Tomorrow is Draft Day, perhaps the best day on the NFL offseason calendar. Before the clock officially starts for the Carolina Panthers, we’re looking at the needs for the teams from each division from a fantasy football perspective. What does each team need to do to maximize their roster’s fantasy returns? What do we as fantasy managers want each team to address this weekend? For this one, we’ll follow Horace Greeley’s advice and head west to preview the 2023 AFC West.

2023 Pre-Draft Fantasy Needs Series

• AFC North
• NFC North
• AFC East
• NFC East
• AFC South
• NFC South
• AFC West
• NFC West

Note: All 2022 fantasy point totals and rankings are PPR, unless otherwise noted.

2023 AFC West Draft Needs: Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs just keep rollin’ along. They’ve now played in five straight AFC Conference Championship games in the last five seasons. Over that time, they’ve been to three Super Bowls, winning a pair. They’re the reigning Super Bowl winners with the reigning MVP at quarterback. Coach Andy Reid and company show no signs of slowing down.

All that success has translated to fantasy success in very specific ways. While quarterback Patrick Mahomes fantasy’s highest-scoring player, he accomplished the feat by spreading the ball around in the Chiefs’ first year post-Tyreek Hill. 13 different players caught a touchdown pass for Kansas City last season. Travis Kelce (TE1) continued his dominance at the tight end position in fantasy by catching 12 of Mahomes’s 41 scoring passes. Running back Jerick McKinnon caught nine. That left 20 touchdowns spread among 11 different players. The end result was that while McKinnon was RB20 on the season, no Chief wide receiver had more than four scores. Consequently, JuJu Smith-Schuster was the highest-scoring fantasy receiver on the team at just WR27 overall.

Chiefs’ Bottom Line

For the second straight year, the Chiefs will have a new number one wide receiver. Smith-Schuster signed with New England in free agency. Additionally, Mecole Hardman (who led the team’s wideouts with those four touchdown receptions) signed with the New York Jets. While Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, and Skyy Moore will return, the Chiefs need to add to their receiver corps. MVS is best in a WR2/3, deep-threat role. Toney has had trouble staying healthy in his short career. And Moore is an intriguing but largely unknown commodity. With Mahomes slinging the pigskin, this isn’t a team that needs an absolute superstar at receiver. But another dynamic talent certainly wouldn’t hurt, and would be worth at least a speculative add in fantasy.

In 2022, the Chiefs had the league’s fourth-best offensive line according to PFF. While they remain strong in the interior, they’ll have work to do at the tackles if they want to repeat that showing. The Chiefs allowed Orlando Brown, Jr. to leave and brought in former Jaguar Jawaan Taylor to presumably play left tackle in his place. The problem here is that Taylor has only 18 snaps at left tackle in his NFL career and has been a career right tackle since his college days at Florida. He graded 65th out of 81 qualifying tackles for PFF. On the right side, the Chiefs appear to have a choice between 2022 fifth rounder Darian Kinnard, with one NFL game to his credit, or Lucas Niang. Niang was literally the lowest-graded pass blocker among tackles last season. Kansas City needs to bring in a tackle who can compete for a starting job on either side.

Chiefs’ 2023 Draft Picks

• Round 1, pick 32
• Round 2, pick 32
• Round 3, pick 32
• Round 4, picks 20 & 32
• Round 5, pick 32
• Round 6, picks 1 & 40
• Round 7, picks 32 & 33

2023 AFC West Draft Needs: Los Angeles Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers were kind of a disappointment across the board last season. Not only did they finish a mediocre 10-7 (with seven of those wins coming by a lone score), but they would lose their Wild Card Round playoff game at Jacksonville in a monumental collapse. Leading 27-0 with less than a minute remaining in the first half, the Chargers would score just a single field goal in the second half and watched Trevor Lawrence overcome four interceptions to lead the Jaguars to a last second 31-30 victory.

In fantasy, Austin Ekeler rewarded managers’ faith in him by ending the year as the top-scoring non-quarterback. Ekeler had the best fantasy season of his career while setting career highs in rush yards, rushing touchdowns, targets, and receptions. Gerald Everett (TE13) was a mild surprise at tight end, achieving a career-best fantasy season to far outpace his ADP of TE22 and be a usable option. But Justin Herbert (QB11), Keenan Allen (WR41), and Mike Williams (WR32) all fell far short of fantasy expectations. Injuries hit Allen and Williams hard, undoubtedly costing Herbert points, but the disappointment remains regardless of the details.

Chargers’ Bottom Line

Speaking of Ekeler, he created a bit of a stir by requesting a trade this offseason. While there has been next-to-no progress on that front since, the fact remains that he’s not happy. There’s been no indication that the Chargers will be trading him, but Ekeler’s request does create a bit of urgency. Josh Kelley is a nice backup, but that’s all he is. Both Ekeler and Kelley are slated for free agency following this season. Touted 2022 draftee Isaiah Spiller played in just six games for the Chargers and showed nothing to indicate he’d be a proper replacement for Ekeler. This is a position where the Chargers need roster depth and competition at the least. If the right player (Jahmyr Gibbs? Oooohhh…) were available to them, it would solidify the future while also allowing for an Ekeler trade, perhaps even during the draft.

The Chargers could also stand to add at wide receiver. Injury histories aside, Allen and Williams aren’t getting younger or cheaper. Allen’s contract allows for a relatively soft landing should the Chargers decide to part ways with him after the season. Williams has a similar structure to his contract. And although he’s two years younger than Allen, his constant injury concerns make Williams a risky gamble at the salary stratosphere he’s entering. Josh Palmer and Jalen Guyton are capable backups, but on short-term deals and not on the level of Allen and Williams. Adding to this room may not pay off this season (especially in fantasy) but could look real nice next offseason.

Chargers’ 2023 Draft Picks

• Round 1, pick 22
• Round 2, pick 23
• Round 3, pick 22
• Round 4, pick 23
• Round 5, pick 22
• Round 6, pick 23
• Round 7, pick 22

2023 AFC West Draft Needs: Las Vegas Raiders

One of the main reasons Davante Adams ended up playing in the desert was his desire to play with his college quarterback Derek Carr. It was a productive reunion, with Adams setting a career high in targets and finishing as the overall WR3. Alas, it was a short one, as the Raiders sat Carr for the last two games of the season and then cut him after flirting with exploring trade options. In his place for this season is Jimmy Garoppolo. It’s a lateral move for fantasy purposes, but the Raiders’ offense will look a little different in 2023.

In addition to releasing Carr, the Raiders traded star tight end Darren Waller to the Giants. Foster Moreau looked close to following Carr to New Orleans until a routine physical revealed a Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis. The team did bring in O.J. Howard and Austin Hooper in free agency to counter-balance.

Raiders’ Bottom Line

The Raiders didn’t just lose Carr, but his backup in Jarrett Stidham as well. The team has Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer in place at the moment. Both are familiar with Josh McDaniels and his system. But the Raiders by all means should be in on a quarterback if the right prospect is there at pick seven. As many as two to four teams ahead of them in the draft may not be in on the position, which leaves room for the Raiders to either move up for “their guy” or be patient to see what happens at picks two and three.

Neither Howard nor Hooper really moves the needle, fantasy-wise. With a deep draft and three picks on Friday, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Raiders gamble on a tight end prospect for the (near) future. Howard is with his fourth team in just over a calendar year and is a very “DeVante Parker-esque” player on your fantasy rosters. (If you’ve been following me at all, you know that’s not a compliment.) Seventh overall is too rich, but those Friday night picks might be right in the wheelhouse to take a shot at tight end, as the top of the top prospects are expected to be gone, but several interesting options should still remain. Another Day Two move I’d like to see would be a plug-and-play guard.

Raiders’ 2023 Draft Picks

• Round 1, pick 7
• Round 2, pick 7
• Round 3, picks 7 & 37
• Round 4, pick 7
• Round 5, picks 7, 10, & 40
• Round 6, picks 27 & 37
• Round 7, picks 3 & 14

2023 AFC West Draft Needs: Denver Broncos

Well, that was anti-climatic. After hyping up the Russ train following their blockbuster trade with the Seahawks, the Broncos fell far short of the hoopla surrounding Russell Wilson‘s arrival. The Broncos would finish 5-12, tying their fewest wins since 2010. Scoring a league-low 16.9 points per game, the Broncos never really got going on offense. A devastating knee injury to lead running back Javonte Williams and other injury concerns with the wide receivers didn’t help. But Wilson had by far his worst season as a starter. Wilson had a career-worst completion percentage. His passer rating of 84.42 was likewise a career low, as were his 16 touchdown passes. Additionally, Wilson battled various injuries throughout the season.

Broncos’ Bottom Line

Those 2022 Wilson stats are troubling, especially when paired with the unusually busy injury report. But Denver won’t be moving on from him, and I expect him to perform much more Russ-like with the injuries in the rearview. The more concerning fantasy matter is the Williams knee injury. The concern is that no one knows when Williams will return, or how good he’ll be. Samaje Perine signed with Denver and would be an adequate starter in the interim. But running back is a position the Broncos should consider.

The Broncos don’t have a selection until picks four and five in the third round. They probably need to look at a center at some point, and that’s as good a time as any. Wouldn’t surprise me to see Denver go running back and center with those third rounders. Tim Patrick‘s return from injury will help the wide receiver depth, but trade rumors are still rampant around both Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton. That leads me to two things: First, Denver needs to leave this weekend with more competition in the wide receiver room. Second, Jeudy or Sutton could conceivably be moved during the draft in an effort to gain some draft capital, either as a move up or a buy-in.

Broncos’ 2023 Draft Picks

• Round 3, picks 4 & 5
• Round 4, pick 6
• Round 5, pick 5
• Round 6, pick 18

It’s Always Fantasy Season

There is no offseason in fantasy! Draft previews, free agency analysis, and Dynasty strategy are just some of what you’ll find when you check Belly Up Fantasy Sports for more fantasy football analysis and entertaining insight. With the MLB season in full-swing, there’s a ton of fantasy baseball content, too. As always, more great NFL coverage is available on the main Belly Up site, as well as fun, informative content on the Belly Up Podcast Network. Got something to say? Leave a comment below, follow me on Twitter @SttChaseFFB, and catch me on the Belly Up Fantasy Live podcast each week.