Hope springs eternal in the NFL offseason, as all the scorecards are set back to zero, and every team tries to figure out how to engineer a playoff run. The prospects of reaching the postseason are more realistic for some franchises than others, but the large amount of moving pieces during the NFL offseason can change a team’s outlook in a hurry.
After starting his career with two top-eight fantasy finishes in his first three seasons, Joe Burrow took a step back in 2023. It is true that he was only able to play in 10 games before sustaining a wrist injury that ended his season. But even when Burrow was on the field, he only averaged the 26th-most fantasy points per game among quarterbacks.
Fast forward to 2024, and Burrow came back with a vengeance on his way to finishing as the second-highest-scoring QB in fantasy.
While Burrow found himself thriving in 2024, another QB who looked like a lock to join the NFL’s elite saw a steep decline in production. Like Burrow, this young QB was surrounded by a talented group of skill position players, but also played behind an offensive line that failed to protect him when it mattered most. Now in a new offense with an evolving supporting cast, will this young QB — available several rounds later than Burrow in the FFPC’s Never-Too-Early Best Ball Tournament — make a Burrow-like return to glory in 2025?