2023 Fantasy Football All-Disappointment Team: Patrick Mahomes, Cooper Kupp, Kyle Pitts and More

Expectations are unfair. Look at what we expect of a guy like Dak Prescott, only to chastise him for not doing enough when he has MVP-level stats. Every professional athlete has already made it; they don’t need to answer to us.

That doesn’t stop us from placing expected levels of performance on them, though, and stars fail to live up to fantasy hype because of matchups, game circumstance, or any number of things out of their control.

I put together an All-Pro Fantasy Disappointment Team, choosing a starting lineup (1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, and 1 TE) of players who failed to deliver in 2023. I tried to not use players who missed a lot of games with injury, but some of the guys below missed time and/or were affected by injury when they played. That’s just the nature of the NFL beast; people are going to get hurt.

I compared ESPN’s preseason PPR draft rankings and PPR fantasy point totals from Fantasy Pros to help identify players who were drafted early and finished outside of the starters at their position. I cross-referenced those with our FantasySP draft bust page, a great tool to check out to see how your picks stacked up to expectations.

All fantasy points and rankings mentioned below reference Fantasy Pros. Unless otherwise noted, every ranking is in PPR format.

 

Quarterback

Candidates: Trevor Lawrence, JAC; All Injured Players

The injuries loom large here. Kirk Cousins started great but played only eight games. Joe Burrow started slow because of a preseason injury, then he went down for the season once he regained form. Kyler Murray, Daniel Jones and Deshaun Watson all missed extended time. Justin Fields and Justin Herbert joined them.

That’s a lot of guys with productive fantasy pasts with missed games. All of that was very disappointing, but again, that’s football.

Looking outside of the injured, Lawrence is my runner up. He was supposed to take the leap to weekly-starter status after a big finish to last season. Instead, Lawrence was a top-10 quarterback in only five weeks and finished as QB13.

Winner: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

It won’t matter much to Mahomes and the Chiefs after winning handily in the Wild Card Round, but the superstar quarterback’s numbers were down across the board. He had his least passing yards and passing touchdowns since 2019 (when he played just 14 games) and threw the most interceptions of his career.

Mahomes will be fine, but the lesson here comes in comparing him to the other two quarterbacks drafted at the top. Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts were drafted in the second or third round of fantasy drafts along with Mahomes; Allen and Hurts finished first and second among fantasy QBs; Mahomes was QB8. That's not a complete disaster, but owners drafted a middling quarterback instead of Travis Etienne or A.J. Brown.

Those two have sustained running ability that Mahomes doesn’t possess. While he had a career-high 389 rushing yards this season, Mahomes didn’t get into the end zone. Allen and Hurts each ran for over 500 yards and scored 15 touchdowns apiece (you’re reading that right: They both ran in 15 scores).

Rushing production is the most stable asset for quarterbacks, and Hurts and Allen are most likely to repeat their performances near the top. While Mahomes’ receivers let him down, the other two made their own luck with their legs.

 

Running Back

Candidates: Josh Jacobs, LV; Tony Pollard, DAL; Alexander Mattison, MIN

Injuries took down Nick Chubb and J.K. Dobbins early, two guys who could have easily been near the top of the fantasy RB board. Not much we can do about that, though. Rhamondre Stevenson, a good candidate here, also missed a big chunk to injury.

Pollard and Jacobs both played on the Franchise Tag at a time when running backs are (rightly) valued lower by the league than they see themselves. This season shouldn’t do anything to earn a big payday for either.

(As a Raiders fan, I have a vested interest in the Raiders NOT extending Jacobs with a big contract. Running back contracts don’t age well, especially for a player who has had exactly one good season in five tries.)

Pollard and Jacobs were both drafted among the top 10 running backs; Pollard finished as RB14 (a mild disappointment, but furthered by the offensive success of the Cowboys) and Jacobs RB28. Mattison was drafted near the 20th running back but had upside as a player taking over a fulltime starting role. He fell way short of all expectations and finished as RB38.

Winners: Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers; Miles Sanders, Carolina Panthers

Let’s take care of Sanders first because that one is quick. After excelling with the Eagles last season (finishing in the top 15 in both standard and PPR), Sanders signed on to take over as the clear lead back in Carolina.

Outside of Philly’s cushy offense, Sanders cratered and lost the starting job to Chuba Hubbard before the halfway point of the season. Sanders was only drafted around the 20th running back, but, like Mattison, there was a ton of upside around the opportunity. Sanders finished as RB52.

While I am focusing away from injuries, Ekeler was heavily affected after returning from a high ankle sprain suffered in Week 1. He had 164 total yards and a touchdown before the injury, then missed the next three games through the Week 5 bye.

After 26.4 PPR points in the opening game, Ekeler never hit that mark again and topped 20 points just twice. He only missed those three games, but Ekeler was seriously limited after returning. He never hit 70 rushing yards and topped 50 receiving yards just once after his injury.

He was the first or second back taken in most leagues, so a finish as RB26 is devastating. Owners who drafted Ekeler with their first pick were likely struggling all season.

 

Wide Receiver

Candidates: Garrett Wilson, NYJ; Davante Adams, LV; Tee Higgins, CIN

Justin Jefferson was the top pick in many leagues but lost most of his season to injury; there’s not much more to say. I originally had Adams as a “Winner” at this position because of his lows. While inconsistent, he was still WR10 in PPR and WR14 in standard, so how much of a disappointment was it really?

Higgins was affected by injury and had to deal with Burrow’s struggles with health and effectiveness. All included, Higgins reached double-digit PPR points in only five weeks in 2023. He was WR51. No matter the circumstance, he highly disappointed owners.

Wilson’s upside was swept out from under him when Aaron Rodgers went down on the fourth snap of the season. Many thought that Wilson would become the new Adams; he looked good doing his thing, but New York’s quarterback play was too weak for any hope of All-Pro heights.

It will be interesting to see how Wilson is valued going into next season: Will we see the superstar heights or the Zach-Wilson-lows?

Winners: Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins; Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams

I feel vindicated with Waddle and Higgins: They were both being drafted near the 10th wide receiver, and I said that was too high for any team’s WR2. While that isn’t a steadfast rule, it was true for these two this season.

Waddle had to deal with Tyreek Hill setting record paces most of the season. The main concern with a second option is that there just won’t be enough to go around. It’s a problem for talented guys, like Devonta Smith in Philadelphia, and the Puka Nacua/Kupp dynamic next preseason.

Injuries factored into Kupp’s struggles as well, but it’s a real question as to whether the former Super Bowl MVP will ever approach his top form again. Kupp will turn 31 this offseason. We will probably view Nacua as a WR1 going into next season and Kupp as a WR2.

Waddle finished as WR34 and Kupp WR40.

 

Tight End

Candidates: Dallas Goedert, PHI; Pat Freiermuth, PIT

Freiermuth missed a few games, but he was a non-factor when he did play. He only topped three catches and 44 yards once (an outlier nine-catch, 120-yard performance in Week 12). A player drafted as a starting fantasy tight end was anonymous.

Goedert had his moments, but it was an inconsistent season. He finished outside the top 10 in both total fantasy points and average points per game, showing it wasn’t just his injury that caused a disappointing season.

Winner: Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons

This is more about the Falcons and how offensive play caller Arthur Smith used his weapons. Middling veteran Jonnu Smith received 70 targets to Pitts’ 90, a split far too even given the pedigrees of the players.

Regardless of the reasons, Pitts finished as TE13 in both standard and PPR despite being drafted near the fifth tight end. Atlanta fired Arthur Smith, and the next offensive coordinator/head coach is likely to use Atlanta’s talented skill players more. I see Pitts as a bounce-back candidate depending on how the offseason plays out.