Joe

Burrow

Late in June, The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. reported that QB Joe Burrow had agreed to try out more under-center concepts in spring practices. The Bengals’ quarterback prefers to operate from shotgun, but the offense has struggled to generate explosive pass and run plays in recent seasons. Meanwhile, 2025 playoff teams notably thrived under center, prompting a potential schematic switch in Cincinnati this year. Dehner previously reported on Brown’s efficiency leaps when switching from shotgun to under center. Burrow and his wide receiver should, theoretically, receive an efficiency bump from the intended changes as well. This is exciting for fantasy football purposes.

The Bengals have been unable to generate explosive pass plays as frequently as the NFL’s eight most explosive passing offenses do. Six of those teams made the playoffs last year and ranked 13th or better in under-center rate and under-center play-action rate. The Bengals ranked 31st and 30th in those to categories, respectively, and 22nd in explosive pass play rate last year. Over the past three seasons, the Bengals have generated just one explosive pass play after running play action from under center. Burrow, Bengals coach Zac Taylor and OC Dan Pitcher know that needs to change, but the trio has been hesitant to decrease their shotgun rate due to Burrow’s elite processing when allowed to survey the field. That said, Dehner writes that Burrow worked on under-center play-action dropbacks “no matter the day during the Bengals’ offseason program.” Dehner believes the shotgun passing game “will always be their identity,” but raising their under-center ranking to roughly 20th in the league is doable and will generate more fantasy-friendly explosive pass plays along the way.

It frees up $10 million in cap space for the coming season, which NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport made sure to note was in part to pay for the Dexter Lawrence trade. It could have been a much deeper restructure had the Bengals wished, with Burrow on a $48 million cap number with $25.25 million in base salary due. Still, it’s something. More than we’ve seen from the Bengals in a while.

Best ball bros are officially frothing at the mouth to stack this contest, not that they needed another reason to draft players from two of the best offenses in the NFL. As Jordan Schultz notes, the Bengals have traveled to Baltimore for a primetime game in each of the past four seasons. Now they get to host a matchup that could determine the fate of the AFC North.

The NFL announced that the Bengals and Falcons will play in Madrid for Week 9 of the 2026 season. It is the NFL’s second time having a game in Madrid, reaching a deal earlier this year to play more games at Bernabeu Stadium, home of the Real Madrid soccer club. Burrow will play his first career international game, the Bengals’ first in seven years. Meanwhile, Bijan Robinson and the Falcons will return overseas after playing in Berlin last year. Both teams will hope to be contending in their division at this halfway-point in the season after both missed the playoffs last season.

Burrow has been present for the Bengals’ recent voluntary workouts. Readers might remember that Burrow told reporters back in December 2025 that although he “can’t see” a scenario in which he leaves the Bengals in 2026, he has thought about playing elsewhere. Those thoughts are evidently a thing of the past. Burrow is now quoted as having said that he is “excited” to see the front office’s initiative this offseason, which led to an overhauled defensive line, featuring four new players. The offense looks largely the same, aside from a couple of Day 3 rookies. Burrow, 29, remains a locked-in QB1.

Hopkins, 33, spent last season playing for Burrow’s AFC North rival Ravens. He posted a 22/330/2 receiving line. Hopkins is no longer an elite wide receiver, but he could be helpful for Burrow in fantasy, potentially operating as the team’s WR4. Unfortunately, Over The Cap lists the Bengals with the fourth-lowest salary cap space. Perhaps Hopkins will be willing to take a low-cost deal to play with Burrow.

“I do expect teams to call the Cincinnati Bengals,” Rapoport said. There was a brief groundswell of the idea of a Burrow trade towards the end of the season when he let loose on how bad he was feeling at a press conference, but even if he had wanted out, the Bengals have always played hardball with their players that they want to keep. The Bengals, per Rapoport, will instead channel Burrow’s belief that things need to change into spending and getting better on defense. We’ll believe that when we see it.

Once again, a fateful injury defined Burrow and the Bengals’ season. This time it was a toe injury, suffered in Week 2. Burrow was eventually diagnosed with turf toe that involved torn ligaments. Burrow was placed on injured reserve and did not return until Week 13. The Bengals were already on the outside looking in for the playoff picture when he came back. A pair of losses in his first three starts back under center shut the door on Cincinnati’s postseason hopes. Burrow could have taken the rest of the season off, but he stayed out there and blitzed opposing defenses, averaging 270 yards and 2.5 touchdowns per game in his final six appearances. Talent has never been the issue for Burrow, but his inability to stay healthy has prevented the Bengals from being yearly Super Bowl contenders. Burrow showed at the end of the year that another top-five fantasy season was on tap had he stayed healthy. For fantasy managers who can stomach the injury risk, Burrow is locked in as a top-end QB1 for 2026.

Taylor said that Burrow gives them the best chance to win, which is both true and not really the point anymore given the Bengals were officially eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago. Burrow is wrapping up his second season in the last three years in which he appeared in 10 games or less due to injury. A significant injury against the Browns in Week 18 would be absolutely devastating for the Bengals and Burrow, who carries a nearly $48 million cap hit in 2026. Maybe Taylor comes to his senses before game-time or he lets Joe Flacco at least play the second half, but he’s remained consistent in recent weeks about Burrow playing.