I already reported on some initial fantasy football winners following this off-season’s NFL free agency period and its slew of signings and trades.
But there’s a lot more to sift through in terms of players landing in more fantasy-friendly environments, those who will benefit from having new weapons to play with, or others who will now have more opportunities with teammates departing.
Here are five more players who should see their fantasy value rise in 2023 following some off-season moves.
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Rashaad Penny (RB, PHI)
The Philadelphia Eagles signed former Seahawks running back and first-round pick Rashaad Penny to a one-year deal. With Miles Sanders off to the Carolina Panthers, there is a real chance that Penny enters the 2023 season as the lead back for the NFC champion Eagles.
After logging the third-most rushing attempts this past season, Philly should continue to establish a heavy run game. There is a possibility that the team adds a running back in the draft such as star prospect Bijan Robinson, but as of right now, Penny is in line to be the team’s leading rusher.
While injuries have riddled his career thus far, Penny has shown that he can be dominant on the ground and a viable fantasy option. During the last six games of the 2021 season, Penny led the NFL in rushing yards and was second in rushing touchdowns, as well as being the overall fantasy RB1 during that time. Penny was the lead back for Seattle ahead of Kenetth Walker this past season before suffering a brutal, season-ending ankle injury in Week 5.
In Penny’s last full game as a Seahawk, he put up a dominant rushing performance and ended the week as the fantasy RB4. Now, behind what is arguably the top offensive line in the entire league, and by far the best line Penny has played behind, he has a chance to immediately dominate as a runner and fantasy back barring any more significant injuries.
David Montgomery (RB, DET)
Former Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery signed a three-year, $18 million deal with the Detroit Lions. He will come in and replace Jamaal Williams, the newly acquired Saints RB, who led the league in rushing touchdowns for Detroit in 2022, to be the team’s leading runner, while D’Andre Swift holds the role as the third-down and change of pace back.
Even with a lackluster supporting cast on offense, including a porous offensive line, Montgomery still managed to be a productive fantasy running back on the Bears. Despite barely cracking 200 carries, Montgomery was just one of eight players with at least 20 broken tackles on runs during the 2022 season.
He has also shown that he can be a factor in both the run and pass game. Montgomery finished as the PPR RB4 in 2020, when he was top five in receptions among RBs. Now, he’ll have every opportunity to fill the void in Detroit left by Williams, who had over 1,000 rushing yards and a league-leading 17 rushing touchdowns in 2022.
Justin Fields (QB, CHI)
The Chicago Bears came into this offseason with their main priority being to build around the 24-year-old Justin Fields, and they have not disappointed.
With the blockbuster trade of the 1st overall pick, the Bears acquired former Panthers wide receiver D.J. Moore, who will immediately come in and be the team’s number one receiver. Chicago also made smaller moves that may not seem big on paper but will impact Fields in a very positive way.
They signed offensive guard Nate Davis, who was a very big reason why the Titans’ run game has been as successful as it has been in recent years. Along with the addition of power runner D’Onta Foreman, the Bears will look to continue being a run-heavy team with one of the best running quarterbacks we have seen. Chicago also has the ninth-overall pick, including four top-64 picks for the upcoming draft. The Bears will look to continue to build around Fields and put him in a position to succeed.
Fields finished the 2022 season as the QB5 in fantasy PPG, including finishing as a top 10 fantasy QB in nine out of his last 10 games on the season. He did this while being 27th in pass attempts on the season. Fields showed that he can be as dynamic as anyone in the league with the ball in his hands. He rushed for 1,143 yards in just 15 games, which is 63 yards short of the single-season record for rushing yards by a QB, held by Lamar Jackson during his MVP season.
With these new additions to the Bears’ offense, they will look to keep the strong run game intact while starting to throw the ball more often and opening up the offense. Fields is undoubtedly a top-5 fantasy QB for 2023.
Chris Olave (WR, NO)
After catching passes from Andy Dalton, Jameis Winston, and Taysom Hill during his rookie season, the 11th-overall pick Chris Olave will now have a new quarterback under center in Derek Carr.
The former Raiders quarterback will undoubtedly be a significant upgrade to what Olave had in 2022 and will get him the ball willingly. Throughout his career, Carr has shown that he will not shy away from heavily targeting his number one receiver. Hunter Renfrow ended the 2021 season as a top-10 PPR receiver as Carr’s top target. Just one year later, Davante Adams finished as the overall WR2 for the 2022 season and was fed with an absurd 180 targets on the year, which is a career-high for Adams.
Despite missing two games and having very inconsistent play from his quarterbacks in 2022, Olave still managed to put up 72 catches, for 1042 yards and four touchdowns. With Alvin Kamara likely facing a suspension of some sort for the upcoming season, Olave will command an immense amount of targets, with the only real target competition on the Saints being Michael Thomas. Taking Thomas’ recent injuries and inability to stay on the field into consideration, Olave may be the lone target hog for the majority of the 2023 season.
Kadarius Toney (WR, KC)
Midseason, Kansas City traded the 2023 third and sixth-round picks to the Giants in exchange for Kadarius Toney. While Toney could not stay on the field very much upon arrival, he did show his flashes of explosiveness for the Chiefs in the very limited amount of snaps and touches he did get. This includes a couple of crucial plays he made in the Super Bowl matchup against the Eagles.
There are no doubts about Toney’s talent or whether or not he can produce, the only thing that has been holding him back are the unlucky injuries that he has suffered thus far. If Toney does stay on the field, look for him to be a high-end WR2-flex option in fantasy with the league’s top quarterback under center.
The Chiefs have lost both JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman in free agency. Meanwhile, the team has not yet added any real receiving threats of note to take over these roles, opening the breakout door for the former first-round pick.
Barring a DeAndre Hopkins-type acquisition, or the use of a high draft pick on a receiver, Toney will go into the season with a significant role in the league’s most dominant offense.
Other winners to look out for: QB Russell Wilson (DEN), QB Deshaun Watson (CLE), RB Nick Chubb (CLE), RB Rachaad White (TB), RB Kenneth Walker (SEA), WR Adam Thielen (CAR), WR K.J. Osborn (MIN), WR Michael Thomas (NO), TE Darren Waller (NYG), TE Mike Geseki (NE).
