Bold Fantasy Football Predictions For 2023
The FFL crew looks ahead to the 2023 season and decides who could break out.
Video Transcript
- All right, let's continue to spin forward to 2023. Our topic here is Bold Fantasy Predictions. Andy, I know you were all on board with what Dalton just said about Trevor Lawrence. But tell me how excited you are about this guy.
- Yeah, I got pretty excited when Dalton mentioned drafting Trevor Lawrence over Kyler Murray, because I would certainly do that. We did this same segment last year, and I think I called Trevor Lawrence a [? QB1. ?] He was going to be a top 10, top 12 QB this year, which of course he is. And I'm not here to take a victory lap. I'm here to tell you that he can be a top five, perhaps even top three, fantasy quarterback next season.
You look at these last seven weeks for him, and he's almost perfect. His passer rating is 108. He has 14 touchdown passes, only one interception. He's completing about 70% of his throws. He looks fantastic. Clearly things have clicked.
Oh, by the way, he gets Calvin Ridley last year. I'll give you a bonus prediction. Calvin Ridley can rejoin the ranks of the wide receiver ones. It is a great situation for him. He's got rushing ability, too. We saw that in the Jets game, right.
He's got five rushing scores on the season. He's going to go over 300 rushing yards yet again. I like everything about this guy, and I definitely think he has the profile of a top-tier quarterback.
- Yeah, I love that Calvin Ridley mention. I feel like if Ridley is fully integrated and fully in sync with the program, like, they could have a Josh Allen/Stefon Diggs sort of dynamic next year. Prepare for me to say that about a billion times over the offseason, by the way, so get the drink count ready.
Another thing I think we need to look out for next year-- this isn't player specific, but, Andy, you mentioned you've been doing this for a long time, how old you are. I know you remember the days back when quarterbacks were in the first round of fantasy [? draft. ?] I kind of wonder if we might get back to that point next year, because these guys like Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, the ones you see on the board there, they have kind of reemerged and reclaimed the position as true difference makers.
I mean, you just look at the point totals right now in Yahoo standard scoring-- 387 for Patrick Mahomes, 386 for Josh Allen, 374 for Jalen Hurts, who obviously just missed a game. Even Joe Burrow, who's mixed in five rushing scores, 351. The quarterback five-- your guy, Justin Fields-- is not even close. He's not even over 300.
Like, these guys truly have made a huge difference. And if you just look at the way-- and I know we're going to talk about who we'd pick number one overall later on in the show-- there's kind of a dearth of, like, the next group of running backs that truly deserve to be considered in the first round of fantasy drafts. I kind of think there might be some drafters who sneak these guys into the first round. And unlike years past, I'm not going to shame you if you're going to be one of those people. They truly are that big of a difference maker.
But, [? Tank, ?] talk to me about potentially one of those young guys that might take a step next year.
- Yeah, I think Kenneth Walker, that man "K9," has an opportunity to be a top five running back in fantasy next year. And to me, you look at it. It's pretty simple. Like, he's already a top 20 back, but he didn't get double-digit carries until week 6.
And let's not forget that he missed weeks 13 and 14 with an ankle injury. Like, when this dude has played, this dude has gotten off. And let's not forget. We expected the Seattle Seahawks to be bad this year. Like, [INAUDIBLE] talked about what a revelation that Tyler Lockett was, DK Metcalf performed better. Whether they have Geno Smith at quarterback next year-- or remember, they still have [? Denver's ?] pick, so they may end up getting one of these hot stud quarterbacks coming out of the draft next year as well.
So no matter who you have lining up with this guy, I'm pretty sure that Seattle is going to improve everything around him. He's going to get all the volume to start the year. Don't expect this guy to just kind of fall off to the wayside. He should be able to beast from the first week on through 2023. You'll be surprised by how well he performs for you.