Fantasy Football Sleepers & Busts 2023: ETR Staff

Our NFL staff is comprised of professional DFS players, veteran fantasy analysts, data scientists, and film watchers. In this article, we give everyone a chance to give their favorite sleeper and favorite bust for the 2023 fantasy football season. This article will update in the event of new news on any of the below players.

Sleepers

Anthony Richardson

Going off the board outside the top 10 QBs, Anthony Richardson is a steal where he can be drafted late and still present weekly overall QB1 upside. Think of Richardson as Derrick Henry, but a QB. He is 6-foot-4, 244 lbs, and ran a 4.43 40-yard dash — not to mention his 99 Next Gen Stats Athleticism Score. I see two main ways he fails: 1) He doesn’t see playing time or 2) He is such a bad quarterback he’s not able to lead the offense to touchdowns. As for the former, he has been taking first-team snaps for the majority of training camp, and his coaches have been consistent in the importance of him learning on the job. I’d put it at 75% that he starts Week 1. As to his ability, I fully expect him to struggle as a passer, but we only need him to be somewhat competent to still provide us with legitimate starts. And if he can be just league average, he’s a better shot than anyone to finish among the elite QBs. I don’t want to leave my draft without having drafted Anthony Richardson. – Justin Herzig

Zay Flowers

Going off the board at WR50 at pick 124 (according to FantasyPros consensus ADP), Zay Flowers provides incredible upside at a position where it can be difficult to find ceiling in the later rounds. Flowers fits several important criteria for identifying breakout candidates. First, he was drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft. Over the past several years, we’ve seen many first-round rookie WRs crush their preseason ADP, including Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, and more. Second, he is tied to a *potentially* elite QB. Though the Ravens’ passing offense has struggled somewhat in recent years due to injuries and lack of talent at WR, we are just a few years removed from Lamar Jackson’s MVP season when he led the NFL with 36 passing TDs. Finally, there is reason to believe the Ravens will pass much more frequently under new OC Todd Monken. Monken’s offenses in Tampa Bay passed much more frequently, and ran at a much faster pace, than previous Ravens offenses under former OC Greg Roman. While Zay may be priced higher in higher-stakes formats or best ball, he is an absolute steal in the majority of home leagues as a 12th-13th round pick. – Sam Sherman

Marvin Mims

Denver has two veterans in front of Marvin Mims right now, but Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton are far from established. In fact, the rumor for much of the off-season was that the team would have liked to trade one of them. Tim Patrick tore his Achilles and is out for the season. Mims has a clear path to immediate playing time, and while the Denver pass game doesn’t figure to be a high-volume unit, Russell Wilson has a history of being highly efficient. Sean Payton figures to get some of that magic back, and he made Mims his first WR selection with the new team — 63 overall. – Anthony Amico

Zach Charbonnet

The only thing holding back Zach Charbonnet’s draft stock is the presence of Kenneth Walker. Walker is an explosive running back who ranked top 10 in the NFL last season in breakaway run rate and evaded tackles but finished with a middling 4.1 yards per carry. The home-run hitter struggled with consistency and ranked dead last among all RBs with 100+ carries in success rate. Walker had a questionable receiving skill set entering the NFL, totaling just 19 receptions in his three years at Michigan State. In his rookie campaign, he did catch 27 passes but averaged just 4.7 yards per target. The most important touches in fantasy football for RBs come at the goal line and in the