Joe Burrow or Terry McLaurin: who should I start in Week 3?

What the sportsbooks price

The player markets price Joe Burrow at 16.5 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 17 books. That is the 26th highest figure of the 176 players the books price.

The player markets price Terry McLaurin at 9.1 PPR points a game, built from 4 markets across 15 books. That is the 101st highest figure of the 176 players the books price.

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Joe Burrow: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 97th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 11.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Terry McLaurin: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 95th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 64.

This season through Week 2

Through Week 2, Joe Burrow has been on the field for 100 percent of CIN snaps, dropped back 73 times and thrown 6.0 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 15 of 73 dropbacks and scrambled 1 time.

In Week 1 against TB he completed 25 of 35 passes for 254 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 1 interception and ran 4 times for 21 yards.

In Week 2 against HOU he completed 20 of 31 passes for 207 yards and threw 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

Through Week 2, Terry McLaurin has been on the field for 79 percent of WAS snaps, drawn 21 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 18 third down targets, had 1 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 5 two minute targets.

His 13 targets have averaged 13.5 air yards.

In Week 1 against PHI he caught 2 of 4 targets for 14 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against DAL he caught 2 of 9 targets for 50 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Joe Burrow played 8 games and scored 139.5 PPR points, 17.4 a game, finishing QB29.

He threw for 1809 yards on 259 attempts with 17 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and ran for 41 yards and 0 touchdowns.

That came to 32.4 attempts a game at 7.0 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 86 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Terry McLaurin played 10 games and scored 114.2 PPR points, 11.4 a game, finishing WR56.

He caught 38 of 60 targets for 582 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets.

That came to 6.0 targets a game, a 63 percent catch rate and 15.3 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 70 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Terry McLaurin was available for 2 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Joe Burrow scored 17.4 PPR points a game and Terry McLaurin 11.4, 6.0 a game between them.

Joe Burrow finished QB29 and Terry McLaurin WR56, which are two different ladders.

Joe Burrow is a quarterback and Terry McLaurin a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Joe Burrow is off in Week 6 and Terry McLaurin in Week 7, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

7.4 points a game is the entire case. The books restate it every week, and a line that moves moves the order with it.

The draft market is the half that is missing: when the consensus sample holds these two again it can order them differently from the price, and this page will follow the sample rather than the books when it does.