Who Should I Start? Joe Burrow or Steven Montez

Friday, August 14, 8:05 PM

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow completed five of six passes (83.3%) for 39 yards and took one sack in the 16-14 win against the Detroit Lions in the team's preseason opener on Friday night. Burrow only played the first two drives of the game, then handed over the reins to backup quarterback Joe Flacco. The 29-year-old QB is coming off a season in which he was limited to just eight games due to injury, but he was once again a top-end fantasy contributor when healthy. Burrow's modest stat line is expected for a preseason game. The most important takeaway from this contest was that Burrow came away from it without any injuries. It remains to be seen how much he will play in next week's contest against the Chicago Bears, but whether he plays or not, he will be a locked-in fantasy QB1 for the 2026 season.