Fantasy Football Sleepers 2023: Zach Charbonnet, Tank Bigsby, Tyler Higbee, More
Getty Images. Pictured: Tank Bigsby (left) and Michael Gallup.
Sean Koerner and Chris Raybon are updating their rankings daily, and they've identified a number of fantasy football sleepers who are going under the radar in most drafts. They range from rookie running backs to former 1,000-yard receivers to an overlooked tight end.
Check out our experts' favorite fantasy football sleepers to target for 2023 below.
2023 Fantasy Sleepers
RB Zach Charbonnet
Koerner: Charbonnet could see enough receiving and goal-line work to offer RB3/flex value even when Walker is healthy. He's a smooth runner who gives me Nick Chubb vibes, and there’s a non-zero chance he could leapfrog Walker as the Seahawks’ lead back, as soon as this season.
Walker’s stock took a hit after the Seahawks selected Charbonnet in the second round of this year's draft. I still expect Walker to have a pretty long leash as the team’s lead back, but he’s going to concede quite a bit of work to Charbonnet. Some of those touches could come around the goal line, as Walker only scored on two of his 10 rush attempts inside the 5-yard line.
Walker is more of a home run-hitting back who struggled with short-yardage situations last season. He ranked last (out of 46 backs) in yards after contact and stuff rate on rush attempts with 1-3 yards to go. Charbonnet has a better skill set to handle short-yardage, goal-line work.
Like Tank Bigsby, Charbonnet has a path toward value when the Seahawks offense is fully healthy, which is hugely appealing for the rookie.
RB Tank Bigsby
Koerner: Bigsby is a third-round rookie running back who has the talent to command touches, even from a talented back like Travis Etienne. He may also be able to become the team’s goal-line option, which gives him a path to RB3/flex upside, even when Etienne is healthy. If Etienne misses time, Bigsby could offer low-end RB2 value, but I’m guessing JaMycal Hasty would inherit most of the receiving work left behind by Etienne, which would cap Bigsby’s upside.
Etienne’s ADP (RB12) appears to be closer to his ceiling (if/when Bigsby misses time), which makes him a bit of a reach as a low-end RB1. He'll likely concede a handful of touches to Bigsby, and I’m concerned some of them can be the extremely valuable goal-line variety. Etienne only scored three TDs on 13 rush attempts inside the 5-yard line. That’s 2.3 touchdowns below expected, which can either mean A) he’s due for positive TD regression this season, or B) he could potentially lose goal-line touches.
With Etienne, I’m guessing it will be a little bit of both. He’s a very talented runner, so we should see him convert more goal-line opportunities going forward, but since he’s much more of a home run-hitter type of back, Bigsby may be the better goal-line option on the team.
The fact that Bigsby could have a role in the Jaguars offense when everyone is healthy is hugely appealing. That makes him an even bigger steal at his ADP.
RB Tyler Allgeier
Raybon: Falcons RBs combined to average 26.8 carries per game last season, so Allgeier should have a chance for 8-12 touches per game and standalone flex value even with Bijan Robinson carrying a heavy load. If Robinson was to go down, Allgeier is a good bet to replicate his production from the final four weeks of last season, when he averaged 21.3 touches for 120.8 yards and 0.5 TDs.
WR Michael Gallup
Raybon: Still only 27, Gallup should bounce back now that he is more than a year removed from undergoing ACL surgery in February of 2022. Gallup never felt right last season and his numbers showed it: He averaged just 10.9 yards per reception and 30.3 yards per game last season after averaging 15.0 yards per reception and 52.8 yards per game in 55 games before tearing his ACL.
With Brandin Cooks in tow, Gallup is expected to move around the formation and run more high-percentage routes, which should also help his production.
TE Tyler Higbee
Raybon: Higbee logged an 87% snap rate last season and was fifth among tight ends with a target-per-route rate of 24.0% (min. 100 routes). In the nine games Cooper Kupp played, Higbee still maintained a 23.2% rate of targets per route.
The Rams lack proven WR depth behind Kupp and have been bottom-four in RB receptions in each of the past four years, so Higbee figures to be the No. 2 target in Sean McVay's offense and provide high-floor, low-end TE1 production.
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