Joe Burrow turf toe injury Fantasy Fallout: Target these quarterbacks on your waiver wire or via trade

We got bad news Sunday night on Joe Burrow when the NFL Network reported that the Cincinnati quarterback "is feared to have suffered a Grade 3 turf toe injury" in Sunday's 31-27 victory against Jacksonville. The report said Burrow "would require surgery and put him out at least three months." This injury not only impacts Burrow, but also Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Chase Brown.

Based on the timeline, if he needs surgery, Burrow could be out until December, with a Week 15 return on Dec. 14 against Baltimore a possibility. That is, if the Bengals (2-0) remain in playoff contention at that time.

Fantasy managers will hopefully be able to stash Burrow, but that might be difficult without an IR spot. You'll be looking for a quarterback, and there are some decent options on the waiver wire.

The top quarterbacks after Sunday include Daniel Jones (44 percent rostered on CBS Sports), Bryce Young (30 percent), Aaron Rodgers (46 percent), Tua Tagovailoa (48 percent), Matthew Stafford (48 percent), Sam Darnold (21 percent) and Jake Browning (2 percent), who will start for the Bengals with Burrow out. More on Browning below.

Geno Smith (34 percent) could be worth a look depending on what happens Monday night against the Chargers. He scored 19.5 Fantasy points at New England in Week 1.

And you might have interest in Russell Wilson (13 percent) after he had a monster game against Dallas in Week 2 with 450 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, along with 23 rushing yards. I'm skeptical to trust Wilson, and he could be benched at some point sooner rather than later for Jaxson Dart.

Mac Jones (11 percent) is also a possibility after he stepped in for Brock Purdy (toe) in Week 2 at New Orleans with 279 passing yards and three touchdowns, along with 6 rushing yards. But Purdy could return soon, and not many Fantasy managers will be ready to trust Jones.

Daniel Jones is my top quarterback to add this week. In two starts for the Colts, he has scored at least 24 Fantasy points in each outing, and he looks good so far. Hopefully, this isn't a fluke, and I love the weapons in Indianapolis to help Jones continue playing at a high level.

Young struggled in Week 1 at Jacksonville with 10.2 Fantasy points, but he rebounded in Week 2 against Arizona with 328 passing yards, three touchdowns and one interception and 2 rushing yards. Now, he attempted 55 passes against the Cardinals, but he has a favorable upcoming schedule against Atlanta, New England, Miami and Dallas in his next four games.

Rodgers scored 33.7 Fantasy points in Week 1 at the Jets, but he struggled in Week 2 against Seattle with 203 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He gets New England and Minnesota in his next two games, and that could be favorable for Rodgers in the short term.

I'm not sure you want to trust Tagovailoa in Week 3 at Buffalo, but he gets the Jets and Carolina after that. Tagovailoa bounced back from his Week 1 disaster at the Colts (7.3 Fantasy points) with a strong outing against the Patriots in Week 2 with 315 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Stafford will be tough to trust in Week 3 at Philadelphia, but he did play well in Week 2 at Tennessee with 298 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He scored 15.6 Fantasy points in Week 1 against Houston, which wasn't an easy matchup either, but Stafford has standout weapons in Puka Nacua and Davante Adams on his side.

Darnold was bad in Week 1 against San Francisco with 5.4 Fantasy points, but he rebounded in Week 2 at Pittsburgh with 295 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Darnold's upcoming schedule is great with New Orleans, Arizona, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville in his next four games, so he could be useful in deeper leagues.

And then there's Browning, who stepped up for Burrow on Sunday against Jacksonville with 241 passing yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, along with a 1-yard rushing touchdown. Browning started seven games for the Bengals in 2023 when Burrow was out with a wrist injury and averaged 22.2 Fantasy points per game. Browning went 4-3 over that span.

He might not be terrible, especially when throwing to Chase and Higgins. And both receivers did well with Browning against the Jaguars. Chase had 14 catches for 165 yards and a touchdown on 16 targets, and Higgins had three catches for 56 yards and a touchdown on eight targets.

I'll downgrade both receivers without Burrow, but not much. Both remain must-start Fantasy options in the majority of leagues heading into Week 3 at Minnesota. However, Chase and Higgins had mixed results with Browning in 2023.

Chase played six games with Browning in 2023, but he only averaged 12.2 PPR points per game. And Higgins played four full games with Browning in 2023, and he averaged 15.7 PPR points per game over that span.

As for Brown, he also remains a must-start running back without Burrow, but Brown has been disappointing through two games with a combined 37 carries for 90 yards and a touchdown and four catches for 26 yards on six targets. But again, looking at what happened with Browning in 2023, Joe Mixon averaged 18.1 PPR points per game, and hopefully the same thing will happen for Brown.