Underrated Fantasy Football Players for Each NFC North Team in 2023
Josh Frey
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As the NFL season gets closer and closer, you may be wondering what players to draft for your fantasy football league this season. Well, we here at PurplePTSD have you covered in that department. Today, we are going to go over a few of the more underrated fantasy football players, picking one player from each NFC North team to keep an eye on in 2023. In order to do so, we took a look at the draft rankings from CBS Sports, ESPN, The Ringer, and Yahoo! Sports.
Chicago Bears: TE Cole Kmet
- CBS Sports: TE16
- ESPN: TE13
- The Ringer: TE14
- Yahoo! Sports: TE13
In 2021, Cole Kmet burst onto the scene by recording 60 receptions for 612 yards. However, he didn’t produce enough in the TD department to be considered a true fantasy football threat. That changed in 2022, though, as he again had 50 receptions for 544 yards, but this time, he also added 7 TDs, third among tight ends behind just Travis Kelce and George Kittle.
Justin Fields has loved throwing to Kmet over the course of his young career, and while some of the open field targets may now go to a bolstered WR room, the tight end should remain a huge piece of their offense near the goal-line, especially without David Montgomery in the backfield (more on him in a bit).
Another feather in Kmet’s cap is his health. The tight end has never missed a game over the course of his career, which is something that cannot be said of some the big name tight ends in recent years (Mark Andrew, Kittle, Darren Waller). As long as he continues to stay healthy, Kmet should be a top 10 fantasy TE once again in 2023.
Detroit Lions: RB David Montgomery
- CBS Sports: RB23
- ESPN: RB26
- The Ringer: RB28
- Yahoo! Sports: RB23
For years, David Montgomery has been running behind an offensive line that ranked among one of the worst in the NFL while playing for below-average quarterbacks. Even still, he managed to put up 1000+ yards from scrimmage and 6+ TDs in each of his first four NFL seasons in Chicago.
Now, he becomes the bell cow RB for a Detroit Lions offense that has arguably the best offensive line in the entire NFL along with a high-flying passing offense that will force defenses to watch for play-action at all times.
Even further, the team seems to plan on using 12th overall pick Jahmyr Gibbs, at least on occasion, as a WR, meaning especially down near the goal-line, all touches will be going Montgomery’s way.
Green Bay Packers: TE Luke Musgrave
- CBS Sports: TE28
- ESPN: Not ranked
- The Ringer: Not ranked
- Yahoo! Sports: TE30
The Packers selected a pair of tight ends in this spring’s draft, and while Tucker Kraft will certainly play a role with the team, one has to think the bulk of the TE targets will go to Luke Musgrave, who runs like a gazelle at the position. With both Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis off the roster as well, and young QB Jordan Love likely needing a safety blanket at all times during his first season as a starter, the new Packers TE should get plenty of chances.
Even if you don’t think Musgrave will be the one that garners the majority of the TE targets, Kraft can be had for a very low price right now as well. He did not crack into any of the TE rankings from the four sites that were used. One of these players will emerge as a starter in training camp, and their stock will inevitably rise, so jump on either Musgrave or Kraft now.
Minnesota Vikings: QB Kirk Cousins
- CBS Sports: QB13
- ESPN: QB13
- The Ringer: QB13
- Yahoo! Sports: QB13
Across the board, it seems that folks agree on one thing in fantasy football: Kirk Cousins is the 13th-best quarterback. This is an interesting consensus, considering Cousins has finished within the top-10 of fantasy scoring among QBs four times since becoming a full-time starter in 2015, and he was seventh during the 2022 season.
Say what you will about Cousins leading teams to victories on the field, but he is a very viable fantasy quarterback. He has eight consecutive seasons of 3500+ passing yards and 25+ passing TDs, and he is yet to miss a game because of injury. You don’t run the risk of having a quarterback that could be out on any given week with Cousins, and considering the lack of value that is apparently placed on him heading into 2023, he can be had at a very low price right now in most leagues.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.