The Dynasty Fantasy Football Impact of the Season-Ending Injuries to Joe Burrow and Mark Andrews

Ken Kelly Posted On November 17, 2023

Thursday Night Football has been a lot of things over the past few years. The words “boring,” “uneventful” and “anti-climactic” all come to mind. While this week’s game was another non-competitive snooze-fest in a lot of respects, it also brought us something we hadn’t quite seen yet – total disaster. We entered the night thinking we’d see a good game between two AFC North powers and left with season-ending injuries to both Ravens tight end Mark Andrews and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. It’s a total mess in dynasty leagues and leaves us trying to pick up the pieces. Let’s do just that as we look at the values of the players involved and how one night may have totally changed the dynasty landscape in the short-term.

Joe Burrow, QB CIN

Cameras spotted Burrow with a wrap around his wrist prior to the game but the Bengals are claiming the season-ending wrist injury he has was sustained fully in the contest against the Ravens. Maybe that’s true but dynasty managers really don’t care either way. The bottom line is Burrow is out for the season with a wrist injury that will require surgery and it’s a brutal blow to dynasty teams. Burrow has been “as advertised” for his entire career, throwing for over 14,000 yards and 97 touchdowns over his four years. Unfortunately, this also marks the second time in those four years where his season was cut short after just ten games.

While this injury certainly seems like one relatively common and not one related to him being injury-prone or fragile in any way, it has to raise at least some minor concerns about his long-term durability. Chances are he makes it back for the start of next season and this becomes nothing more than a minor blip on the radar. However, his ranking of QB4 is likely to slip a bit with this latest season-ending injury. Regardless, the short-term loss of Burrow is borderline tragic for most dynasty teams.

Bengals Skill Players

This is a pivotal event in the short-term for the likes of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Joe Mixon and the rest of the Bengals offense. Joe Burrow is the straw that stirs the drink and this group is just not likely going to be able to sustain the kind of in-season value we expected without Burrow at the helm. While Chase is hard to take off the must-start line based on his talent, we saw him struggle without Burrow on Thursday and just can’t pencil in elite-level numbers without his signal caller for the duration of the year. The rest of the group could be in for even more trouble as the offense just can’t be nearly as explosive and the team could go in the tank mentally without Burrow at the helm.

Jake Browning, QB CIN

Many of you may not know the founders of DLF are from the Northwest, so we’re very familiar with Jake Browning, who played at the University of Washington. While Browning is nowhere near the talent Burrow is, he’s a gamer and won’t back down from the challenge in front of him. While little can be truly expected of him moving forward, he did well to earn the backup job and will have every chance to be successful over the next couple of months. He’s worth a roster spot in Superflex leagues for sure but you just can’t expect much and anything you end up getting should be seen as a bonus. You’ll likely learn to love his toughness, but again, he’s just not the player Burrow is.

Mark Andrews, TE BAL

As much as the Burrow injury hurts, the season-ending ankle injury to Andrews may well be more devastating in dynasty leagues. After all, Andrews was leading all tight ends in touchdown receptions and was a top-three option each and every week. He’s the TE1 in our rankings and while he’s yet to capture the magic from that 2021 season that featured a ridiculous line of 107/1,361/9, he’s still just 28 years old and should have some elite years in front of him. Regardless, TJ Hockenson is waiting in the wings as our TE2 and at 26 years of age and on a tear we haven’t seen in some time, it’s hard to see Andrews keeping his spot on the top line. Savvy dynasty managers will likely make a play for him this year in anticipation of his return next season. Still, this one stings as Andrews typically provides a competitive advantage each and every week. Much like Burrow, this is likely just a blip on the radar but it’s also a really big blip in 2023.

Isaiah Likely, TE BAL

If there’s a winner in this thing, it’s likely, well, Likely, He was a pleasant surprise last year with 36 catches for 373 yards and three touchdowns. While he has just nine catches this season, he’s going to have a massive opportunity to provide TE2 value the rest of the way with Andrews on the shelf. After all, the Ravens rely on a short passing offense and a lethal rushing attack to win games. He’s a priority addition to any team at this point and could become a difference maker at a position that typically just doesn’t have many of them on a weekly basis. Yes, please.

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Ken Kelly

Co-Founder at DynastyLeagueFootball

Ken is a corporate trainer by day an a tireless editor of dynasty content by night. His passion for the World Champion Seattle Seahawks is second only to his love of fantasy football and the dynasty format.

Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK