Fantasy Football Must-Draft Players: Antonio Gibson, Najee Harris, Cam Akers

Here are some players I’m most eager to draft in 2023. Below are a few free picks to help you this draft season.

Snake Draft Pick Strategy: Early | Middle | Late
Draft Targets for Every Round: Early | Middle | Late
Fitz’s Draft Primers: QB | RB | WR | TE
2023 Fantasy Football Draft Kit

Fitz’s Top Draft Targets

After finishing RB3 in PPR scoring as a rookie, Harris slipped to RB14 last year. A sprained Lisfranc might have had something to do with it. Harris didn’t miss any games, but he didn’t seem to be 100% early in the season. He averaged 59.1 yards from scrimmage over the first eight games of the season and 87.8 yards from scrimmage over his last nine.

A powerful, durable and versatile back, Harris has averaged 20.4 touches a game over his first two seasons. The Steelers haven’t put good offensive lines in front of Harris in his first two seasons. Still, Pittsburgh made significant improvements to that unit in the offseason, signing OGs Isaac Seumalo and Nate Herbig and trading up to draft OT Broderick Jones in the first round. We could get a big bounce-back season from Najee in 2023.

Cam Akers (LAR)

Akers led the NFL in rushing over the final six weeks of the 2022 regular season and ranked RB4 in half-point point per reception (PPR) scoring over that stretch. He had more than 100 rushing yards in each of his last three games. Now two years removed from the torn Achilles that wiped out most of his 2021 season, Akers doesn’t have much in-house competition for carries, and the Rams’ 2023 schedule is littered with opponents that had mediocre run defenses last year.

Antonio Gibson (WAS)

Commanders head coach Ron Rivera has been talking about wanting to get Gibson more involved in the Washington offense this year. Talk is cheap, but perhaps Washington’s new offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy, will be fonder of Gibson than former Washington OC Scott Turner seemed to be.

Gibson is as big and as fast as Jonathan Taylor and has extensive pass-catching experience as a converted college wide receiver. Gibson also scored double-digit touchdowns in each of his first two NFL seasons despite playing in a limited offense. With J.D. McKissic no longer on the Commanders’ roster, Gibson figures to see a lot more action on passing downs.