeAndre Hopkins returns from his suspension in Week 7.
Hopkins' missing one-third of the season and returning from a torn MCL will highlight the uncertainty in the Cardinals' receiving room.
The well-used unit will start the season led by inconsistent speedsters Marquise Brown and Rondale Moore and flanked by 34-year-old A.J. Green, who hasn't gained 1,000 yards since 2017.
Zach Ertz retains massive upside in Arizona's four-wide offense without Hopkins. After being traded to the Cardinals in Week 6, Ertz was the fourth-best tight end in PPR and played in all 11 games.
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