In our “32 in 32” series, we are highlighting three of the most notable fantasy football players for each team, covering all 32 teams in 32 days!
Derrick Henry (RB – Tennessee Titans):
After a 2021 season that was shortened to just 8 games due to a season-ending foot injury, Derrick Henry returned in typical Derrick Henry fashion, posting over 1,900 total yards and 13 TDs as he finished as the RB4 in fantasy in 2022.
That production came, even despite being in one of the worst offenses in the NFL, which ranked 28th in scoring and 30th in overall yardage. To put that into perspective, Henry accounted for over 38% of the Titans’ offensive yardage and TDs.
Thus far in his career, Henry has shown to be a freak athlete, but at some point, reality will hit – the question is when will that be? At 29 years old, with 380+ touches in 2 of the last 3 seasons and over 1,800 career touches, Henry appears to be coming close to a decline.
Between his age, wear-and-tear, a bottom-tier offense, and the Titans’ investment in a change-of-pace RB (Tyjae Spears, 3rd rounder), it looks like Henry may be due for regression in 2023, whether it be from efficiency or from a reduced workload.
I still have him as a mid-to-low RB1 option, but expectations for Henry should be severely tempered compared to previous seasons. At a mid-2nd round price tag, those tempered expectations are already factored in and allow for him to be taken as a low-RB1 or a truly elite-RB2 option.
Treylon Burks (WR – Tennessee Titans):
It was a far-from-ideal rookie season for 2022 1st-round pick (18th overall), Treylon Burks, whose rookie season started off with conditioning-related issues in the offseason, then saw him miss notable time to a foot injury suffered in Week 4, and then saw him suffer a concussion in Week 13 that would hold him out of the lineup until Week 16 (where he was limited).
When he got his opportunity, he was rather productive, drawing 6+ targets and 9+ points in 4 of his final 6 games, with one of those being his game back from his concussion where he was severely limited (2 targets, 1 touch).
Burks has supposedly been “playing at a different speed” this offseason, turning heads at camp. If he shows any resemblance of efficiency, he could be very dangerous in fantasy in 2023, especially seeing as he could command a 25% (or greater) target share with very limited weapons beyond him in the offense.
Going as a low-end WR3/high-end WR4 option in the 7th round of drafts, I don’t mind investing in him, even within a poor and run-first offense, given the likely volume he’s going to be commanding. With his target share and notable presence over the other WRs in the Titans’ offense, which will likely be playing from behind more often than not, Burks has realistic WR2 upside on potential volume alone.
Chigoziem Okonkwo (TE – Tennessee Titans):
As a rookie 4th-round pick in 2022, Okonkwo wasn’t truly involved in the Titans’ offense until the latter part of last year, carving out a significant role in Week 12 and never looking back.
From Week 12 onward, he registered 4+ targets and 3+ catches in every game except for one (Week 16), tallying 24 catches for 278 yards and 2 TDs as the TE7 over his final 7 games. It’s not elite production by any means, but it’s a definite upward trend that proves indicative of an expanded role in 2023.
Now with a second year of development and with very little competition for targets (the only notable receiving weapon being Treylon Burks), Okonkwo could very quietly be an 80 or 90+ target type of TE in 2023 with a significant redzone role.
At a position that is a dart throw beyond the top 5 or 6 options, I have no issues with Okonkwo as that ‘dart throw’ as a low-end TE1 or high-end TE2. He’s by no means Travis Kelce, but for those looking only to target a value TE, Okonkwo offers top-5 upside from the 11th round range (give or take a round) – at that price, if you’re comfortable without a top TE, Okonkwo is worth the investment.