Fantasy Football: winners and losers from 2023 NFL Draft

Wide Receivers

Treylon Burks, Titans

The Titans made a questionable move during the 2022 Draft in trading away wide receiver A.J. Brown to the Eagles. Their solution was drafting another wide receiver with Alpha size in the Draft. At no. 18 overall, they drafted Treylon Burks. Burks mostly struggled with the Titans while Brown without a doubt thrived with the Eagles in 2022. Burks had large expectations and shoes to fill for a rookie, which was no fault of his own. Burks struggled due in large part to missing off-season training, being injured mid-season, and playing games with backup quarterbacks Malik Willis and Josh Dobbs when Ryan Tannehill was injured.  However, he did show flashes, including one game with 7 receptions and 111 yards.

The Titans’ war room believed in Burks’ talent during the Draft in 2022. Even after some front office and coaching changes, it appears the war room believed in it again in 2023. The Titans didn’t draft a wide receiver in this year’s draft until the 7th round. With Robert Woods also being cut, Burks should have no problem taking over as the team’s top wide receiver. He can expect to catch passes from Ryan Tannehill, and maybe no. 33 pick Will Levis, this season. With a new offensive coordinator, there are still unknowns about this offense, but there’s a lot of potential upside. Treylon Burks, who finished as a WR2 (top-24) in 3 weeks out of 10 full games, could finish as a WR2 in 2023.

Honorable mention: Cooper Kupp, Rams (The Rams didn’t draft a WR in the 2023 Draft until the 5th round, drafted QB Stetson Bennett in 4th round)

Tight Ends

Darren Waller, Giants

Oh yeah, that’s right. Darren Waller is on the Giants now. The Giants outperformed expectations in 2022, and have hopes of improving and building off of their success. One of their pitfalls last season was their pass-catching group. One of the ways they addressed this was trading for former Raiders tight end Darren Waller. Coincidentally, they traded away the pick they received from the Chiefs when trading him to the Chiefs. The end of a short-lived era. As far as Waller’s last era, he had two seasons with over 1,100 receiving yards. In one of those two seasons, he had 107 receptions and 9 touchdowns.

We are watching the evolution of the tight end position happen right before our eyes. Travis Kelce (see below), Mark Andrews (see next page), Kyle Pitts, and Darren Waller are examples of tight ends that can be the top pass catcher on their team. The Giants added Paris Campbell via free agency and Jalin Hyatt via 3rd round of the 2023 Draft. While the Daniel Jones contract and play style complicates things, the team did not add a top free agent wide receiver or draft a top wide receiver prospect, which leads me to believe Waller is a bigger part of their plan this upcoming season. Darren Waller, who finished as a top-5 TE in his last two healthy seasons mentioned, should have no problem finishing as a TE1 (top-12) again in 2023 if he stays healthy.

Honorable mention: Dallas Goedert, Eagles (no WRs or TEs drafted in 2023 Draft)