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The 2023 fantasy football season is so close you can almost taste it. Owners and fans of the sport are counting the minutes until the first pigskin kickoff on September 7.
One of the toughest decisions fantasy players have to make every year before their drafts is deciding between two similar options. In this column, I will help you decide whether to draft Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson or Jets QB Aaron Rodgers.
Which player offers more upside? Which guy gives you a better chance of winning a fantasy championship?
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Will Anthony Richardson or Aaron Rodgers Be a Better Fantasy Football QB in 2023?
Are you the type of fantasy manager who likes risk? Or are you the kind that plays it safe and usually takes the road with fewer caution signs?
Depending on which journey you take, each outcome will unquestionably be different. Picking future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers with a new cast of weapons around him in New York means you'd be getting (in all likelihood) a solid and perhaps even above-average fantasy signal-caller in 2023. We know he can put up big numbers, and when motivated, he has MVP potential.
If you choose Plan B (the Colts rookie), your ceiling is much higher. The production has the chance to be much greater than the former Packer. But does this road have too much risk in the player's first season? Let's dig deeper.
Who Should I Draft?
If you aren't lucky enough to get Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, or Jalen Hurts as your leading man this season, don't go jumping off any cliffs thinking you're in big trouble. You might not be getting elite production at that position, but take a deep breath, you're going to be just fine. Fantasy players should feel confident drafting either Richardson or Rodgers in 2023.
The fourth overall draft selection this year was the young 21-year-old phenom out of the University of Florida who dazzled fans before turning pro. Unless you are lucky enough to own a crystal ball, you don't know how good he will be at the NFL level. However, if he meets half the expectations that are being placed on him, the road to Canton, Ohio might just be part of his future travel plans.
Richardson, one of the youngest team captains in the history of the Colts franchise, has the potential to be a top-five QB in fantasy football in his first season in the league. He's that good. With that said, there have been plenty of "star" quarterbacks who have come out of college before but never turned into the great legends many were hoping for.
His ceiling is much higher than Rodgers, but the four-time NFL MVP and 39-year-old legend is not someone fantasy owners should sleep on this season. Yes, he's joining a new team, but no, he hasn't lost that magical arm. In fact, he's gained a plethora of new weapons in a system that should help him provide very solid fantasy numbers in 2023.
When you head into your draft room in the coming week and you are in need of a quarterback, the man to pick is the kid with the big arm who runs like the wind. Rodgers will very rarely put up bad weeks this year, but he will also almost never wow you with eye-popping fantasy production in one single week.
With Jonathan Taylor's availability in question and wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. as the only real option for Richardson, the young gunslinger is going to be 90% of the Colts' offense for the immediate future. He might hit some rookie walls early on, but I expect big things from him in 2023. Things almost as big as his throwing arm.
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