Who Should I Start? C.J. Beathard or Joe Burrow

Sunday, August 27, 3:07 PM

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback C.J. Beathard went 8-for-10 for 134 yards, a touchdown, and a near-perfect passer rating of 152.1 in Saturday's 31-18 preseason win over the Miami Dolphins. The vet came into camp with a leg up on rookie Nathan Rourke for the QB2 spot behind Trevor Lawrence, but the latter has been applying some pressure with his play through two games. Beathard was the second QB to take over after Lawrence in this one, leading three consecutive scoring drives to close out the first half. The performance was highlighted by a 74-yard touchdown strike to sophomore wide receiver Tim Jones, who broke open on the left side of the field and cruised in untouched for the score. Rourke quarterbacked the entire second half of the game, which saw the Jaguars put up two more touchdowns. Still, the Ohio native finished with a measly 74 passing yards on only six attempts, as Jacksonville opted to go with a more ground-heavy attack. At this point, Beathard has held onto his QB2 position but is still firmly off the fantasy radar unless something happens to Lawrence.

Monday, October 2, 4:51 PM

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said that quarterback Joe Burrow will start and play in Week 5 against the Arizona Cardinals. The fact that Taylor had to confirm that Burrow would start this weekend just goes to show how bad he's been through the first four games of 2023. A calf injury that he originally suffered at the start of training camp has been to blame for a lot of it, but he was able to practice in full all of last week before disappointing yet again the Week 4 blowout loss against a vulnerable Tennessee Titans defense. The 26-year-old former first overall pick in 2020 has completed a career-low 57.6% of his passes for 728 yards, only two touchdowns and two picks. Burrow is the QB31 through four games and has been held under 200 yards passing in two contests. We wouldn't blame you if you benched him until he looks more like the Burrow of old.