Joe Burrow, Mark Andrews done for the season: Fantasy football fallout
Joe Burrow out for the season
In a year when so many starting quarterbacks have gone down with season-ending injuries, Burrow's injury could impact fantasy managers the most.
Weeks 8-10, Burrow was the QB6, throwing for 978 yards and seven touchdowns. In what's been a season of awful injury luck, taking him out of the Cincinnati controls for the next seven games is a dramatic downgrade for the entire offense.
In looking at Ja'Marr Chase, it might just be best to look at what Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams have done when backup quarterbacks took over their offenses. Wilson has at least 12 targets in his last four games, and Adams saw 13 looks his last game out. Jake Browning finding Chase for a two-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter gives hope to fantasy managers.
Tee Higgins, when he's healthy, will be the only other wide receiver worth considering to start. He'll be a clear No. 2 option, but will likely have volatile weeks. Tyler Boyd, Trenton Irwin and Tanner Hudson, it was fun while it lasted. See you on the waiver wire.
Burrow is still a definite hold in dynasty. He'll have close to 10 months to recover from this injury before the start of next season. The recovery timeline should come out after he has surgery.
Fantasy advice coming off Mark Andrews' season-ending injury
Mark Andrews' injury impact was summed up immediately after the star tight end was tackled inside the 5-yard line with 11 minutes left in the first quarter of "Thursday Night Football."
Quarterback Lamar Jackson came over to his teammate and then slammed his helmet to the ground. The two of them have been “peanut butter and jelly,” as Jackson said, and the quarterback may have had a premonition about the long-term prognosis.
It’s a high-ankle injury, which head coach John Harbaugh confirmed was beyond a sprain and would be season-ending. For the Ravens, it’s devastating to their Super Bowl hopes.
For fantasy managers, we’re talking about the TE3 at the position with the most scarcity of star players.
If you’re one of those fantasy managers who got hit with that tough loss, the trade deadline in most Yahoo leagues is Saturday, Nov. 18. No matter what, it’s going to be next to impossible to replicate Andrews' production via trade without taking a huge chunk from another position on your roster.
On the waiver wire, here are tight ends rostered in under 50% of Yahoo leagues: Pat Freiermuth, Luke Musgrave, Tyler Higbee and Chigoziem Okonkwo.
| Player | Yds | Y/G | Rec | TD | Tgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 L. Musgrave IR | 352 | 32 | 34 | 1 | 46 |
 C. Okonkwo | 528 | 31.1 | 54 | 1 | 77 |
 P. Freiermuth | 308 | 25.7 | 32 | 2 | 47 |
 T. Higbee PUP_R | 495 | 33 | 47 | 2 | 70 |
For the remainder of the Baltimore offense, last night’s game gave us a good indication of how the target distribution would be, and the focus was clearly on the Ravens’ wide receivers: Zay Flowers, Odell Beckham Jr. and Rashod Bateman.
| Player | Yds | Y/G | Tgt | Rec | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Z. Flowers | 858 | 53.6 | 108 | 77 | 5 |
 O. Beckham Jr. | 565 | 40.4 | 64 | 35 | 3 |
 R. Bateman | 367 | 22.9 | 56 | 32 | 1 |
Of Jackson’s 26 passes during the game, 13 targeted that wide receiver trio. Beckham led the way with seven looks, finishing with 4-116-0 and his first 100-yard game since the NFC championship game in January 2022. Flowers caught three of four targets for 43, and had a 68-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown called back on a questionable holding penalty.
Beckham may look like the big recipient of targets, but he only ran 17 routes. Flowers led the team with 32 routes, and came out of the slot on 12 of them. Those are the types of routes that Andrews ran, and are a good indicator for increased volume. Bateman ran 25 routes, but was targeted just twice and caught one ball for 10 yards. Even though he ran more routes than Beckham, the fact that OBJ clearly outproduced Bateman shows the pecking order.
Isaiah Likely is the next man up on the tight end depth chart for the Ravens, and he ran 29 routes on Thursday. He saw two targets and zero catches. In Week 1, when Andrews missed the game, Likely caught one ball for four yards, so he might have a tall hill to climb if fantasy managers expect him to get Andrews’ targets.
Jackson did take five shots of 20-plus yards, connecting on one for 51 yards. He did more of his work on passes within the first 10 yards, and 12 of his passes were in that depth. He connected on 11 for 145 yards and a score. This is where Flowers could become a greater factor, as all three of his receptions for 43 yards were at that depth. Keep him in lineups.
OBJ is a wild card, because he has battled injuries all year, and picked up a shoulder injury at the end of the game. Monitor his status and the matchups. Bateman can be a stash, as our own Matt Harmon has been high on his talent for a long time. He’s finally healthy, and may see his targets rise in the aftermath of this injury.
Mark Andrews' Recovery timeline & Dynasty outlook
Dr. Edwin Porras, the medical expert for Fantasy Points who just completed his tenure with the Minnesota Twins' medical staff, offered up this assessment of Andrews' injury for dynasty managers who may want to know the long-term ramifications of this injury:
"Mark Andrews is unfortunately dealing with a high-ankle sprain and fracture, according to Jim Harbaugh," Porras said. "This is [probably] the same injury OBJ sustained in 2017 and Michael Thomas sustained in 2020 [the original injury not all of his complications]. In rare circumstances, this can be a two-month injury. However, based on comments from the team for proper healing we should expect at least 3-4 months for a full recovery. Barring complications, Andrews should have no problems returning by Week 1 in 2024."