As the curtain closes on 2023 and another magical fantasy football season, let’s take a look back at those who might have made Santa’s Naughty or Nice list this year.
Trigger warning: This might bring back some painful memories from the 2023 season.
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Fantasy Football Naughty & Nice List (2023)
Naughty
Arthur Smith (HC – ATL)
We start off with the scourge of fantasy football in 2023, one Arthur Smith, who for several years now has sought to pull the rug out from under fantasy managers at any given opportunity. First, it was Kyle Pitts, the unicorn who was supposed to be a difference-maker at tight end before Arthur Smith hampered Drake London’s ability to be consistently relevant, and then finally, in the year 2023, Arthur Smith found a way to hamper a generational running back’s returns.
Smith was perfectly within his rights to want to give Tyler Allgeier touches after he impressed in 2022, but as Robinson impressed, he should have been trusted more. Between Weeks 1 and 10, Robinson had 13 red zone rushing attempts, which ranked 39th among all running backs and was a gulf apart from Allgeier’s 30 attempts. Smith might be able to hang onto his job for one more season, but if he continues to not prioritize the quarterback position in this offense along with failing to get production from high draft picks, then he’s unlikely to make much of a difference to the Falcons’ prospects in 2024.
The funny part about the Arthur Smith thing is he was really good at getting the ball in his playmaker’s hands with the Titans.
And he liked getting the ball in Jonnu Smith’s hands so much that he’s still doing it.
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) December 19, 2023
When Derek Carr was shown the door from Las Vegas, his career seemed to be on a knife’s edge, but when the Saints swooped in with their promising set of skill position players, it felt like Carr might continue to be relatively relevant going forward. Carr might not be a difference-maker himself, but he’s always done a pretty good job of getting the ball to his playmakers. Sadly for Chris Olave and the Saints offense, Carr has passed for 1.1 touchdowns per game, a drop-off from Andy Dalton‘s 1.3 in 2022, and has a big-time throw rate of 3.3% compared to Dalton’s 4.4%. For the money invested, Carr has been nothing but a disappointment and one very few Saints want to see back in 2024.
Derek Carr and Jimmy Graham have a combined age of 69 pic.twitter.com/hJnqusLtLH
— NFL UK (@NFLUK) December 17, 2023
The Carolina Panthers
There are so many people to blame here for their part in hampering Bryce Young‘s development. Having the 1.01 is a silver lining that many bad teams still don’t manage, and finding the potential quarterback of the future is something that has to be thought through carefully. The Panthers messed up their coaching hire with a mish-mash of minds alongside Frank Reich and then gave Young little to nothing to work with while positioning him behind a bad offensive line. Young hasn’t always helped himself, but he deserves better than this.
In Kenny Pickett’s debut season, he threw touchdowns at a rate of 1.7%, the 660th lowest rate among quarterbacks to start 10 games or more since the year 2000. In 2023, Pickett improved to 1.9%, throwing six passing touchdowns in 12 games. When fantasy managers told themselves Diontae Johnson had to see positive touchdown regression this year, they didn’t expect this. When George Pickens looked primed for a strong sophomore campaign, he didn’t see Kenny Pickett coming.
Steelers fans will tell you Pickett is a clutch quarterback who delivers in the fourth quarter, but he’s only capable of doing that when the game is close. The Steelers’ issues run far deeper than Pickett, though, and they’re unlikely to be fixed any time soon in a hyper-competitive AFC North.
i love the day after a backup QB throws for like 250 and two TDs because everyone has a stat about the guy eclipsing all of kenny pickett’s numbers in one game
— Denny Carter (@CDCarter13) December 15, 2023
Bill Belichick (HC – NE)
It seemed impossible that the Patriots would take a backward step from an offense that was co-coordinated by two people with no offensive experience in the NFL. But Bill Belichick brought the Patriots into the season with no noteworthy additions on offense, aside from adding a second tight end in Mike Gesicki, who is on track for by far the worst year of his career, averaging 3.4 points per game. Mac Jones showed us enough in his rookie season for us to believe he can be a starter in this league, and while his ceiling may be capped somewhat, Belichick has absolutely failed to surround Jones with enough talent for him to be able to play well and it might cost Belichick his job before too long.
Josh McDaniels (HC – LV)
Another head coaching failure is Josh McDaniels, who surely will never be able to convince an NFL owner that he can run a team after such abject failure in both Las Vegas and Denver. McDaniels’ failures are plentiful over the two years in Vegas, with his faith in Jimmy Garoppolo among the biggest of them. McDaniels, like many other Belichick disciples who’ve spread their wings and failed woefully, tried to instill the Patriot way to a team unfamiliar with winning and without a once-in-a-lifetime quarterback to inspire. Ultimately, McDaniels got exactly what he deserved, and the Raiders players deserve all the happiness they’re enjoying in his aftermath.
The Ravens were embarking into a brave new world where they’d embrace the passing game like never before, and Rashod Bateman was supposed to be at the center of it, with rookie Zay Flowers being allowed room to grow and Odell Beckham able to take his time in returning from a lengthy spell out of the game. Instead, Bateman has averaged a miserable 5.0 PPR points, failing to hit double-digit points in a single game this year and topping 50 yards on only one occasion. The promise of Bateman as a prospect makes him hard to drop, but the production makes it a very straightforward choice.
Rashod Bateman is getting more separation than anyone in the league. https://t.co/I5URffv7yi
— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) December 14, 2023
The Chiefs’ Wide Receivers
Speaking of drops… the Chiefs wide receiver room, outside of Rashee Rice, has been nothing but a letdown a year after they Moneyballed their way to their Super Bowl, finding performances from receivers at different times in the year and being able to let Travis Kelce create magic when called upon. Rice is the only wide receiver in Kansas City to have a top-12 finish, with the rest combining for a paltry five touchdowns through 15 games, a number that just doesn’t seem fathomable with Mahomes at quarterback.
Joe Douglas (GM – NYJ)
You can’t be all in if the removal of one piece causes your fortunes to crumble like a Jenga tower. This is something that Joe Douglas has learned the hard way in the wake of Aaron Rodgers‘ torn Achilles. Douglas, and to an extent, Robert Saleh’s misplaced trust in Zach Wilson led this talented roster to crash and burn in another season of misery for Jets fans. Douglas also lands on the naughty side of this list for giving Rodgers far too much rope to hang the organization with. Signings of Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and Dalvin Cook have been complete failures, and despite the talent of Garrett Wilson, it already sounds like the Jets will try to acquire Davante Adams instead of perhaps considering they might need an offensive line if they’re serious about winning games.
Rookies should be given time to grow into the NFL and refine their game, but you’ve got to catch the ball when it’s right there in your hands. It’s fair to say the fortunes of the Chargers might be slightly different right now if THAT pass had been caught.
How did Quentin Johnston drop this…
pic.twitter.com/CoG6UKIw94— NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) November 19, 2023
Nice
Sean Payton (HC – DEN)
It could have gone very differently in Denver this year, with Russell Wilson‘s ‘unique’ personality providing many people with difficulties in the workplace, but Sean Payton has worked to make the offense a cohesive one that pulls from both his scheme and allows Wilson the occasional freelancing to make a big play. Payton has restored Wilson as a top-24 QB in dynasty leagues, made him fantasy-relevant in single-QB leagues and helped Courtland Sutton become a consistent and fun player for fantasy. Questions remain about whether the Broncos want to stay saddled up to Wilson’s large contract, but we’ve at least seen that Sean Payton can keep the magic going without Drew Brees.
Even the most arduous of Trey Lance fans knew that the writing was on the wall for Lance this summer as soon as Brock Purdy started throwing again. Purdy was simply the right man for the right system last year, but he’s grown and evolved within this Shanahan system to be the best quarterback we’ve seen play it. Purdy was one of the best draft picks this summer and has helped Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey all have excellent years, even if George Kittle has lacked some of the magic from previous years.
The full list of quarterbacks in NFL history with multiple touchdown passes and no interceptions in at least six of their first 15 career starts, per the Packers’ dope sheet:
Brock Purdy
Dan Marino
Jordan Love— zach jacobson (@itszacharyj) December 19, 2023
The quarterback average draft position (ADP) was pushed up higher than we’ve seen in recent years, but there is no doubt that Josh Allen has paid it off and then some, averaging 23.1 points per game and finishing inside the top-12 on 10 occasions. Allen’s 11 rushing touchdowns are second only to Jalen Hurts, and his 398 rushing yards are the fifth-most among quarterbacks. This is the time of year when Josh Allen shines for fantasy football with his hero-ball attitude, and it’s simply great to see.
The Miami backfield was a mess coming into the year, with Jeff Wilson younger than Mostert and equally able to flash at times, and De’Von Achane was viewed as exciting but probably too small to deal with all the touches. Nobody expected 31-year-old Raheem Mostert to crank out 20 touchdowns in 15 games when, in the rest of his career, he’d scored 17 combined. Mostert was one of the best picks in fantasy drafts and has rewarded fantasy managers all year long.
Likewise, Kyren Williams has also been one of the very best pickups this year, showing enough in training camp that the Rams jettisoned Cam Akers out of L.A. for good and turned over everything to Williams in a way the Rams simply haven’t done since the hay days of Todd Gurley. Williams has been a top-nine RB in 70% of his games this year, with six real difference-making 20+ point games. We’ve seen running backs with low draft capital disappear on us before, so it might not be a long-term thing for Williams, but for now, we can very much enjoy his abilities.
Kyren Williams is 4th in the NFL in rushing yards (953) and he missed 4 games.
After Sunday’s 152-yard performance, he’s now 1st in rushing yards per game (95.3). Christian McCaffrey (92.3) is the only other player averaging more than 78 yards per game.
— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) December 19, 2023
It seemed like it might be an uphill struggle for Tyjae Spears in the NFL after it was revealed that he straight-up had no ACLs left after dealing with knee issues in college, but Spears has impressed when called upon. When Derrick Henry was dealing with a suspected concussion against the Colts, the Titans put the ball in the hands of Spears and rode him like a three-down workhorse. In 2024, the Titans will likely have moved on from Spears, and we’ve seen everything we need to have faith in drafting Spears for next year.
Rookie Tight Ends
Sam LaPorta and even Dalton Kincaid to an extent, have both pushed back on the narrative that rookie tight ends can’t produce in the NFL for fantasy purposes. LaPorta has been a top-ten option in nine of his games this year and leads all tight ends in touchdowns. Kincaid has struggled when Dawson Knox is healthy, but looks like the real deal and has served as a reminder that it’s okay to draft these players when the path to production is a short one.
Not many people expected Baker Mayfield to be playing perhaps the best football of his career on his fourth team in the last two years, but here we are with Mayfield making the most of his time in Tampa to reestablish himself as a starter in the NFL. Mayfield particularly deserves to be on this list for helping Mike Evans to have one of his best seasons in years and Rachaad White has found himself as a top-10 running back who continues to thrive in the receiving game.
Never thought i’d say this but THANK GOD for Baker Mayfield… By far the best QB in the NFC South:
Mayfield – 24 TDs 8 INTs
Carr – 16 TDs 7 INTs
Ridder – 10 TDs 10 INTs
Young – 9 TDs 9 INTsAnd at $4Million + incentives contract, what a steal! pic.twitter.com/0al0cFnL3T
— The Dynasty Grill (@FFDynastyGrill) December 19, 2023
The last time that Keenan Allen finished as a top-five PPR wide receiver was in 2017, when Allen was 25 years old, but now, at the age of 31, he’s on the cusp of finishing as the WR3, despite the Chargers offense spluttering this year. Allen has been Mr. Reliable with nine games over 14 points, and only one game in single-digit PPR points all year. Chargers fans haven’t got a whole lot to feel happy about, but Allen is definitely someone who has put a smile on their face this year.
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