Who Should I Start? Aaron Rodgers or Jake Browning

Friday, September 12, 8:39 PM

Even Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' biggest supporters may have been surprised that he turned back the clock to throw four touchdowns in a 34-32 Week 1 win over his former team, the New York Jets, last Sunday. Rodgers did it on 22-for-30 passing while throwing for 244 yards. Only one time last year did Rodgers throw for four TDs with the Jets, and it came in the Week 18 regular-season finale. The 41-year-old future Hall of Famer's back was tight and limited his mobility against the Jets, but he was not on Pittsburgh's injury report this week and is cleared for a Week 2 meeting with the Seattle Seahawks in his Steel City debut. Seattle allowed Brock Purdy to throw for 277 yards and two TDs against them in Week 1, but they also picked him off twice. Rodgers proved he still has a little magic in him, but the ceiling and floor remain low for fantasy purposes, and the bottom line is that most weeks, the Steelers are hoping he won't have to wear a cape.

Monday, September 15, 10:51 AM

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning could see an extended run as his team's starting quarterback with the news that Joe Burrow (toe) will require surgery on his injured toe and may miss three months. Browning replaced Burrow in the second quarter of Cincinnati's Week 2 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and finished the game by completing 21 of 32 pass attempts for 241 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. He also logged a one-yard rushing touchdown. Browning had an extended run as the injury replacement for Burrow in 2023 and performed adequately from a fantasy perspective. In seven starts, Browning completed 70.4% of his 243 pass attempts for 1,936 yards, 12 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He also showed a little bit of juice with his legs, rushing for 127 yards and three touchdowns. Browning has an explosive supporting cast of pass-catchers to work with in Cincinnati and could be a startable fantasy quarterback going forward as a streamer or injury replacement, particularly in Superflex formats.