Sean Koerner — FantasyPros’ most-accurate draft ranker from 2019-21 — has updated his positional rankings and draft strategy for 2023.
I released my initial fantasy football tiers toward the start of training camp. With that, as well as the entire preseason, we’re ready for the heart of draft season, and I’m here to help you with my fantasy football rankings.
For my updated fantasy football rankings and tiers, I’m using 0.5-PPR scoring. Hopefully, they’re of use to you with whatever format your leagues uses.
Subscribe to get pre-draft and regular-season rankings from me and Chris Raybon, and check out all of our fantasy coverage for ahead of your 2023 draft.
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| Fantasy Football Positional Tiers |
|---|
| Quarterbacks |
| Running Backs |
| Wide Receivers |
| Tight Ends |
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Fantasy Football Quarterback Tiers
Tier 1: The Elite 3
Josh Allen
Patrick Mahomes
Jalen Hurts
Tier 2: QB1 Upside, Just Less Likely Than the Top 3
Lamar Jackson
Joe Burrow
Justin Herbert
Justin Fields
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Tier 3: Last Chance for High-Floor QB1
Trevor Lawrence
Tier 4: High Risk/Reward; End of the QB1 Tier
Anthony Richardson
Deshaun Watson
Tua Tagovailoa
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Tier 5: High-End Streamers; More Valuable in 2QB/Superflex Leagues
Kirk Cousins
Dak Prescott
Geno Smith
Tier 6: High-End QB2
Daniel Jones
Aaron Rodgers
Russell Wilson
Jared Goff
Tier 7: High-Floor QB2/Superflex
Matthew Stafford
Tier 8: Upside QB2/Superflex
Jordan Love
Derek Carr (more of a high-floor option)
Kenny Pickett
Bryce Young
Brock Purdy
Kyler Murray
Tier 9: Riskier Low-End QB2 Options
C.J. Stroud
Ryan Tannehill
Mac Jones
Tier 10: Week 1 Starters Who May Not Be Week 17 Starters
Jimmy Garoppolo
Sam Howell
Desmond Ridder
Baker Mayfield
Tier 11: Top Backups
Kyle Trask
Jacoby Brissett
Taylor Heinicke
Aidan O’Connell
Trey Lance
Will Levis
Gardner Minshew
Colt McCoy
Bailey Zappe
Mike White
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Anthony Richardson was named the Colts’ Week 1 starter, which makes his path toward a top-10 season much more likely. He is a great flier in 1-QB leagues because you can still get him outside of the top 12 in most drafts. If he doesn’t pan out, you can easily stream the position. The only formats I would urge caution are 2QB/Superflex, where having a higher floor is a bit more valuable.
Jordan Love and Kenny Pickett have looked sharp during limited preseason action. Love could be this year’s Geno Smith, a low-end QB2 option who is replacing a future Hall of Famer and breaks out with a top-12 season. Unfortunately, Love doesn’t have DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett at his disposal, so we might not see quite the same outburst of 2022 Geno Smith, but he seems like a solid QB2 sleeper right now.
Bryce Young could get off to a slow start considering his playing style could take the offensive line and receivers some time to get used to. He’s able to use his legs to avoid pressure, roll out, and hit his receivers while he’s on the move. Young plays football almost like he’s a point guard and once he gets on the same page with his pass catchers, could become a solid QB2 option. This missed connection with Jonathan Mingo is a perfect example of what I’m referring to as Young tried to lead Mingo, but he stopped running his route:
Bryce Young almost had his first trademark off-script play right here, but missed Mingo.
Looks like a bit of confusion, as Mingo was settling down and Young tried to lead him. pic.twitter.com/SNQha1cE76
— Tyler DeSena (@DeSenaSports) August 18, 2023
A lot of the chatter seems to be brushing off the Panthers offense as one big disaster right now, but I see a team simply working out the kinks in the preseason. It’s not like I expect this offense to have a top-five passing attack this year, but I think people will change their tune once this team has had enough time to get on the same page.
C.J. Stroud is the rookie who is starting Week 1 and I think could struggle for most of his rookie season. He was in a perfect situation at Ohio St. and had a WR room of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave and a potential top-five pick in next year’s draft in Marvin Harrison Jr. It doesn’t get much better than that. It’s not often you see a QB see a downgrade in pass-catching talent going from college to the NFL.
I mentioned Aidan O’Connell could be this year’s Brock Purdy on our Rookie QB Draft pod a few weeks ago. He has exceeded expectations in preseason as he ranks first in Pro Football Focus grade, first in EPA/play, first in first down rate per attempt and has a 72% completion rate despite having the fourth-highest Average Depth of Target (11.3). He will either need Jimmy Garoppolo to miss time or the Raiders to turn to him late in the season if they’re out of the playoff picture. If/When that happens, he is worth investing in 2QB formats, DFS and player props.
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Fantasy Football Running Back Tiers
Tier 1: The Top 2
Christian McCaffrey
Austin Ekeler
Tier 2: The Rest of the RB1 Tier
Bijan Robinson
Nick Chubb
Saquon Barkley
Tony Pollard
Derrick Henry
Josh Jacobs
Jonathan Taylor
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Tier 3: High-End RB2
Joe Mixon
Najee Harris
Travis Etienne
Aaron Jones
Tier 4: Solid RB2
Jahmyr Gibbs
Rhamondre Stevenson
Miles Sanders
Dameon Pierce
Kenneth Walker III
Javonte Williams
Cam Akers
Tier 5: High-End RB3/Flex
David Montgomery
Breece Hall
James Conner
Rachaad White
Alexander Mattison
James Cook
J.K. Dobbins
* means a player’s ranking is on Jonathan Taylor watch.
Tier 6: RB3/Flex
D’Andre Swift
Isiah Pacheco
A.J. Dillon
Alvin Kamara
Dalvin Cook
Khalil Herbert*
From this point on, a RB’s value will largely depend on the health of their team’s starter (which is out of their control). Therefore, their rank based on median projections doesn’t necessarily mean you should draft in that order. I would refer to my RB Upside Ratings as the best way to view how we should view these backs and specifically which ones to target.
Tier 7: Commanders RBBC + High-Upside Backups
Antonio Gibson
Brian Robinson Jr.
Zach Charbonnet
Samaje Perine
Jaylen Warren
Tyler Allgeier
Jamaal Williams
Tank Bigsby
Tier 8: Backups, Bench Depth
Damien Harris
Rashaad Penny
Jerick McKinnon
Devin Singletary
Raheem Mostert*
Devon Achane*
Elijah Mitchell
Tier 9: Backups, Bench Depth Part 2
Ezekiel Elliott
Chuba Hubbard
Tyjae Spears
Jeffery Wilson
D’Onta Foreman
Kenneth Gainwell
Roschon Johnson
Joshua Kelley
Tier 10: Backups, Bench Depth Part 3
Jerome Ford
Clyde Edwards-Helaire
Gus Edwards
Kareem Hunt
Cordarrelle Patterson
Kendre Miller
Zamir White
Deuce Vaughn
Leonard Fournette
Keaontay Ingram
Tier 11: Fliers for Deeper Leagues
Ty Chandler
Kyren Williams
Deneric Prince
Chase Edmonds
Chase Brown
Ke’Shawn Vaughn
Malik Davis
Tier 12: More Fliers for Deeper Leagues
Chris Rodriguez Jr.
Sean Tucker
Latavius Murray
Pierre Strong Jr.
Evan Hull
Kene Nwangwu
Jonathan Taylor has until next Tuesday to be traded and if he does in fact get moved, it would have a massive impact on the Colts backfield and whichever team he ends up on. In terms of the Colts backfield, it’s unclear whether Evan Hull, Deon Jackson, Zack Moss or Kenyan Drake would be the back to roster. Instead of drafting a K or DEF at the end of your draft, you can take a flier on any one of those backs, just in case. I would lean Moss, Jackson, Hull and Drake (in that order) as of now.
There’s also a chance the Colts bring in a veteran RB like Kareem Hunt or Leonard Fournette. Don’t sleep on those backs at ADP because while they haven’t signed for a team yet, it’s likely they end up in a situation where a ton of touches open up due to an injury/trade/holdout.
If Taylor ends up being traded, the backfield he joins will all take a massive hit as he will surely become that team’s lead back. DraftKings posted odds as to which team Taylor would land with (excluding the scenario he stays on the Colts) and the top-five teams are:
- Dolphins +250
- Bears +400
- Ravens +700
- Broncos +750
- Cowboys +750
This means that until we have clarity on this situation, I urge caution when drafting from any of those backfield, more specifically the Dolphins and Bears.
Khalil Herbert is the back inside the top 40 most likely to be impacted by a potential Taylor trade. The Bears would make a ton of sense as they should be in win-now mode with Justin Fields, who’s still on his rookie contact to help pay Taylor. The Dolphins also make a ton of sense but after Devon Achane’s injury, they don’t have a back that is going inside the top 40. Just be cognizant of this before drafting Mostert, Achane or Wilson.
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Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings
Tier 1
Justin Jefferson
Ja’Marr Chase
Cooper Kupp
Tyreek Hill
Tier 2
Stefon Diggs
CeeDee Lamb
Amon-Ra St. Brown
A.J. Brown
Davante Adams
Garrett Wilson
Tier 3
Jaylen Waddle
Tee Higgins
Tier 4
Devonta Smith
D.K. Metcalf
Keenan Allen
Chris Olave
Amari Cooper
Deebo Samuel
Calvin Ridley
Tier 5
DeAndre Hopkins
Christian Watson
D.J. Moore
Mike Williams
Chris Godwin
Mike Evans
Tyler Lockett
Michael Pittman Jr.
Brandon Aiyuk
Drake London
Terry McLaurin
Christian Kirk
Diontae Johnson
Marquise Brown
Jahan Dotson
We need to land a No. 3 WR by the time this tier is off the board, or even start stocking up our bench with another WR3 option.
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Tier 6
Courtland Sutton
Jordan Addison
George Pickens
Brandin Cooks
Gabriel Davis
Tier 7
Michael Thomas
Allen Lazard
Juju Smith-Schuster
Jerry Jeudy
Elijah Moore
Zay Flowers
Quentin Johnston
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Zay Jones
Jakobi Meyers
Skyy Moore
Tier 8
Treylon Burks
Kadarius Toney
Romeo Doubs
Rashod Bateman
Odell Beckham Jr.
Van Jefferson
Tyler Boyd
Michael Gallup
Adam Thielen
Darnell Mooney
K.J. Osborn
Nico Collins
D.J. Chark
Tier 9
Rondale Moore
Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Rashid Shaheed
Donovan Peoples-Jones
Curtis Samuel
Jayden Reed
Jonathan Mingo
Alec Pierce
Rashee Rice
Jameson Williams
Jalin Hyatt
Mecole Hardman
Robert Woods
Josh Palmer
Marvin Mims
Chase Claypool
Nathaniel “Tank” Dell
Jerry Jeudy suffered what appears to be a hamstring injury at the time of writing. I did my best to update my projections with limited information, but this update assumes he misses about two games. Courtland Sutton and Marvin Mims will get a boost if/when Jeudy is out. This is an injury that I’ll be monitoring closely and will update my projections and rankings on our site as we get more info.
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Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings
Tier 1
Travis Kelce
There remains a substantial gap between Kelce and the rest of the tight ends, which gives him the best odds to be the leading scorer at his position — something he has done in four of the last five seasons.
Tier 2
Mark Andrews
Tier 3
T.J. Hockenson
Tier 4
George Kittle
Darren Waller
Tier 5
Kyle Pitts
Evan Engram
Dallas Goedert
Pat Freiermuth
Tier 6
David Njoku
Tyler Higbee
Chigoziem Okonkwo
Dalton Kincaid
Cole Kmet
Tier 7
Dalton Schultz
Irv Smith Jr.
Gerald Everett
Sam LaPorta
Juwan Johnson
Tier 8
Greg Dulcich
Dawson Knox
Taysom Hill
Hayden Hurst
Jake Ferguson
Hunter Henry
Cade Otton
Mike Gesicki
Trey McBride
Luke Musgrave
Michael Mayer
Tyler Conklin
Tier 9
Noah Fant
Zach Ertz
Jelani Woods
Isaiah Likely
Greg Dulcich has seen his stock plummet based on his preseason usage. My one fear with Dulcich was the fact it’s a brand new coaching staff under head coach Sean Payton, who might shake up how the Broncos TEs are used.
Sure enough, it appears that Adam Trautman will have an early-down role, which could limit Dulcich’s upside. This reminds me of Mike Gesicki’s situation last season where you have a talented pass catching TE not getting as much work/usage based on the scheme, as expected.
Dulcich could be in a similar position this season, but Jerry Jeudy’s injury could force Payton’s hand to lean on Dulcich a bit more than he was planning. His rank will be one of the most volatile ones over the next couple weeks and I’ll be sure to keep his projections up to date.
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