Fantasy Football Busts to Avoid: Josh Jacobs & Kadarius Toney (2023)

Thankfully the 2023 fantasy football season is just around the corner. Each year fantasy players want to construct their team with a proper mix of good-value players and upside sleepers while avoiding players with high bust potential. Let’s take a look at a few busts.

AFC ADP Sleepers, Busts & Values: East | North | South
Draft Targets for Every Round: Early | Middle | Late
Fitz’s Draft Primers: QB | RB | WR | TE
2023 Fantasy Football Draft Kit

Fantasy Football Busts: AFC West

ADP via FantasyPros

Josh Jacobs (RB – LV): ADP 21.7 | RB9

It has been a wild past 15 months for Jacobs. The Raiders declined his fifth-year option months after hiring Josh McDaniels as their new head coach. Then the former Alabama star played in the Hall of Fame game last year, throwing the fantasy football community into chaos. Instead of getting traded or put in a timeshare backfield, Jacobs had a career year. T

he veteran was the RB3 last season, averaging 17.8 half-point PPR fantasy points per game. Furthermore, he led the NFL in rushing yards while finishing top five in attempts and touchdowns.

Unfortunately, fantasy players have to be nervous drafting Jacobs this year. The veteran running back hasn’t shown up to training camp and could sit out part or all of the season. Even if Jacobs shows up for training camp tomorrow, fantasy players still should be nervous about drafting him. He averaged 3.95 yards per rushing attempt over the previous two years before last season but averaged 4.9 yards per rushing attempt in 2022, a career-high.

Meanwhile, what will happen if Jacobs suffers an injury? Will he fight through it or use it as an excuse to sit on the bench and wait for the offseason?

Kadarius Toney (WR – KC): ADP 109.7 | WR43

I have never been a fan of Toney’s. The third-year wide receiver has had a limited NFL career because of injuries and poor production. He has two receiving touchdowns in 19 career games, both coming last year. Yet, Toney saw his targets per game drop by 61% from his rookie year to last season. Meanwhile, the former Gator wide receiver has missed 44.1% of the games in his career because of various injuries.

More importantly, he suffered a knee injury early in training camp. While the Chiefs expect him to play Week 1, fantasy players should be cautiously optimistic.

Some will say Toney is due for a third-year breakout after his performance in the Super Bowl last year. However, the young wide receiver had only one target in the game for five yards. While his punt return set up a touchdown for Kansas City, the former Gator played only six offensive snaps in the game, the fewest among the wide receivers and fewer snaps than third-string tight end Jody Fortson.

More importantly, Skyy Moore, Richie James and Rashee Rice have had strong performances during training camp. There is no way I’m drafting Toney anywhere near his 10th-round ADP.