Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow: Which star QB should I draft in Fantasy Football 2025?

Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow are two of the best overall fantasy football quarterbacks ahead of the 2025 NFL season. They have both proven to be consistently elite with legitimate upside to finish as the QB1, but here's which one of them is a better pick in fantasy drafts this year.

Patrick Mahomes fantasy outlook

Patrick Mahomes is coming off of a relatively down year in fantasy football as compared to his usual standards. He still finished as the overall QB11, but this ended his streak of six consecutive seasons of finishing as the QB8 or better.

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The Kansas City Chiefs' superstar quarterback has proven during his entire career as a starter that he has one of the safest floors of any player in his position. He will also have additional upside this year with Rashee Rice expected to make his return from injury and adding anohter elite weapon to their stacked offense. This all makes Mahomes one of the best quarterbacks to target in fantasy drafts.

Joe Burrow fantasy outlook

Joe Burrow set new career-highs last year with the Cincinnati Benagls in just about every passing category on his way to an impressive QB3 finish in fantasy football. This marks his third complete season without being shortened by injuries with his other two resulting in QB4 and QB8 finishes.

The superstar quarterback has the luxury of working with two elite wide receivers in Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in one of the most dominant passing attacks in the entire NFL. He has been one of the most elite fantasy players in his position whenever he's been healthy and the 2025 season should be no different.

Patrick Mahomes vs Joe Burrow: Who should I draft in fantasy football?

Sportskeeda's Who Should I Draft tool recommends picking Joe Burrow over Patrick Mahomes in 2025 fantasy football drafts. While both of them are among the best overall options in their position, the Bengals' quarterback has superior projection for the upcoming season.

Burrow's expectations inlcude more passing yards and touchdowns than Mahomes this year with an overall projection of about 31 additional fantasy points in leagues that award four points for a passing touchdown. This variance is increased by about an additional 12 fantasy points in formats with six points per passing touchdown. While Mahomes is surely one of the safest picks, Burrow simply has more overall upside.

About the author

Adam Hulse is an NFL journalist at Sportskeeda with 4 years of experience. He is also the host of the podcast "Sports Talk with Adam Hulse."

Adam studied Communications at Villanova University and played American football at Pop Warner and as a high school Freshman. His favorite team are the Dallas Cowboys, and if Adam could lay his hands on a time machine, he would love to witness their glory years from the 1990s. The Cowboys' 27-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX is his favorite Super Bowl of all time.

Given his affinity for 'America's Team,' Adam's favorite players of all time include Emmitt Smith. Michael Irvin, Tony Romo and Dak Prescott.

Adam takes a lot of pride in his work, which naturally culminates into insightful content for his readers, performance analysis being his forte. When not writing about football, Adam spends a time on his podcast.

Know More

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Edited by Adam Hulse