Half-Point PPR Fantasy Football Rankings for 2023

We’re almost there, folks. The 2023 NFL season is less than two weeks away, and this weekend marks the end of preseason games. It also just so happens to be one of the biggest drafting weekends of the season. There is still plenty of time to sign up for another league, and our draft kit has everything you need to dominate your leagues. This feels like the perfect time for me to update my personal rankings. Below are my top 350 players for the 2023 fantasy football season.

This should encompass everyone in your draft pool, but comment below if you have questions on a specific player or position group. These rankings are based on half-PPR scoring, so adjust to your league settings as you see fit. Thanks for reading and taking the first step towards a fantasy football championship!

Positional Strategy and Notes

Quarterback

The NFL has never been more loaded at the quarterback position. For fantasy purposes, there are a couple of schools of thought. You can grab one of the safe options at the top and feel pretty good about your squad. However, that may not be the best road to take from a value perspective. There has been a long-standing mantra in fantasy circles to wait on quarterbacks. It can be a dangerous game, but one which could pay huge dividends this season. We have seen big seasons in recent years from signal-callers who were not consensus top-five picks going into their respective seasons like Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts. That return on investment cannot be ignored or understated. Players such as Deshaun Watson and Tua Tagovailoa could fit the bill this season. Another player to consider is rookie Anthony Richardson.

I currently have Richardson ranked 18th, but I feel like I will likely move him up throughout the summer. Richardson is raw but has tremendous physical tools. His rushing ability should provide a stable floor for fantasy managers even if he is lackluster as a passer early on. Justin Fields routinely put up big fantasy games last season without providing much production in the passing game. So do not let Richardson’s perceived lack of prowess in that area deter you from taking a flier. I see Richardson as a high-end QB2 with top-10 fantasy potential right off the bat. He is an ideal Best Ball target as well.

Running Back

At the moment, running backs occupy my top five overall spots in the rankings. Included in that group is Atlanta Falcons rookie Bijan Robinson. Robinson should be a versatile, every-down back right away. Fantasy managers have often taken issue with how Falcons head coach Arthur Smith has handled things, but that narrative should change concerning Robinson. Robinson can do it all and should be a fantasy monster from Day 1. He is unlikely to make it out of Round 1 undrafted in any fantasy football format. Unfortunately, Robinson’s arrival derails any hope for Tyler Allgeier to build upon his impressive rookie campaign. Allgeier is a decent stash in the middle rounds, but I have him outside my top-36 at the position. In 12-team leagues, he is firmly in the RB dead zone.

Several high-profile running backs will have new homes in 2023. Miles Sanders, D’Andre Swift, David Montgomery, and Rachaad Penny are among those on the move. All of these players are RB2s and RB3s for me at present. The recent release of Dalvin Cook by the Minnesota Vikings will affect the rankings as well. I currently have Cook outside my top 20, but that may change depending on his eventual landing spot. He could be a steal in early drafts. Cook’s touches in Minnesota will mostly be handled by Alexander Mattison. However, I am not convinced Mattison enjoys the same workload Cook was subject to. Over his last four years, Cook averaged 22.4 opportunities per game. Mattison has handled 13 or more carries in a game just nine times in four years. He is a Flex for me until further notice.

Wide Receiver

The past few NFL drafts have seen a slew of NFL-ready wideouts who can make an immediate impact. As a result, the “third-year wide receiver breakout” is largely a thing of the past. There are at least half a dozen first and second-year wideouts who are already flying up fantasy boards. Two of the more obvious standouts that fit this bill are Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave. The college teammates both finished as top-25 wideouts in half-PPR scoring a season ago, eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark as first-year players. It was no small feat for either player, as they were often limited by shoddy quarterback play. Their respective teams have significantly upgraded the quarterback position heading into the 2023 season. I do not expect either player to last past the third round in 12-team leagues.

Another pair of wideouts are trending in opposite directions due to gambling infractions. After being suspended for the entire 2022 season, Calvin Ridley is back. Now a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Ridley should immediately be a fantasy commodity this season. Ridley will have to compete with Christian Kirk and Evan Engram for targets, but the talented wideout should enjoy a resurgence this year. I currently have him as my overall WR24. Unfortunately, the NFL has suspended Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams for the first six weeks of the upcoming season for gambling. Williams was a WR3 for me before the news. Now he is in the WR4-WR5 range. However, if you can afford the stash, he has a lot of upside relative to some of the other receivers who share a similar ADP.

Tight End

Here are the leaders in fantasy points per position the last time Travis Kelce failed to finish as a top-two fantasy tight end:

• Quarterback – Cam Newton
• Running Back – Devonta Freeman
• Wide Receiver – Antonio Brown
• Tight End – Rob Gronkowski
• Kicker – Stephen Gostkowski

Kelce will turn 34 years old this fall, and Father Time is undefeated. But I just cannot bring myself to rank another tight end ahead of him. His production has been so far ahead of his contemporaries that rostering him has been a great advantage over the years. I have Kelce ranked eighth overall, and you can make the argument that he should be even higher. That is certainly the case in PPR leagues and TE-premium formats.

I probably will not be waiting on tight ends in most instances. As things stand, I currently have over 30 running backs and 30 wide receivers ranked before my overall TE8, for example. However, if you find yourself in the low-TE1 market, I would look for upside in players like David Njoku and Chigoziem Okonkwo. Both have great athletic profiles and can create mismatches for opposing defenses. In leagues where I can secure a top-three tight end, I will not necessarily draft a backup. But Juwan Johnson and Dalton Kincaid are another pair of tight ends who I am intrigued by in later rounds. I have both outside my top-15 at the position, but both have TE1 upside in 12-team leagues if things break the right way.

Kicker

Many fantasy players and managers want to abolish the kicker. I am not one of them. By nature, fantasy football incorporates a ton of variables. So, I do not know why this one draws the ire of so many. Is the “luck” involved in kicker scoring drastically different than Miles Sanders scoring zero touchdowns in 2021 and 11 in 2022? I think not. When it comes to kickers, the best advice I can give is to target good offenses and winning teams. Sure, an offense can almost be too efficient at times. The Kansas City Chiefs scored 61 touchdowns while attempting only 32 field goals a season ago. But by and large, most of the top fantasy kickers will be attached to teams that score a fair amount of points.

Defense/Special Teams

In my opinion, fantasy scoring for D/ST should infuriate fantasy managers way more than kicker scoring. A defense can score up to nine fantasy points on a single play (sack, fumble recovery, fumble return for touchdown) regardless of how ineffective said defense is for the rest of the game. A D/ST can also score six fantasy points via a kick or punt return, during which most of the starters on either side of the ball aren’t even on the field. The year-to-year correlation in fantasy production simply isn’t there either when it comes to fantasy D/ST. Yet people want to complain about kickers in fantasy? Pfft. I would not select a fantasy defense before the final three rounds of a draft, and I would stream whenever possible.

For more great rankings and analysis, make sure to check out our 2023 Fantasy Football Draft Kit!

Fantasy Football Rankings for 2023

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— Fantrax (@Fantrax) August 3, 2023