The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key Cincinnati Bengals players heading into their matchup with the Cleveland Browns to help you craft a winning lineup.
Joe Burrow, QB
I think we are right back to where we started this season with Joe Burrow, right?
The early-season injury was a buzzkill that likely sunk your team, and the talk about not enjoying the game certainly cast a doubt for a bit, but in his last four games in which Cincinnati has at least scored, he’s given us 260+ pass yards and multiple scores.
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It’s a little easy to forget that we are looking at a QB that has cleared 4,400 yards through the air with at least 34 passing touchdowns in all three of his reasonably healthy seasons (over 10 games played).
He entered the season ranked just outside the elite due to a lack of mobility. He was the last QB in Tier 1 for some and the first in Tier 2 for others. It’ll be the same story in 2026: he’s the quarterback version of what Christian McCaffrey was entering this season, in that you’re betting on health and not questioning his skill.
Chase Brown, RB
Chase Brown picked a great time to have his first multi-rush TD game since September.
Last September.
This was an uneven season for everyone attached to this offense due to the Burrow injury, but all’s well that ends well, and you should be just as confident entering 2026 in Brown as you were in 2025.
Advanced Profile
- 2024: 0.91 points per touch, 84.4 yards per game, 3.08 YPC before contact
- 2025: 0.93 points per touch, 85.4 yards per game, 3.09 YPC before contact
He has 21 red zone touches in Cincinnati’s last five wins, and that, along with his versatile skill set, fuels what could easily be a RB1 profile in 2026.
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You know the risk here: you’re a Burrow injury away from questioning your life choices. But isn’t that the case for a lot of players?
If it matters, I’m risk-averse early in drafts, and I won’t have any reservations about spending a second-round pick on Brown.
Ja’Marr Chase, WR
Ja’Marr Chase has hit triple digits in receptions in three straight seasons and has scored at least seven times in all five of his pro seasons. We saw him utilize his athleticism effectively on the first drive last weekend against the Cardinals (13-yard TD), a friendly reminder that he can make plays with the ball in his hands as well as track it at its highest point.
Your fun fact for the week: 23.7 PPR PPG in wins this season for Chase is a career high.
His aDOT has been gradually ticking down each year, which is interesting. It ups his efficiency, but, on occasion, results in fewer deep shots than I believe is optimal for our purposes, but that’s nitpicking at the highest of levels.
Give me a healthy Burrow for the majority of the season, and I’ll give you a strong contender for the 1.01 label for a second consecutive summer.
Tee Higgins, WR
Tee Higgins has more seasons with 10+ TD receptions than he does seasons with 1,100 receiving yards.
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That sounds like an unsustainable stat, and it would be for most, but Higgins isn’t “most”. He’s an elite high pointer of the ball (his 38-yard catch on Sunday being the latest example, the seventh time in nine games he has a grab of 25+ yards) in an offense that wants to, and needs to, be aggressive for all 60 minutes.
He’s not a threat to challenge Chase for the WR1 honors in this offense, but as long as Burrow is standing upright, he’s also not a threat to fall outside of my top 20 at the position.
It’s still very early, but he’s currently sitting as my WR14 for 2026.
Mike Gesicki, TE
I find the Mike Gesicki thing fascinating.
He was a second-round pick in 2018, and that draft capital is still paying off today. The league has told us that he’s not a blocking option, and with a sub 50% hit rate when it comes to reaching 600 yards, haven’t defenses told us that he isn’t a difficult cover?
A route-running tight end that can’t post viable numbers consistently? Isn’t that sort of like ordering food from a chef who can’t taste or traveling with a pilot who is afraid of heights?
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What are we even doing here?
The tight end position is hard enough to fill as it is. I know Gesicki had 65 catches in his first season with the Bengals, and we will always have those 73 catches from 2021. Still, he’s scoring less than once a month over the course of his career, and unless drastic changes are made in Cincy, why would 2026 look any different than 2025 (no more than three catches in 10 of his last 12 games)?
