Start Drake Maye or Joe Burrow? Week 3

Our Week 3 call

Start Joe Burrow over Drake Maye in Week 3.

De-vigged player props project Joe Burrow at 18.8 points and Drake Maye at 18.6, a gap of 0.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Both numbers are scaled up from a partial market: the books have not posted every stat the position needs, so the rest is estimated from what they have.

What the books imply

Player prop markets imply 18.8 fantasy points for Joe Burrow, with 80 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The books have Joe Burrow at 253.5 passing yards and 1.5 passing touchdowns, with a 13% chance to score a touchdown (16, 16 and 15 books).

Player prop markets imply 18.6 fantasy points for Drake Maye, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The books have Drake Maye at 216.5 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns and 25.5 rushing yards, with a 26% chance to score a touchdown (15, 17, 15 and 15 books).

That puts Joe Burrow 0.2 points ahead of Drake Maye on the books.

Injury status

Joe Burrow is not on the injury report.

Drake Maye is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 3

Through Week 2, Joe Burrow played 100 percent of CIN snaps, dropped back 73 times and threw an average of 6.0 air yards per attempt.

Joe Burrow, Week 1 against TB: 64 of 64 snaps, 25 of 35 passes for 254 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 4 carries for 21 yards.

Joe Burrow, Week 2 against HOU: 60 of 60 snaps, 20 of 31 passes for 207 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

Through Week 2, Drake Maye played 100 percent of NE snaps, dropped back 69 times and threw an average of 7.6 air yards per attempt.

Drake Maye, Week 1 against SEA: 71 of 71 snaps, 23 of 33 passes for 178 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions, 7 carries for 47 yards.

Drake Maye, Week 2 against PIT: 55 of 55 snaps, 14 of 22 passes for 208 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 2 carries for 20 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

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

He completed 173 of 259 passes for 1809 yards, 17 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and ran 14 times for 41 yards and 0 touchdowns.

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

Joe Burrow, Week 18 of 2025 against CLE: 29 of 39 passes for 236 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception, 2 carries for 17 yards, 22.1 PPR points.

In 2025, Drake Maye played 17 games for NE and scored 360.0 PPR points, 21.2 a game, finishing QB2.

He completed 354 of 492 passes for 4394 yards, 31 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, and ran 103 times for 450 yards and 4 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 97 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Drake Maye, Week 18 of 2025 against MIA: 14 of 18 passes for 191 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 5 carries for 41 yards, 15.7 PPR points.

Their other Week 3 calls

• Start Joe Burrow over Bo Nix.
• Start Bryce Young over Joe Burrow.
• Start Joe Burrow over C.J. Stroud.
• Start Drake Maye over Bryce Young.
• Start Dak Prescott over Drake Maye.
• Start Jared Goff over Drake Maye.