Bears quarterback Justin Fields was among the top Fantasy football breakouts a season ago, averaging nearly 20 Fantasy points per game. He recorded just 17 passing touchdowns, but led all quarterbacks with 1,143 rushing yards and finished with 17 carries of 15 yards or more. However, the former Ohio State standout eclipsed 200 passing yards just twice, making him one of the toughest players to slot in the 2023 Fantasy football rankings. The Bears added some weapons on offense for Fields this offseason, including wide receiver DJ Moore. Fields and Moore connected for a 62-yard touchdown pass in Chicago's preseason opener against the Titans, but how should you approach them during your 2023 Fantasy football draft prep?
Before crafting your 2023 Fantasy football draft strategy, be sure to check out the 2023 Fantasy football rankings and 2023 Fantasy football cheat sheets from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Last year, the model accurately predicted that Texans running back Dameon Pierce would carry significantly more value than expected during his rookie season. The result: Pierce went on to rush for 939 yards and four touchdowns despite missing four games and also had 165 receiving yards and a score. The model predicted Pierce would provide RB2 value and he did exactly that prior to the injury that cost him the final four games of the year.
The same model has a proven track record providing Fantasy football tips, calling Tony Pollard a sleeper last year and also identifying A.J. Brown as a sleeper in 2020, along with players like Julio Jones and JuJu Smith-Schuster as Fantasy football busts last season. Additionally, it's called past Fantasy football sleepers like Derrick Henry in 2019, Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara in 2018, and Davante Adams in 2017. Anybody who banked on players like those made a run at their league title.
The model is powered by the same people who generated projections for all three major Fantasy sites, and it beat human experts last season when there was a big difference in ranking. The projections update multiple times daily, so you're always getting the best Fantasy football advice.
Now, SportsLine has simulated the entire NFL season 10,000 times and released its latest Fantasy football rankings 2023, along with plenty of sleepers, breakouts and busts. Head to SportsLine now to see them.
Top 2023 Fantasy football breakouts
One of the 2023 Fantasy football breakouts the model is predicting: Chiefs receiver Kadarius Toney. The 2021 first-round pick has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, including after getting traded to Kansas City last season. However, he's a dynamic playmaker, scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl, and is on a team without an established No. 1 receiver.
Last year, JuJu Smith-Schuster had nearly 1,000 yards as Patrick Mahomes top receiver, but Toney offers immensely more upside. With Smith-Schuster now in New England and Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Skyy Moore being KC's other starting wideouts, Toney should easily emerge as the No. 1 receiver. Given the high-scoring nature of the Chiefs offense, that's a position that warrants a spot in Fantasy football lineups. If he can finally stay healthy, Toney is poised to break out and is the top Chiefs receiver in the model's Fantasy football WR rankings 2023.
Another breakout that SportsLine's Fantasy football rankings 2023 have identified: Texans receiver Nico Collins. He has failed to put up impressive numbers through the first two years of his career, but he could find success in his third season in the NFL.
Collins hasn't had the benefit of solid quarterback play through two seasons, but that could change if rookie C.J. Stroud settles in quickly. The Texans also traded away veteran receiver Brandin Cooks in the offseason, creating even more target opportunities for Collins. The latest Fantasy football ADP 2023 shows Collins being drafted in the 15th round on average. The model, however, pegs him as more productive than receivers like Courtland Sutton, Odell Beckham Jr. and Kadarius Toney, all of whom are flying off the board at least two rounds earlier on average. See which other Fantasy football breakouts 2023 to pick here.
How to find proven 2023 Fantasy football football rankings
SportsLine is also extremely high on a surprising running back you aren't even thinking about being taken in the middle rounds of 2023 Fantasy football drafts. This running back is listed as a shocking top-10 option ahead of superstars like Jonathan Taylor and Joe Mixon. You can only see who it is, and the 2023 Fantasy football rankings for every player, at SportsLine.
So which 2023 Fantasy Football breakouts should you target? And which RB shocks the NFL with a top-10 performance? Visit SportsLine now to get 2023 Fantasy Football cheat sheets for every single position, all from the model that called Dameon Pierce's breakout season, and find out.
