Fantasy Football Draft Targets: Jared Goff, Isiah Pacheco, Jelani Woods (2023)

Here are players our experts are targeting in early fantasy football drafts. You can find our full fantasy football rankings below, along with those that the analysts are higher and lower on compared to the FantasyPros Expert Consensus and Best Ball ADP.

More Best Ball Draft Advice
Best Ball Draft Primers: QB | RB | WR | TE
Player Rankings & Notes: QB | RB | WR | TE
2023 Best Ball Draft Kit

Fantasy Football Draft Targets

Jared Goff (DET)

After disappointing seasons with the Rams in 2019 and 2020, then a lackluster first season with the Lions in 2021, Jared Goff turned in a solid year for Detroit in 2022, throwing for 4,438 yards and 29 touchdowns, good for a QB10 finish in fantasy scoring. Goff thrived under first-year Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who’ll announced that he’ll be back as Detroit’s OC after getting some head-coach buzz at the end of the regular season. Goff will also have some exciting pass catchers to work with in WRs Amon-Ra St. Brown and rookie RB Jahmyr Gibbs, along with WR Jameson Williams after he serves a six-game gambling suspension.

Pat Fitzmaurice

Isiah Pacheco (KC)

Isiah Pacheco‘s outstanding season as a 2022 7th-round pick should not be understated. From Week 10 through Week 17 (when Pacheco cemented himself as the team’s starter), the former Rutgers running back was the RB21 in points per game and ranked sixth in total rushing yards. Both he and Jerick McKinnon were top-21 scoring RBs over this stretch, but Pacheco kicked his performance into high gear as the Chiefs made their postseason run. He averaged 13 touches for 65 rushing yards to McKinnon’s seven touches per game. The aggressive runner capped off his rookie campaign with an impressive Super Bowl outing (15-76-1) that helped clinch victory for Kansas City. Even as a 7th-round pick, Pacheco should be viewed as the early-down starter for KC as he heads into Year 2, with room for his role to grow should he see his pass-game usage expanded. His six-catch game versus the Bengals in the conference championship suggests a boosted receiving role is firmly in his range of outcomes.

Andrew Erickson

Jelani Woods (IND)

A 6-foot-7, 265-pound behemoth, Jelani Woods had some impressive flashes in his rookie season, including a two-TD game against the Chiefs in Week 3 and an eight-catch, 98-yard game against the Steelers in Week 12. With 4.61 speed and a 98th percentile catch radius (per PlayerProfiler.com), Woods has tools to dream on and figures to become an even bigger part of the Colts’ offense in 2023.