Buckle up, simmer down, and bring out the tissues! We are halfway through the NFL season, and over halfway through the 2023 fantasy football campaign. While there are certain trends the audience can predict, the NFL is an unpredictable game decided by inches. In other words, it’s the greatest reality show to grace the airwaves every season and we are indebted to its stranglehold over our fantasy teams.
With that being said, let’s rank the greatest fantasy football surprises this year!
3. Fantasy Football Surprise- Jahmyr Gibbs vs David Montgomery
The “fight” between these two running backs in Detroit has been causing fantasy chaos for owners around the league. For context, the Detroit Lions used the 12th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to select Alabama RB Jahmyr Gibbs. Writers, analysts, and managers took notice, as the team had also signed former NFC North opponent David Montgomery from the Chicago Bears. That didn’t stop league owners across the fantasy landscape, as Gibbs shot up the draft boards across platforms.
However, to everyone’s chagrin, the Lions opted to roll with veteran David Montgomery for the majority of the year. It wasn’t until Montgomery’s recent injury that pushed Gibbs out into the fantasy spotlight, where people have been waiting with open arms. Even then, we don’t know if the former Iowa State Cyclones’ return to the lineup will put Gibbs back in his original place. As we’ve discussed previously, the fantasy football RB emergency has left managers everywhere watching this saga with bated breath.
Frustratingly, Montgomery has been dominating red zone touches and, by extension, the number of touchdowns between the two. In fact, Montgomery has six trips to the proverbial “paydirt”, whereas his counterpart has only two scores so far. Due to injury, Gibbs was able to take advantage of Montgomery’s absence and beat his total yardage output. However, the fact that fantasy managers still don’t know what to expect upon Montgomery’s return is what leads us to rank this as the third-best fantasy football surprise of 2023.
2. Fantasy Football Surprise- Las Vegas Raiders Saga
Where to begin? The Las Vegas Raiders were looking to improve in Josh McDaniels’ sophomore season with the franchise but were regressing instead of progressing. Under his watch, the team was 29th in total points scored and DEAD LAST in rushing yards per game. With bonafide stars like Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs at the wide receiver and running back, respectively, there should be no excuses for this lack of offensive potency.
Due to injury, the Raiders were forced to put veteran Brian Hoyer and rookie Aidan O’Connell behind the center to little success. One of the offseason’s biggest question marks, and by extension, appetizing prospects was the addition of Jimmy Garoppolo to the Raiders. But, fantasy managers everywhere seemingly knew the injury history of Garoppolo, paired with the questionable success of McDaniels as a head coach was a recipe for disaster in fantasy football. In fact, Derek Carr leaving for the Saints increased his ADP across multiple platforms.
With the recent shakeup throughout the organization, it’s a mystery what will happen in Vegas now. Sin City certainly got a lot happier with the recent firings, and players weren’t afraid to share their relief. The fact that this offense and these certified fantasy studs have been less than underwhelming, to say the least, landed them as the second-highest fantasy football surprise this year.
1. Fantasy Football Surprise- Shortage of Viable RBs in Fantasy Football
As the headline suggested, there’s a shortage of viable running backs in the fantasy football ecosystem this year. It crept up on everyone this year, but looking back, it has been years in the making. Oh, where to begin? It’s hard to find footing in such a volatile landscape.
Injuries, contract situations, and offensive schemes have run the fantasy running back situation amuck with confusion. Each week seems like a gamble. To be fair, it’s hard to predict what will happen with the prevalence of injuries and that, the Tweet (or the X/whatever Elon is now calling it?) points out, pre-drafted RB3s are outperforming RB2s this season. At least, so far.
The prevalence of committee backfields is a side effect of both offensive scheming and contract situations for the RB position, as a whole. For example, Josh Jacobs and Jonathan Taylor both had contract disputes with their teams earlier this offseason. In Taylor’s case, it spilled into the season and even involved a trade request that was later solved with a big payout. The fact that running backs have a limited shelf life has left the NFL ripe with committees, which is making fantasy harder for the RB community to gauge consistent starters at the position. Who knows what the second half of the season holds for a position group that is riddled with injuries, contract disputes, and committee backfields via offensive scheming?
What Was Your Biggest Fantasy Football Surprise?
Each year it seems that the NFL outdoes itself in keeping fantasy managers on their toes. Do you think we missed something in our fantasy football surprises this year? Will this list change in the second half of the year? Let us know! Leave us a comment anywhere on Twitter (X), Facebook, Instagram, etc. about your thoughts! Additionally, join our Fantasy Football by Committee group on Facebook to directly interact with us! We are trying to build the greatest fantasy football community on the internet and are craving your interaction!
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