NFL Preseason Takeaways: Anthony Richardson & David Njoku (2023 Fantasy Football)

When the NFL had a four-week preseason, the fourth week’s games were almost completely irrelevant, with most teams refusing to play their starters. Now that the league has gone to a three-week exhibition season, the preseason finales are more of a mixed bag. Some teams didn’t play their offensive starters at all. But some teams treated Week 3 as a dress rehearsal, giving their offensive starters substantial playing time. We fantasy managers didn’t get an enormous volume of actionable information, but we got some — especially at the RB position.

Here’s a position-by-position look at some noteworthy fantasy tidbits from the third and final week of the preseason. And below is a deeper look at the QB and TE positions.

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Quarterbacks

Anthony Richardson‘s final preseason game of 2023 might have been a taste of what we’ll see from him in the regular season. Richardson wasn’t particularly inspiring or efficient as a passer, completing 6-of-17 throws for 78 yards, no TDs and no INTs while playing 37 snaps. But he did run five times for 38 yards. Richardson figures to derive a great deal of his rookie-year fantasy value from his rushing. His passing numbers probably aren’t going to be pretty in Year 1.

Tight Ends

As my colleague Andrew Erickson noted, the Browns’ David Njoku ran a route on all 16 of Deshaun Watson‘s preseason dropbacks. It’s an encouraging sign that Njoku, an athletic marvel who’s never quite fulfilled his fantasy potential, will be prominently involved in the Cleveland passing game this year.