The fantasy football season can be a long road filled with a roller coaster of reactions to how players perform at any given time. Some players start hot and fizzle down the stretch, and some catch fire to close out the season. In other instances, some high-end performers are the pillar of consistency throughout an entire season, and plenty of others give us a few spike weeks and nothing more.

Today we’re diving into the players who had a big second half of the 2022 season and breaking down what that means for the fantasy football value in the 2023 season.

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Second Half 2022 Performances of Note and 2023 Impact

Cam Akers (RB – LAR)

There might not be a single player whose value ebbed and flowed as much as Cam Akers in the 2022 season. He miraculously recovered from a torn Achilles to return for the Rams in the 2021 postseason. His 2022 season started less than ideal, and rumors swirled that the Rams could look to trade him.

Over the second half of the season (for consistency in this article that will be considered from weeks 10 to 18), Akers was the RB11 in PPR formats. He eclipsed the 100-yard mark on the ground in the last three weeks of the season, averaging 5.5 yards per carry and 21 attempts per game in those contests. The Rams have Sony Michel, Kyren Williams, and Zach Evans behind Akers this season, but Akers should be the easy favorite for most work in this backfield. Lock him in as a surefire RB2 with an even higher ceiling if things go well.

James Conner (RB – ARI)

Drafting James Conner can feel like taking the medicine you didn’t like as a kid, but you might be somewhat surprised to learn he was the RB6 in PPR formats over the second half of last season.

He appeared in 13 games last season and received double-digit carries in ten of them. On top of that, he saw 58 targets in the receiving game. Consider that this is all for a team that has now lost one of their most prolific playmakers in DeAndre Hopkins, and it’s easy to see the path toward Conner seeing a substantial workload in 2023.

He’s coming off the board as RB34 in dynasty startups and is an excellent target for teams looking to win it all in year one of a startup or for contending teams looking for running back depth on the trade market. He’s a volume-based RB2 who could creep toward RB1 value in 2023 if he stays healthy.

DeVonta Smith (WR – PHI) and AJ Brown (WR – PHI)

The Eagles’ electric pass-catching duo was pretty consistent throughout the entire season, as they both finished as top-10 options in PPR formats. However, over the second half of the season, they were even better. AJ Brown was the WR7 over the year’s second half, and DeVonta Smith was the WR5 in that same span.

Brown is regularly treated as an elite asset in drafts, but you can still get a small discount on Smith, given what we’ve already seen his ceiling can be. Both players are coming off the board in startup drafts as top-12 wide receivers, but If you can manage to snag Smith as your WR2, you will be in a great position. There isn’t a ton of uncertainty surrounding these two players. The Eagles will be one of the most explosive offenses in football again in 2023, and both Brown and Smith could see themselves finishing the year as top-12 options again.

George Kittle (TE – SF)

Everyone knows the talent that George Kittle is, but he was dominant over the second half of 2022. He was the TE2 from weeks ten to eighteen, only trailing behind the dominant force that is Travis Kelce.

There are plenty of mouths to feed in the San Francisco 49ers offense, but Brock Purdy forged a solid connection with Kittle. Despite sharing playing time with Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Christian McCaffrey, Kittle still finds himself among the elite options at the tight end position.

You’re likely to see Kelce, Mark Andrews, TJ Hockenson, and Kyle Pitts come off the board ahead of him in drafts, but you can argue that he has the same upside as a few of those players. He’s best treated as a top-five option in 2023 and has the ceiling to push to finish in the top three.

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