Now that we are well underway into the dynasty offseason, it’s time to dive deeper into some of these 2023 prospects. These rankings are for a Superflex format which drives up the value of these quarterbacks.
These are just my initial rankings, but there will be some changes after the Senior Bowl, combine and NFL draft conclude. For now, we dive into our first set of 2023 rookie rankings below.
S Tier
1. Bijan Robinson
Bijan Robinson is the unanimous 1.01, even in a Superflex format. Robinson is a great NFL prospect with everything you look for, including excellent draft capital. Robinson is the consensus 19th pick in start up drafts, which is phenomenal. There are no holes in Robinson’s game, as he projects to be a fantastic bell cow back at the NFL level.
A Tier
2. Bryce Young
My QB1 for this class is Alabama’s, Bryce Young. Young is great all across the board, with his one concern being his size. This shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Young showed fantastic accuracy, playmaking skills, and a good feel for the game. At the moment, Young is a projected top-10 NFL draft pick and will get the chance to be a franchise quarterback at the next level.
3. Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Jaxon Smith Njigba consistently utilizes spatial awareness knowing what he needs to do and where he needs to be
— Joe O’Leary (@TheHQNerd) January 12, 2023
This dude prints money working the middle of the football field
One smooth operator pic.twitter.com/RRQGfYwKPC
At the WR1 spot, I have Jaxon Smith-Njigba, my number 3 overall prospect. While some have Smith-Njigba lower due to his injury this past season, his incredible sophomore season makes up for it.
Playing alongside Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, Smith-Njigba was amazing, putting up a 95-1606-9 season. Smith-Njigba is an outstanding route runner with great hands and speed. As of now, Smith-Njigba is a projected first to mid-second-round NFL draft pick, which is tremendous draft capital.
4. C.J. Stroud
In a Superflex format, CJ Stroud is an A-Tier player due to his incredible ceiling and floor combination. It looks like Stroud will be a top 10-15 NFL draft pick giving him the incredible draft capital you’re looking for in a quarterback.
However, there are a few concerns about Stroud, one being if his excellent supporting cast made him look better. On top of this, Stroud hasn’t shown much outside of the pocket and was inconsistent at times during the beginning of the 2022 season. Even so, Stroud has fantastic accuracy across all levels, good pocket presence, and possesses an NFL-ready arm.
5. Jahmyr Gibbs
Behind Bijan Robinson, I have a running back with a fantastic floor and ceiling combination, Jahmyr Gibbs. Being an elite receiving back boosts Gibbs’s floor and ceiling, making him worthy of the number 5 spot.
Currently, Gibbs is projected to go in the late first to early second in the NFL draft. With Gibbs being slightly undersized, his landing spot greatly impacts his role in the NFL. There is still a good chance Gibbs will be the lead back with this draft capital, and his receiving upside makes up for some of the touches he may lose because of his size.
B Tier
6. Jordan Addison
Dropping down to my next tier, I have two wide receivers who I’m not overly excited about but still deserve to be in a tier of their own. I have Jordan Addison, who broke out as a sophomore at Pitt, winning the Biletnikoff award.
Nevertheless, my concern with Addison is his regression at USC during his junior season. Addison will likely be limited to the slot due to his size, but he has excellent draft capital. In mock drafts right now, Addison is the consensus 12th overall pick. If this is the case, Addison will draw a ton of targets allowing him to be hyper-efficient from the slot at the NFL level.
7. Quentin Johnston
This draft is very slot-heavy, but Quentin Johnston is an alpha WR1, standing at 6″ 4″ and 215 lbs. Johnston has an incredible catch radius, top-end speed and is excellent after the catch. On the other hand, Johnston has a limited route tree and tends to body-catch the ball. Overall, Johnston has a very high ceiling due to his size, skillset, and fantastic projected draft capital.
C Tier
8. Will Levis
The farthest career throw from Will Levis
— Mike Renner (@PFF_Mike) January 17, 2023
~ 62 yards
(2022 vs. Florida) pic.twitter.com/Rq4Er1cclx
At the C Tier, our next two quarterbacks aren’t as polished but have an incredibly high upside. With Will Levis, you have a quarterback with an excellent frame, incredible arm talent, and a quick release.
Differing from Stroud and Young, Levis isn’t very polished and has struggled with his mechanics, progressions, pocket presence, and accuracy. Despite all of this, Levis is the consensus 6th overall NFL draft pick, as many teams are willing to take a chance at developing him due to his incredible talent and size.
9. Anthony Richardson
Like Levis, Anthony Richardson is another extremely raw quarterback with a ton of potential, causing him to be a top NFL draft pick. Richardson, a big quarterback who is a phenomenal runner, had 654 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground last season.
On top of this, Richardson has a great arm, quick release, and showed flashes of very good short and medium accuracy. Conversely, this past year Richardson was very inconsistent with his mechanics, accuracy and has struggled to read defenses. Nevertheless, NFL scouts will take the talent and size to work with, as Richardson is the consensus 21st overall pick in the NFL draft.
D Tier
10. Zach Charbonnet
Dropping down to my next tier, I have several players with terrific upside but aren’t top prospects like the guys ahead of them. At the 10th spot, I have Zach Charbonnet, a player with the potential to be a three-down back. Charbonnet is an aggressive runner who can break tackles and is a solid pass catcher.
On the other hand, even though Charbonnet caught 37 passes, he still hasn’t run many NFL routes and doesn’t display fantastic hands. On top of this, Charbonnet also doesn’t have the ability to make defenders miss in space or elite-level speed like some of these other guys. All in all, Charbonnet is a great player, and I’m super high on him due to his projected 2nd round draft capital.
11. Sean Tucker
At the 11th spot, I have another player who has the potential to be a three-down back, Sean Tucker. Tucker is a great athlete with incredible vision, quickness, burst, vision, and receiving ability. There aren’t many bad things to say about Tucker, but he doesn’t have incredible speed or a fantastic build.
In addition, Tucker doesn’t have the same draft capital as some of these other players, projected to be a fourth round pick in the draft. This doesn’t guarantee Tucker a starting role, but he still has the tools to be a three-down back at some point in his career.
12. Zach Evans
My last running back in this tier is from Ole Miss, Zach Evans. Evans is a great runner, possessing good burst, acceleration, change of direction, awareness, and anticipation. Unlike the rest of these players, Evans isn’t a very good pass catcher, although he did improve this past season and has shown some flashes.
Evans doesn’t have top-end speed and is unlikely to become a three-down back unless he keeps improving his pass-catching ability. Currently, Evans is a projected third-round pick which justifies him being ranked as my 12th overall prospect.
13. Kayshon Boutte
It's going to be interesting to see where Kayshon Boutte goes in the 2023 NFL Draft… pic.twitter.com/Xoqi9Jq11V
— Kyle Yates (@KyleYNFL) February 1, 2023
Kayshon Boutte looked amazing as a freshman but has since been disappointing. However, in his career, Boutte has shown elite speed, hands, and route running from time to time. Boutte is a big play threat but has struggled to stay consistent and healthy. What the NFL thinks of Boutte plays a big part in this ranking, but right now, he is a projected 2nd-round pick, warranting him the number 13 spot.
14. Michael Mayer
Rounding out this tier, I have the number one tight-end prospect, Michael Mayer, at 14. I have Mayer ranked here due to the typical failure and decrease in the value of tight ends after year one. Despite this, Mayer is a great pass catcher with good route running and separation skills.
At the moment, Mayer is the consensus 16th overall pick in the NFL draft, so you should be very excited about his draft capital. Mayer is an outstanding prospect, but due to the volatility of the tight-end position, he’s bumped down to the 14th spot.
C Tier
15. Zay Flowers
Dropping down to the next tier, I have one of the most explosive players in this class, Zay Flowers. With the ball in his hands, Flowers is explosive and has shown it this past season, dominating his competition. Flowers has elite speed, tremendous change of direction, good hands, and is excellent in and out of his cuts.
One of the only knocks to Flowers’s game is his size standing at 5″ 10 and 172 lbs. However, with Flowers being a projected second-round pick, I love the value at the beginning of the second round in your rookie drafts.
16. Josh Downs
Josh Downs, a tremendous undersized slot receiver, is an excellent value in the second round of your rookie drafts. Downs has Elite speed to go along with fantastic route running and separation. On the other hand, Downs has struggled as a deep threat and will be limited to the slot due to his size. Downs is projected to go in the second round of the NFL draft, making him a player I’m excited about.
17. Jalin Hyatt
To round off this tier, I have the best field stretcher in this class Jalin Hyatt. Due to his excellent size, speed, and route running, Hyatt is the best deep threat in this class.
However, Hyatt is one of the players I believe will find more success in the NFL than in fantasy. He is a projected first-round pick due to his ability to attract safety attention. Hyatt is a phenomenal NFL prospect with a ton of upside, but questions about his usage drop him down to the 17th spot.
18. Kendre Miller
Kendre Miller is a player many are excited about due to his fantastic upside. Miller has excellent vision and very good footwork. While there aren’t many weaknesses in Millers’ game, he doesn’t have many elite traits. Due to this, Miller has projected fourth-round NFL draft capital, which has produced a very low hit rate for running backs.
D Tier
19. Hendon Hooker
To start the D tier, I have one of the more underrated quarterbacks in this draft, Hendon Hooker. In a Superflex format, getting a QB2 in the mid-second round is a great value, and Hooker has that type of upside. While Hooker isn’t a top-tier prospect, he displayed fantastic accuracy, pocket presence and provides some rushing upside.
Hooker is ranked so low due to his late breakout age and projected draft capital in the third round. I like Hooker in this spot due to the upside he brings if he becomes a starter, but there isn’t an extremely high chance of this happening compared to some of these other prospects.
20. Tank Bigsby
Tank Bigsby 👀🔥#FantasyFootball pic.twitter.com/EjADG6TCJd
— Jeremy (@PopesFFH) January 14, 2023
Tank Bigsby is one of the more interesting running back prospects due to an incredible combination of size and speed. However, Bigsby isn’t a superb athlete and needs to improve his footwork. Due to this, Bigsby is a projected third-round draft pick which decreases his hit rate.
21. Rashee Rice
Rashee Rice, just like many of these other prospects, is a very solid player with outstanding projected draft capital. At SMU, Rice displayed an exceptional catch radius, route running and showed he was a good playmaker. What bumps Rice down is that he doesn’t have elite-level speed or deep-threat ability. Nevertheless, I still like Rice when drafted around this ranking due to his excellent size, skillset, and draft capital.
F Tier
22. Tyjae Spears
Dropping down to our last and final tier, I have Tyjae Spears at the 22nd spot. Spears is a running back who has shown fantastic burst and pass-catching ability this past season. While Spears looks like a great runner, he plays for a small college, Tulane.
On top of this, Spears is undersized with projected 5th-round draft capital. Despite all of this, there’s no doubt Spears is an explosive player with terrific upside in the right situation.
23. Dalton Kincaid
At the 23rd spot, I have my TE2 in this draft, Dalton Kincaid. Kincaid is a great athlete with good hands and receiving ability. I don’t love drafting tight ends because they take a long time to develop and lose value. That said, this rank is fair for Kincaid as he has projected second-round NFL draft capital to go along with his solid profile.
24. Marvin Mims
Rounding out my top 24 prospects list, I have Marvin Mims in the last spot. Mims is a good playmaker and a deep threat. However, Mims is undersized and isn’t an extremely polished player heading into the draft. Due to this, Mims is a projected third-round pick which is solid, but these concerns drop him down to the 24th spot in my rankings.
