Fantasy Football Player Notes

Ja'Marr Chase remains firmly atop the conversation for the overall WR1 in fantasy football after another dominant season in 2025. The Bengals superstar commanded over a 30% target share while averaging 88.3 receiving yards per game and ranking among the league leaders in red-zone usage. Attached to a healthy Joe Burrow, Chase continues to combine elite volume, explosive playmaking, and touchdown upside in one of the NFL's premier passing offenses. Barring injury, he offers one of the safest and highest ceilings at the position entering 2026.

The Bengals RB finished the year on an absolute heater, and that was despite ceding touches/snaps to Samaje Perine. After a slow start in a Joe Burrow-less offense, Chase Brown finished as the RB7 in PPG from Week 7 onward (18.3).
Once Burrow returned to the lineup, Brown's production spiked, as he averaged an impressive 20.6 Half-PPR points per game and ranked as the RB3 across Weeks 13-17.
He rushed for over 1,000 yards and finished 5th among RBs with 69 catches for 437 yards. Through the last two years, Brown has averaged just shy of 1,000 rushing yards and nearly 1,400 yards from scrimmage. Entering the final year of his rookie contract, the former 5th-round draft pick will be looking to finish 2026 on his highest note to date.

Tee Higgins continues to thrive as Cincinnati's high-end No. 2 option, finishing as the WR12 overall in 2025 thanks to strong efficiency and double-digit touchdown production. Even with a modest target share, Higgins maximizes his opportunities in one of the NFL's premier passing offenses led by Joe Burrow. His weekly ceiling remains extremely high, especially near the end zone, although Ja'Marr Chase's presence naturally caps Higgins' overall target volume. As long as he stays healthy, Higgins profiles once again as a reliable fantasy WR2 with league-winning upside if Chase ever misses time.

Every year, it seems as if good health is the only thing standing in between Joe Burrow and a high-end QB1 season. The 29-year-old Burrow is unquestionably one of the best pure passers in the game, if not the best. His career completion percentage of 68.5% currently stands as the best of all time. He's averaged 7.4 yards per pass attempt over his six NFL seasons, and he's had at least 34 TD passes in all three seasons in which he played at least 16 games. Two seasons ago, Burrow completed 70.6% of his throws and led the NFL in completions (460), passing yardage (4,918), and TD passes (43). Burrow played only eight games in 2025, missing nine starts with a turf toe injury that required surgery. Burrow missed seven games with a wrist injury in 2023. And as a rookie in 2020, Burrow missed the last six games of the season after tearing his ACL, MCL, and PCL. The injury history is worrisome, and Burrow adds little fantasy value as a runner. But Burrow's passing proficiency is indisputable, and he has one of the league's best WR tandems at his disposal with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

After converting only 72.7% of his field goal attempts in 2024, five-year veteran Evan McPherson had a career-best 89.3% FG accuracy rate in 2025, hitting 25-of-28 attempts. McPherson finished 14th among kickers in fantasy scoring last year and hasn't finished in the top 10 since his 2021 rookie season. 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.