We have a brand new season of fantasy football peeking over the horizon for 2023. After a wild NFL offseason and draft cycle, the dust has settled, and we have a shifting NFL landscape that appears ripe for the picking for fantasy. The attack plan for fantasy titles starts with the early rounds of your drafts. These early selections will build the backbone of your teams and influence how you approach the rest of your draft. Regardless of whether you love RB heavy, Zero RB or somewhere in between, I’ve outlined my approach and targets for the first four rounds that can be tailored to fit any fantasy palate. Enjoy, and let’s have a banner year.
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Here is my approach and players to target for each of the early rounds.
- Austin Ekeler: Last year Ekeler built upon his fantasy legend status as the RB1 in fantasy points per game. This is after he was the RB2 in the previous season. After contract worries early in the offseason, Ekeler is back in the fold and fully invested in crushing it again in 2023. Ekeler still has plenty left in the tank after ranking seventh in yards per route run and evaded tackles last season. With the team moving toward chucking it deep more this year, Ekeler’s target share (18.9%, second) could dip slightly with Justin Herbert checking it down less, but Ekeler will still be involved heavily. In 2020-2021 under Kellen Moore’s direction, the Cowboys were 13th and 10th in target volume directed to the running back position.
- Bijan Robinson: One of the best running back prospects in recent memory landed on a team that was second in neutral script rushing rate and led the NFL in red zone rushing rate last year. Yeah. Robinson is a player I’ll have heavy exposure to in every format. Robinson should be considered a lock for 300-plus touches. With that type of volume and his talent profile, Robinson has RB1 overall upside this season. Robinson ranked 11th and 18th in yards after contact per attempt and sixth and third in elusive rating (minimum 100 carries per PFF) over the last two years. No one will be muttering Arthur Smith jokes at the end of the season if Robinson carries them to fantasy titles.
- CeeDee Lamb: Last year in his third NFL season, Lamb finally broke out and entered the WR1 ranks in fantasy (WR7). Lamb should run it back in 2023 with another top-12 season, but the great thing is it’s possible that we still haven’t seen Lamb’s ceiling. Last year he was top six in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns among wide receivers. Lamb is an elite target earner, ranking ninth in target share (28.7%) and seventh in target per route run rate (30.1%). He was top seven in route win rate and win rate against man coverage. With Michael Gallup hopefully rounding back into form and the addition of Brandin Cooks, opposing defenses won’t be able to key in on Lamb as much in 2023. The needle remains pointed up for Lamb.
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*All data utilized in this article courtesy of FantasyPros, PFF, Football Outsiders, and Playerprofiler.com unless otherwise specified.*