Fantasy Football's Pro Bowl: Celebrating the Top Performers of the Season

Fantasy Football's Pro Bowl: Celebrating the Top Performers of the Season

Pro Bowl voting is underway in the NFL, as fans, players and coaches will all get the opportunity to vote on which players deserve recognition for outstanding regular season play. Strong real-life performance often correlates with strong performance in fantasy, but it's not an exact one-to-one comparison, so let's acknowledge this year's top fantasy performers by picking three players per position as this year's most deserving Fantasy Football Pro Bowlers. Postseason accomplishments don't factor into NFL Pro Bowl votes, so the Fantasy Football Pro Bowl picks will be based on performance through Week 15, before most fantasy leagues hold their playoff semifinals and finals in Weeks 16 and 17.  

*All fantasy point totals below are based on ESPN's default PPR scoring, with six points for a rushing or receiving TD and four for a passing TD.  

Quarterback

Josh Allen, 323.4 fantasy points: Allen has been a better fantasy QB than real-life QB in 2023, but that's just fine with his fantasy managers. While his 14 interceptions are second-most in the NFL, Allen's proclivity for turning the ball over has been overshadowed by his dual-threat skill set. He has recorded both a passing and rushing touchdown on 10 different occasions this season, which is an NFL record. 

Jalen Hurts, 313.6 fantasy points: There are few better feelings in fantasy than being a Hurts manager who just watched a pass interference penalty in the end zone or saw an Eagles player get tackled at the 1-yard line. You know what's coming next, as does the defense, and yet it works nearly without fail anyway. Whether you call it the "tush push," "brotherly shove" or simply "6.1 fantasy points," the result is the same, as Hurts takes the ball over the goal line himself for a 1-yard rushing TD. His 14 rushing scores have helped Hurts make up for a pedestrian 19:12 TD:INT through the air and score the second-most fantasy points among QBs through 15 weeks. 

Brock Purdy, 275.6 fantasy points: Purdy has been outscored slightly by Dak Prescott (278.8 fantasy points), but given the lower costs of acquiring Purdy via draft or trade, the San Francisco QB gets the nod here. Prescott has also had three low-floor games with 6.32 or fewer fantasy points, while Purdy has scored in single digits only once. Purdy leads the NFL with 29 passing TDs and is second behind Tua Tagovailoa with 3,795 passing yards, and he's accomplished all this on just 384 pass attempts — exactly 100 fewer than Prescott. 

Running Back

Christian McCaffrey, 353.1 fantasy points: McCaffrey leads all players in fantasy points this season. The versatile running back can do it all, and playing for the high-powered San Francisco offense has afforded McCaffrey plenty of scoring opportunities. He's tied for the league lead with 20 scrimmage TDs. 

Raheem Mostert, 255.7 fantasy points: Mostert shares the scrimmage TD lead with McCaffrey, as Miami's top RB has scored 18 times on the ground and twice through the air. In what has been a down year in general for the position, Mostert has scored the second-most fantasy points among RBs while providing excellent value relative to pre-draft expectations. He hasn't skipped a beat since the return of fellow Dolphins RB De'Von Achane from a knee injury, as Mostert has seven rushing TDs in his last four games. 

Kyren Williams, 208.5 fantasy points: Williams missed four games with an ankle injury, but his average of 20.9 fantasy points per game is second only to McCaffrey's 25.2 FPPG among RBs. Williams was placed on IR during his absence, which also made it easier to replace him, as many leagues have an additional IR spot you can use instead of having to waste a bench spot. Even without an IR spot, Williams has been well worth stashing, and this is a player you could get in the later rounds or even on waivers early in the season. Alvin Kamara (19.8 FPPG in 11 games) has a similar case, but Williams has been slightly better when available and had a lower acquisition cost.

Wide Receiver

Tyreek Hill, 322.7 fantasy points: Like McCaffrey at RB, this one's a no-doubter. Even after missing Miami's last game with an ankle injury, Hill still leads all WRs in fantasy points. He's the league leader in both receiving yards (1,542) and receiving TDs (12) and is still in position to challenge Calvin Johnson's single-season record of 1,964 receiving yards. 

CeeDee Lamb, 302.3 fantasy points: Lamb hasn't missed a game this season and ranks second behind Hill in both total fantasy points and average fantasy points among WRs (Lamb's at 21.6 to Hill's 24.8). He ranks second in catches (103), third in receiving yards (1,306) and fifth in receiving TDs (eight). Lamb also has two rushing TDs, which is tied with Jayden Reed for second-most among WRs behind Deebo Samuel's five. 

Keenan Allen, 278.9 fantasy points: Like Hill, Allen did enough through 14 weeks to make up for missing Week 15. (Sorry to all of you who started your fantasy playoffs last week.) He's third in both total and average fantasy points among WRs, trailing Lamb's 21.6 FPPG by a hair at 21.5. Even with the missed game, Allen is the league leader in receptions with 108, and he threw a 49-yard touchdown pass as well. A.J. Brown (266.4 fantasy points) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (252.8 fantasy points) aren't far behind, but Allen has the best overall case for the third spot in a season that saw many big names at WR live up to lofty expectations. 

Tight End

Travis Kelce, 205.4 fantasy points: It doesn't feel like it given preseason expectations, but Kelce's still the best performing TE in fantasy football on a per-game basis. After missing Week 1, he has averaged 15.8 fantasy points in 13 subsequent appearances. Kelce's 924 receiving yards lead all TEs, as he needs just 76 more yards to reach 1,000 for the eighth consecutive season. While there have certainly been better values at his position this year, Taylor Swift's man isn't exactly going through a swift decline. 

Sam LaPorta, 205.2 fantasy points: So much for rookie TEs taking a while to get acclimated. LaPorta has easily been the best performer from the promising 2023 rookie tight end class. He leads all TEs with nine TDs, while nobody else at the position has scored more than six times this season. LaPorta is one of three tight ends locked in a tight race for the fantasy scoring lead at the position. 

T.J. Hockenson, 209.2 fantasy points: Last but not least, your fantasy scoring leader among TEs. Hockenson hasn't been as good as Kelce on a per-game basis and lacks the wow factor and value of LaPorta, but he has certainly been a strong contributor for his fantasy managers, especially considering that the Vikings have gone through four different starting QBs in 2023. George Kittle is a fairly distant fourth with 177.7 fantasy points, so the three Fantasy Football Pro Bowl nods at the position are fairly obvious. 

Defense/Special Teams

Cowboys D/ST, 152.0 fantasy points: The NFL Pro Bowl reserves more than half of its spots for players on defense and special teams, but even three spots may be too generous for the position in the Fantasy Football Pro Bowl. Dallas' defense has lived up to lofty preseason expectations and leads the position in fantasy points thanks to an early cushion, courtesy of 51 combined fantasy points against the Giants and Jets in Weeks 1 and 2.

Browns D/ST, 139.0 fantasy points: The Browns have scored the third-most fantasy points overall among defenses, but they have been the second-most explosive unit, as Cleveland's five games of 14-plus fantasy points are just behind Dallas' six such games. Four of those five big games have come at home, while Cleveland's three worst fantasy performances have come on the road, so astute fantasy managers who paid attention to location in addition to opponent got even better mileage out of this unit.

Ravens D/ST, 142.0 fantasy points: The Ravens haven't been as flashy as some other defenses, but they have been consistent, scoring at least seven fantasy points in all but three games while mustering four, five and six fantasy points in those other three. That high floor has helped Baltimore post the second-most fantasy points among D/ST units. Besides the three defenses listed, the Dolphins (136.0) are the only unit with more than 122 points. Miami has played better since Jalen Ramsey returned from a knee injury, but outside of 45 fantasy points in a pair of games against the Jets' third- and fourth-string QBs, the Dolphins D/ST has averaged just 8.3 FPPG in their other 11 games.

Kicker

Brandon Aubrey, 152.0 fantasy points: Aubrey and the Dallas D/ST both lead their respective positions with 152 fantasy points, so quite a few Dallas homers have likely benefited from their Cowboy-heavy approach, unlike Washington fans that went with Commanders D/ST (32.0 fantasy points, 32nd) and Joey Slye (85.0 fantasy points, 28th). Aubrey hasn't missed a FG attempt in what has been a stellar first NFL season, and his 31 made field goals are second to Dustin Hopkins' 33.

Dustin Hopkins, 144.0 fantasy points: Browns fans are a close second when it comes to benefiting from homer defense and kicker picks in fantasy. Hopkins has the most field goals made (33) and attempted (36) this season, as the Browns' elite defense has provided plenty of short fields, while the team's QB carousel hasn't exactly thrived in the red zone. There's a big drop off after the top two kickers.

Jake Elliott, 126.0 fantasy points: Elliott gets the slight edge over Justin Tucker (127.0 fantasy points) in a toss-up for the final spot. Tucker has made just one of five attempts from beyond 50 yards this season, so his fantasy value has come from Baltimore's success more so than his own, while Elliott's 7-for-8 on kicks of 50-plus yards. Elliott has scored double-digit fantasy points seven times while Tucker has six such performances.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sasha Yodashkin
Sasha has been contributing NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and Tennis content to RotoWire since 2015, with an emphasis on DFS. He is a huge New York sports fan who has been playing fantasy sports since middle school.
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