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Burning Questions: Najee Harris, Deshaun Watson, Joe Mixon (2023 Fantasy Football)

Burning Questions: Najee Harris, Deshaun Watson, Joe Mixon (2023 Fantasy Football)

The 2023 season is still a few months away. While much will change between now and opening night in September, let’s look at some of the biggest fantasy question.

 

Dynasty Rookie Draft Kit

Biggest Fantasy Football Question Marks

Here are some of the biggest fantasy football questions around the NFL.

BAL – Who will be the WR1?

Last year the Ravens had only one player with more than 48 receptions — tight end Mark Andrews. However, Baltimore has made multiple moves this offseason. They signed Nelson Agholor and Odell Beckham Jr. in free agency.

The Ravens then used their first-round pick in the NFL Draft on Zay Flowers. Furthermore, Rashod Bateman has flashed potential when on the field. Yet, the question remains, which wide receiver should be the first drafted?

According to Underdog Fantasy, all three players have an ADP outside the top 40 wide receivers. Flowers leads the way as the WR44, Bateman is the WR47 and Beckham the WR51. However, Flowers is my favorite of the trio.

Beckham didn’t play last season because of a torn ACL he suffered in the Super Bowl the year before. Meanwhile, Bateman missed 11 games last year and 47.1% of the contests in his career because of injury. Flowers averaged over 2.2 yards per route run last year at Boston College and could turn into Lamar Jackson’s favorite wide receiver as a rookie.

CIN – Is Joe Mixon worth drafting?

While the veteran running back had his fifth consecutive year scoring at least 13 half-point PPR fantasy points per game in 2022, Mixon is on several do-not-draft lists this offseason. The former Oklahoma star averaged 15 fantasy points per game last year.

Yet, he had only 814 rushing yards, the second-lowest total of his career since his rookie season. Furthermore, Mixon’s end-of-year finish was boosted by one massive performance.

The veteran running back had 153 rushing yards, five total touchdowns and 53.1 fantasy points in the Week 9 matchup against the Panthers. That performance accounted for 18.8% of Mixon’s rushing yards, 55.6% of his touchdowns and 25.4% of his fantasy points for the season.

However, the Bengals lost Samaje Perine in free agency while their only addition was Chase Brown, a fifth-round rookie. Mixon has a late fifth-round ADP on Underdog Fantasy. At that cost, the veteran running back is worth the price.

CLE – Will Deshaun Watson bounce back?

Watson has always been a fantasy star. However, the events of the past two years have caused fantasy players to forget how good the quarterback was early in his career. He was the QB1 on a points-per-game basis as a rookie. Then Watson had three consecutive top-five finishes from 2018 through 2020.

Unfortunately, the off-the-field situation tanked his fantasy value. Furthermore, the star quarterback has played only six games over the past two years. After serving an 11-game suspension last season, Watson averaged only 14.3 fantasy points per game in 2022.

However, fantasy players should be optimistic about the star quarterback this year. He averaged 2.5 passing touchdowns and 19.7 fantasy points per game over the past two games last season. Furthermore, Watson started to use his legs more to end the year.

Over the final three weeks, the star quarterback averaged 33 rushing yards per contest and 5.3 fantasy points per game using his legs. More importantly, the Browns added Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman this offseason, vastly improving Watson’s receiving core.

PIT – Which Najee Harris will show up this season?

The former first-round pick was a superstar as a rookie, totaling 1,667 scrimmage yards and 10 touchdowns in 2021. Harris was the RB4 that year, averaging 15.5 half-point PPR fantasy points per game. Unfortunately, the star running back struggled last season, averaging only 11.9 fantasy points per contest.

After totaling 74 receptions on 94 targets as a rookie, Harris had only 41 receptions on 53 targets last year following the change at quarterback from Ben Roethlisberger to Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett.

Yet, fantasy players should be encouraged by how Harris played at the end of last season. After dealing with a foot injury early in the year, the star running back averaged 86.4 scrimmage yards and 14.7 fantasy points per game over the final eight games. Furthermore, Harris was the RB4 over the final eight weeks last year.

More importantly, the Steelers added multiple starting offensive linemen this offseason. Last year, the unit ranked in the middle of the pack in run blocking, according to PFF. Harris should be much better in 2023.

2023 Fantasy Football Best Ball Draft Advice

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Mike Fanelli is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @Mike_NFL2.

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