Our analysts have put together fantasy football outlooks for all fantasy-relevant players. You can find them on our player pages and via our Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR). These will be updated throughout the preseason to help you navigate your fantasy football drafts utilizing our bevy of tools, including our FREE draft simulator and cheat sheet creator. We’ll cover players in different groups to help you identify those to target and others to avoid. In this series, our analysts took a look at some of the biggest storylines from 2022 and predicted players who could fit that mold in 2023. This means hyped players who busted instead of breaking out, unheralded sleepers who finished in the top tier of their position, rookie breakouts, and more.

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This Year’s Russell Wilson

Derek Carr (QB – NO)

This year’s Russell Wilson: New QB on a new team who nukes the entire offense.

As high as I was on Courtland Sutton last year, I wasn’t nearly as high on Russell Wilson. And that should have been a red flag in my estimate, as it’s tougher for offenses to thrive if they are held back by their QBs. And I am not convinced that Derek Carr is an even upgrade for New Orleans, despite what contract they gave him. Carr was horrible last year despite playing with the best WR in his career. QB24 in points per game (15.5). He threw for over 300 yards just twice. Carr also posted his worst PFF passing grade since his rookie year (65.4) as he struggled immensely from a clean pocket. His passing grade when not pressured ranked 34th out of 40 qualifying quarterbacks. Considering Carr has only finished inside the top-10 fantasy QBs ONCE during his nine-year career, his mediocrity is not worth paying a premium for in the Superflex format. Carr has one top-5 weekly finish since 2019. And he scored a rushing TD in that game. Ultimately, I think Carr could hold back a potential Chris Olave supernova breakout along while stalling other pieces of the offense. -Andrew Erickson

This Year’s Isiah Pacheco

DeWayne McBride (RB – MIN)

This year’s Isiah Pacheco: A Day 3 rookie running back who becomes the team’s starter.

In this meeting of the Fantasy Pro’s minds, I’ve already laid out how Alexander Mattison face-plants this year. If Mattison fails, someone must step up to lead this ground attack. That player is DeWayne McBride. On paper, McBride is one of the best tackle-breaking backs from this draft class. Over the last two years in college, McBride has ranked top-12 in yards after contact per attempt, breakaway rate, and PFF’s elusive rating (minimum 100 carries). Yes, I know he is likely a zero in the passing game, but that doesn’t matter nearly as much as you think in Minnesota. Last year Kirk Cousins had the fifth-lowest check-down rate (per Fantasy Points Data). Give me an early down steamroller that operates in one of the league’s best offenses. – Derek Brown

This Year’s Josh Jacobs

Antonio Gibson (RB – WAS)

This year’s Josh Jacobs: Running back drafted outside the top 24 at the position or after Round 6 who finishes top 3.

Antonio Gibson is 228 pounds, has 4.39 speed, used to be a WR in college, and scored double-digit touchdowns in each of his first two NFL seasons. Gibson had a career-low 149 carries last season under Commanders offensive coordinator Scott Turner, but now Turner is gone, replaced by former Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy. Commanders head coach Ron Rivera has been talking about wanting to get Gibson more involved, and it seems inevitable that Gibson will be Washington’s primary pass-catching back now that J.D. McKissic is no longer with the team. A usage bump under Bienemy could spike Gibson’s value. And let’s not forget that Gibson finished RB13 and RB10 in PPR scoring in his first two years in the league, even though he wasn’t Washington’s primary pass-catching back in either of those seasons. – Pat Fitzmaurice

This Year’s Mike Williams

Amari Cooper

This year’s Mike Williams: A top-20 WR who will be extremely boom-or-bust.

Among the top 24 fantasy wide receivers last year in total PPR points, Cooper was tied for the fourth-highest bust rate. This isn’t anything new for Cooper, who has maintained massive home/road splits throughout his career. Last year was no exception, as Cooper averaged 84.6 receiving yards at home and only 53.7 on the road. I expect this season to be more of the same for Cooper. – Derek Brown

Previously, our analysts took a look at the most overrated and most underrated players, the top rookies, the top breakout candidates, the safest picks, the biggest questions for each NFL team, and more.

If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup based on accurate consensus projections – to our Trade Analyzer – which allows you to instantly find out if a trade offer benefits you or your opponent – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.