Fantasy Football Bounce-Back Candidates: Deebo Samuel, Jerry Jeudy, Kyle Pitts (2023)

Fantasy football seasons are often littered with tales of players bouncing back from a challenging year to surprise us all with an impressive follow-up and continuing biases from one year into the next isn’t helpful in this game.

This article will put together the best contenders for a second-chance season.

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Fantasy Football Players Who Deserve a Second Chance

Deebo Samuel (WR – SF)

Deebo Samuel followed up 2021’s WR3 performance with a disappointing WR24 finish in points per game and dropping all the way to WR24 in total point per reception (PPR) points. Samuel struggled through injuries after an offseason where his contract dispute got ugly, not to mention the annual quarterback issues that it seems the Niners must face on a yearly basis. In games with Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback, Samuel averaged 11.34 half PPR points per game.

Samuel, though, deserves a second chance this year, primarily because Samuel seemed to be Brock Purdy‘s preferred target on many occasions, and Samuel saw barely any drop-off in opportunities after Christian McCaffrey was acquired, putting up eight touches per game before and 7.8 afterward, even while dealing with injuries. We’ve seen Samuel be a league-winner before, and it’s possible he does so again, and this time at a cheaper cost than in 2022.

Deebo Samuel's weekly target shares in four starts with Brock Purdy:

13. 24.3% (team-high)
14. 21.7% (tied for team-high)
18. 15% (first game back)
WC. 30% (team-high)

— John Daigle (@notJDaigle) January 15, 2023

Jerry Jeudy (WR – DEN)

Yes, that’s right, we’re stacking up the Broncos for this second-chance team, and there is no other Broncos pass-catcher you should be more confident in than Jerry Jeudy. Much like most of the offense, there were bad times for Jeudy in 2022, but they were primarily in the first half of the season with Jeudy’s average weekly positional finish WR49 between Weeks 1-10.

After that, over Weeks 11 to 17, Jeudy was the PPR WR11 scoring 17.4 points per game at an average of 2.7 fantasy points per touch, which was equal to Justin Jefferson during that period. The Broncos were struggling to stay on the field, and Jeudy had to be efficient. With upgrades to the coaching staff and offensive line, there is reason to think that the offense should be more competent in 2023, and the Wilson and Jeudy stack has the opportunity to pay off handsomely.

Kyle Pitts (TE – ATL)

It’s possibly unfair to label Kyle Pitts as needing a second chance when he was second in target share among tight ends last year but was 47th in catchable ball rate among tight ends with at least 25 targets, which for the record, was dead last in that category. Instead, it’s perhaps Arthur Smith who needs a second chance to prove he isn’t going to waste Kyle Pitts’s talents any longer.

Out of the top 20 tight ends in 2022 PPR points per game, Kyle Pitts was one of six players to score 2.7 points per touch. Pitts also led the position in air yards per game with 81.6 despite seeing 5.9 targets per game, which ranked eighth.

We never got to see Desmond Ridder and Kyle Pitts take the field together in 2022, but in 2023 we should see it plenty, and if Ridder can make even a semi-competent second-year leap, then it could finally be wheels up for Kyle Pitts.