2023 Fantasy Football Busts (Aug. 28):
This is a list of my top 2023 fantasy football busts – players you should avoid unless they fall far in your draft. The Average Draft Position (ADP) is found on FantasyPros.com. I was dead on with some of my busts over the past four years. My top busts for 2019 were Antonio Brown and Todd Gurley. I had some misses as well, but Brown and Gurley were two players I didn’t want to select in the top three rounds. In 2021, I asked everyone to avoid Saquon Barkley and Myles Gaskin, though there were two misses. As for 2022, I said to avoid J.K. Dobbins, Ezekiel Elliott, and David Montgomery, though I whiffed on Josh Jacobs.
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Najee Harris, RB, Steelers. ADP: 3.02.
Najee Harris was worse than Jaylen Warren last year. I thought this may have been because of injury, but this continued to be the case in the first two preseason games. There’s a good chance Harris will lose a lot of work to Warren.
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D’Andre Swift, RB, Eagles. ADP: 6.07.
Are you kidding me with this ADP? How many times will people be fooled by D’Andre Swift? Swift always gets hurt, and he’s currently behind Kenneth Gainwell in the running back pecking order.
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Breece Hall, RB, Jets. ADP: 4.10.
I love Breece Hall as a player, but he’s coming off a torn ACL. I don’t trust running backs and receivers returning from this injury. It’s not a guarantee that Hall will struggle, but history suggests he will.
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Javonte Williams, RB, Broncos. ADP: 5.10.
Like Breece Hall, Javonte Williams is a talented running back who is coming off a torn ACL. It doesn’t sound like Williams will be ready for the season opener, so I couldn’t ever imagine drafting him in Rounds 5-6 this year.
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Cooper Kupp, WR, Rams. ADP: 1.08.
Cooper Kupp is visiting with a “noted body specialist” to “better understand his hamstring issue.” Uh oh. This obviously doesn’t sound very good. Given this news, it’s very difficult to justify drafting Kupp in the first round.
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Aaron Jones, RB, Packers. ADP: 4.03.
Aaron Jones’ touchdown totals will almost certainly drop in the wake of Aaron Rodgers’ departure. We’ll need to see how “No Cookie” Jordan Love performs, but it’s not likely that he’ll be able to boost Jones as much as Rodgers did. Besides, A.J. Dillon will continue to eat into Jones’ workload.
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Deebo Samuel, WR, 49ers. ADP: 4.04.
Deebo Samuel is a great player in real life, but he’s overrated when it comes to fantasy football. This wasn’t always the case, but his weekly touches declined in the wake of the Christian McCaffrey trade. He’s going way too early for my liking.
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Mark Andrews, TE, Ravens. ADP: 3.03.
I love Mark Andrews as a player, but I hate where he’s being drafted. Running backs and wide receivers are so thin this year, so you can’t afford to spend such an early pick on a tight end not named Travis Kelce. Also, Andrews will lose some targets to the new receivers Baltimore acquired this offseason.
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Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, Patriots. ADP: 3.06.
Rhamondre Stevenson was appealing at the beginning of the offseason because Damien Harris departed. Stevenson’s numbers were off the charts when Harris was sidelined. However, the Patriots signed Ezekiel Elliott to steal goal-line work from Stevenson. There’s also the Bill Belichick factor, as Belichick tends to have a quick hook with his skill-position players.
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Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens. ADP: 3.08.
What I wrote about tight ends also applies to quarterbacks this year. This especially applies to Lamar Jackson, who hasn’t been able to finish the past two NFL seasons. He will also be playing behind a questionable offensive line.
More 2023 Fantasy Football Articles:
Fantasy Football Rankings
2023 Fantasy Football Rankings:
2023 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Rankings: Kickers - 5/25 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses - 5/25 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings: Dynasty - 5/10 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Mock Drafts:
2023 Fantasy Football Mock Drafts - 9/4 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets:
2023 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 PPR - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Half-PPR - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 2-QB - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Touchdown League - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Custom - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football: Dynasty Rankings - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Spreadsheets - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Articles:
2023 Fantasy Football Stock Report: OTAs, Training Camp - 9/7 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Sleepers - 8/30 (Walt)
2023 NFL Preseason Game Recaps - 8/28 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Stock Report: Preseason Games - 8/28 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Busts - 8/28 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Value Picks - 8/16 (Walt)
2023 Fantasy Football Round-by-Round Strategy Guide - 8/6 (Walt)
NFL Picks - Dec. 13
2025 NFL Mock Draft - Dec. 11
NFL Power Rankings - Dec. 9
2026 NFL Mock Draft - Nov. 29
Fantasy Football Rankings - Sept. 4
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Injured/injury risk
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Potential bust
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Potential sleeper
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Rank higher in touchdown leagues
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Rank lower in touchdown leagues
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Rank higher in PPR (points per reception) leagues
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Rank lower in PPR leagues
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