Who is the No. 1 Overall Pick for 2023 Fantasy Football? Making The Case for Josh Jacobs

January 23, 2023

Is Josh Jacobs the No. 1 overall pick for 2023 fantasy football? Should I pick Josh Jacobs as the first pick in 2023 fantasy football drafts? Read the fantasy football outlook here.

Your team was likely a title contender if you drafted Josh Jacobs in the late-fourth round this past year. Jacobs was the 20th running back drafted on average this fantasy football season. He finished as the highest-scoring back in standard-scoring leagues and the third-highest-scoring back in 0.5 PPR and PPR formats.

The most eager owners are getting ready for next year's fantasy football drafts and are beginning to assemble data to determine who some of the top picks and players might be.

Does Josh Jacobs possess enough upside to warrant drafting him as the first pick in 2023? Let's examine this further.

How Did Josh Jacobs Perform in Fantasy Football This Season?

The 24-year-old from Alabama carried the ball a career-high 340 times for a career-high 1,653 yards in Josh McDaniels' first year as Vegas's head coach.

Jacobs led the league with 2,053 yards from scrimmage and ran for 12 touchdowns this year. The soon-to-be free agent fielded 64 targets for the second-consecutive season and corraled 53 of them for 400 yards through the air.

2022's leading rusher finished as a weekly top-10 running back nine times this year. Jacobs cooled off at the end of the year, leaving his managers up to dry in the playoffs. He averaged 11.4 points per game over the final four weeks of the season.

Is Josh Jacobs The No. 1 Pick For 2023 Fantasy Football?

With more than seven months to go before fantasy owners decide who their top pick will be in 2023, there will be plenty of ongoing debates about who deserves the top crown. The elite names included in these discussions for the 2023 draft are Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, Christian McCaffrey, Cooper Kupp, Austin Ekeler, Ja'Marr Chase, Saquon Barkley, and even tight end Travis Kelce.

But which one should be chosen before all else? Depending on your league's format, there may be different answers to that question. Jacobs turns 25 next month and is expected to sign elsewhere this offseason. His 2023 fantasy football outlook is critically dependent on where he will play next year.

If Josh Jacobs returns to the Raiders next year, he will repeat as a high-volume runner with a strong chance of finishing as a top-five running back. Regardless of where he goes, Jacobs is a great running back that can do it all, but he shouldn't be the first back off of most 2023 fantasy draft boards.

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