NFL Fantasy Football Draft Kit: Fades for the 2023 Season
If you’ve been “napping” after eating a few of the other dishes the Chefs have cooked up (we like to call that the Ituz), than you have not been in the lab doing your Fantasy football homework. It’s the end of July, which means August is almost here. For several that means school is about to start, pools and barbecues. But for us, that also means the start of our Fantasy Football season and potential fantasy football fades.
We here at Sport City have you covered wall to wall with who you should target, and who should you avoid. These are solid players for their respective teams, however in the world of Fantasy these man will come up small, leaving you frustrated and annoyed they found themselves into your starting lineup every week. Here are our fantasy football fades for the 2023 NFL season. So when cooking up your fantasy rosters, leave these "dishes" for someone else!
Wide Receivers: (All points are based on current ADP)
Marquise Brown, Arizona Cardinals:
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Conventional wisdom would leave you to believe that with the departure of WR DeAndre Hopkins means that “Hollywood” Brown would be a clear choice to slide into your WR1 slot. The issue with that thought process is right now the Cardinals are going to have QB Colt McCoy starting significant games at quarterback. Without Kyler Murray, the Cardinals offense struggled to produce significant offensive numbers leaving everyone producing career lows in several categories. Brown is a good pick, but more of a later round stash until Murray gets back. If it were me, it would be better to not draft at all and hit the waver wire.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, New England Patriots:
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Every year we hear the warning “Avoid Patriots WR’s” and every year I sit in drafts scratching my head while I see managers draft Patriots pass catcher, after Patriots pass catcher. This year PLEASE listen to us, Ju-Ju is in a great position to let fantasy owners down. You’d think that having a WR room where Ju-Ju is your WR1 and DeVante Parker is your WR2 you’d be in good shape, however you’re sadly mistaken. As the resident Steelers fan of the Sport City Chefs Network, I’ve seen first hand how well Ju-Ju performs when he’s thrusted into WR1 duties. He’s best used as a secondary option. The issue is he’s the BEST WR on their roster so he’s going to be drastically misused making playing him in your lineups frustrating.
Running Backs: (All points are based on current ADP)
Travis Etienne, Jacksonville Jaguars:
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Head Coach Doug Pederson’s reputation for RB committee approaches to the position should give managers a reason for pause when targeting Etienne. The Jaguars clearly saw RB as a position that needed some work, spending a second-round pick in this year’s draft on Tank Bigsby to presumably provide a more physical aspect to the offense. Bigsby could very well see early down, possibly goal-line work and take TD opportunities away from Etienne. I’d look at RB’s that have a more dominant role before taking a “flyer” on someone like Travis.
Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings:
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How many times have we watched this script unfold before, the RB1 leaves and the favorite RB2 gets thrusted into a more dominant role, only to under perform? Mattinson is going to be the 2023 version James Conor, filling in for LeVeon Bell to only underperform with his new responsibilities. The Vikings RB room behind Mattison includes talented backs with a multitude of skill sets, such as DeWayne McBride, Ty Chandler, and Kene Nwangwu. All 3 of these talented backs could push for snaps and cut into Mattinson's touches.
Quarterbacks: (All points are based on current ADP)
**As a boiler plate statement, you should fade ALL rookie QB’s**
Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets:
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Now before you call to have me “committed” for the sake of fantasy football when evaluating the QB position, you have to look at the defenses the QB will be facing. In the first 8 weeks of the season, the New York Jets play 6 of the top 10 defenses from 2022. When is comes time for the fantasy playoffs, the Jets will have matchups against the Dolphins, Commanders, Browns, and Patriots. Now let’s ask ourselves, if you’re trying to win a fantasy championship would you want to have to tip-toe through those landmines? Rodgers is a solid QB2 to fill in for buy weeks or in the event that your QB1 goes down. In a 8 team league, he's a excellent QB2 and you should tread lightly when hitting the submit button.
Justin Fields, Chicago Bears:
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Despite his generally mediocre passing stats, Fields is an extremely attractive pick, that causes owners to reach during drafts. Justin finished the 2022 season with 17 passing TD’s and 11 INT’s. If running is your whole game, you loose your value as fantasy reliable QB. The Bears offense will be improved from last year, but this team as a whole is a year away from being a serious threat. I would fade Fields for later rounds if you want to build up other positions first.
