By now, you know who the best Fantasy options were in 2023. We even spent time last week crowning Kyren Williams as the MVP, as well as putting together three All-Fantasy teams.
But there's another way to recognize the top players from this past season, and that's using the win percentage data from CBS Sports leagues for 2023. It is based on players rostered in 60 percent or more on CBS Sports leagues, which came to about 120 players when factoring in kickers and DSTs, and shows total wins and not Fantasy titles. Only commissioner leagues were considered with at least eight Fantasy teams or more.
Williams had the fourth-highest win percentage in 2023 at 0.564, but Christian McCaffrey was No. 1 at 0.600. He was the No. 1 running back drafted this past season based on the CBS Sports Average Draft Position data, and he more than lived up to the billing. McCaffrey was the fifth-overall scorer in total PPR points at 391.3.
Tyreek Hill, who was second in win percentage at 0.591, also was a star and finished just behind McCaffrey with 376.4 PPR points. And CeeDee Lamb, who was No. 3 in win percentage at 0.586, was the best non-quarterback as the No. 3 overall scorer in PPR at 403.2 points. Both of those receivers were expected to perform well in 2023 based on their ADP, and they dominated.
However, when looking at the top performers in win percentage, which you can see below, many of them were surprises. Williams, Raheem Mostert (No. 5 at 0.560), Keenan Allen (No. 6 at 0.558), Dak Prescott (No. 9 at 0.552), Isaiah Likely (No. 10 at 0.550), Alvin Kamara (No. 11 at 0.542) and Mike Evans (No. 12 at 0.542) all had flaws coming into the season and weren't drafted in the first four rounds based on ADP.
And that's the fun of this study. A Fantasy manager with a strong roster on Draft Day either selected someone like Williams or Mostert late or added them off the waiver wire, and then they had a standout roster at the end of the season. Or you added Likely off the waiver wire after Mark Andrews (ankle) got hurt in Week 11, and Likely scored four touchdowns from Weeks 14-17 to help a lot of Fantasy managers win a championship.
Conversely, some of the best players coming into the season ruined a lot of Fantasy rosters this year, whether due to injury or poor play. For example, some stars who were sub-.500 in win percentage this season were Justin Jefferson (0.493), DeAndre Hopkins (0.491), Tony Pollard (0.489), Davante Adams (0.487), Calvin Ridley (0.485), Tee Higgins (0.485), Cooper Kupp (0.485), Bijan Robinson (0.484), Najee Harris (0.482), Josh Jacobs (0.481), Garrett Wilson (0.480), Aaron Jones (0.476), Austin Ekeler (0.476) and Patrick Mahomes (0.473). We named several of these players -- Mahomes, Ekeler, Pollard, Robinson, Adams and Wilson -- to our All-Bust team last week.
Below, you can see the entire list of our win-percentage data, minus the kickers and DSTs. We'll also break down the top quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends to highlight the players who had a big year in 2023 -- and led to many wins in your Fantasy leagues.
Top 12 Quarterbacks
1. Josh Allen 0.553
2. Dak Prescott 0.552
3. Jalen Hurts 0.534
4. Brock Purdy 0.518
5. Tua Tagovailoa 0.517
6. Kyler Murray 0.516
7. Jake Browning 0.516
8. C.J. Stroud 0.511
9. Matthew Stafford 0.511
10. Lamar Jackson 0.511
11. Baker Mayfield 0.504
12. Jordan Love 0.501
Allen was the No. 3 quarterback drafted based on ADP, but he finished No. 1 in total points and win percentage at his position. We've already previewed our top 12 quarterback rankings for 2024, and Allen is already the consensus No. 1 quarterback heading into next season.
Prescott was one of the best surprises in 2023 -- at least during the NFL regular season -- and more than outperformed his ADP as the No. 12 quarterback. From Week 6 on, Prescott scored at least 26.9 Fantasy points in seven of his final 12 games and had just one outing under 20.2 points over that span.
As you can see here, many of these quarterbacks were surprises since Allen, Hurts, Jackson and Prescott were the only ones drafted as a No. 1 Fantasy option based on ADP. Murray did well in his return from a torn ACL, and he scored at least 22.4 Fantasy points in four of eight starts to close the season. And Browning had some excellent performances for Fantasy managers after Joe Burrow (wrist) got hurt in Week 11.
Top 12 Running Backs
1. Christian McCaffrey 0.600
2. Kyren Williams 0.564
3. Raheem Mostert 0.560
4. Alvin Kamara 0.542
5. Travis Etienne 0.539
6. Rachaad White 0.539
7. Ty Chandler 0.531
8. Breece Hall 0.527
9. Jahmyr Gibbs 0.526
10. James Cook 0.519
11. Jonathan Taylor 0.516
12. David Montgomery 0.512
Mostert tied McCaffrey for the most touchdowns in 2023 (21) and was an amazing find for Fantasy managers with his Round 10 ADP. Kamara fell to Round 6 because of his three-game suspension to open the season, but he still finished second in receptions among running backs with 75, which was one behind Hall. And Hall fell to Round 5 because he was coming off a torn ACL, but he finished second in total PPR points behind McCaffrey.
It was pretty remarkable to see Gibbs and Montgomery in the top 12 for winning percentage, and both had solid campaigns in 2023. Gibbs was easily the best rookie running back and finished No. 8 in PPR points per game at 16.1. And Montgomery tied for third in rushing touchdowns with 13.
Chandler is obviously the biggest surprise on this list, but he was added to some successful Fantasy teams late in the season when Alexander Mattison missed Week 15 with an ankle injury. Even if you never started Chandler, he was on the bench of many quality Fantasy rosters.
Top 12 Wide Receivers
1. Tyreek Hill 0.591
2. CeeDee Lamb 0.586
3. Keenan Allen 0.558
4. Amon-Ra St. Brown 0.553
5. Mike Evans 0.542
6. A.J. Brown 0.536
7. Puka Nacua 0.531
8. Michael Pittman 0.528
9. Brandon Aiyuk 0.525
10. Deebo Samuel 0.521
11. D.J. Moore 0.518
12. Stefon Diggs 0.517
Allen and Evans were two receivers that made me nervous heading into 2023 because of their age since both were now in their 30s, and Evans was going from Tom Brady to Baker Mayfield. Father Time hasn't caught up to either yet, and Allen had 108 catches despite missing the final four games of the season with a heel injury. Evans also had his 10th season in a row with at least 1,000 receiving yards, and he caught double digits in touchdowns for the fifth time in his career.
One of the best surprises this season was Nacua, who we named the 2023 Fantasy Football Rookie of the Year. The fifth-round pick in the NFL Draft from BYU was not selected in the majority of leagues based on the CBS Sports ADP. Yet from Week 1 on he was a star, and he set the NFL record for most catches (105) and receiving yards (1,481) by a rookie, which was remarkable.
Diggs was actually on our All-Bust team because he scored 8.8 PPR points or less in six of seven games from Weeks 10-17, which included the Fantasy playoffs. However, he still helped Fantasy managers to have a good enough win percentage to crack this list.
Top 11 Tight End
1. Isaiah Likely 0.550
2. Trey McBride 0.530
3. Sam LaPorta 0.529
4. Evan Engram 0.513
5. David Njoku 0.512
6. George Kittle 0.507
7. Travis Kelce 0.506
8. Dallas Goedert 0.497
9. Taysom Hill 0.492
10. Dalton Kincaid 0.491
11. Cole Kmet 0.491
Only 11 tight ends registered a win percentage data for this study, and this season showed we're headed for some turnover at this position. McBride and LaPorta are the future star tight ends, and both stood out in 2023.
For LaPorta, he led all tight ends in total PPR points (225.4) through Week 17. And McBride took off once Zach Ertz left the Cardinals, and McBride averaged 14.9 PPR points per game in the final 10 games as the No. 1 tight end in Arizona.
Engram, Njoku and Kittle were all exceptional in 2023, but we know Kelce was a disappointment, which is why we named him to the All-Bust team. It appears like Father Time has caught up to Kelce, 34. While he finished No. 1 in PPR points per game, he failed to gain 1,000 receiving yards for the first time since 2015. And his 14.6 PPR points per game was his lowest average since 2016. Still, he did enough to register a successful winning percentage and finish No. 7 on this list.
Overall
1. Christian McCaffrey 0.600
2. Tyreek Hill 0.591
3. CeeDee Lamb 0.586
4. Kyren Williams 0.564
5. Raheem Mostert 0.560
6. Keenan Allen 0.558
7. Amon-Ra St. Brown 0.553
8. Josh Allen 0.553
9. Dak Prescott 0.552
10. Isaiah Likely 0.550
11. Alvin Kamara 0.542
12. Mike Evans 0.542
13. Travis Etienne 0.539
14. Rachaad White 0.539
15. A.J. Brown 0.536
16. Jalen Hurts 0.534
17. Ty Chandler 0.531
18. Puka Nacua 0.531
19. Trey McBride 0.530
20. Sam LaPorta 0.529
21. Michael Pittman 0.528
22. Breece Hall 0.527
23. Jahmyr Gibbs 0.526
24. Brandon Aiyuk 0.525
25. Deebo Samuel 0.521
26. James Cook 0.519
27. D.J. Moore 0.518
28. Brock Purdy 0.518
29. Stefon Diggs 0.517
30. Tua Tagovailoa 0.517
31. Nico Collins 0.517
32. Jonathan Taylor 0.516
33. Kyler Murray 0.516
34. Jake Browning 0.516
35. Rashee Rice 0.515
36. Evan Engram 0.513
37. David Njoku 0.512
38. David Montgomery 0.512
39. C.J. Stroud 0.511
40. Kenneth Walker III 0.511
41. Isiah Pacheco 0.511
42. Ja'Marr Chase 0.511
43. Matthew Stafford 0.511
44. Lamar Jackson 0.511
45. Jake Ferguson 0.509
46. Jayden Reed 0.509
47. DK Metcalf 0.509
48. Chris Olave 0.509
49. D'Andre Swift 0.508
50. Devin Singletary 0.508
51. De'Von Achane 0.507
52. George Kittle 0.507
53. Travis Kelce 0.506
54. Diontae Johnson 0.504
55. Baker Mayfield 0.504
56. Ezekiel Elliott 0.503
57. Gus Edwards 0.502
58. Joe Mixon 0.502
59. Derrick Henry 0.501
60. Jordan Love 0.501
61. Jaylen Warren 0.501
62. Saquon Barkley 0.500
63. CourtlandSutton 0.500
64. DeVonta Smith 0.499
65. Jordan Addison 0.499
66. Brian Robinson Jr. 0.499
67. Dallas Goedert 0.497
68. Jared Goff 0.496
69. James Conner 0.496
70. Justin Fields 0.496
71. Chuba Hubbard 0.495
72. Adam Thielen 0.495
73. Javonte Williams 0.495
74. Justin Jefferson 0.493
75. Amari Cooper 0.493
76. Taysom Hill 0.492
77. Zay Flowers 0.492
78. Dalton Kincaid 0.491
79. DeAndre Hopkins 0.491
80. Cole Kmet 0.491
81. Tyler Lockett 0.490
82. Jerome Ford 0.490
83. Tony Pollard 0.489
84. Chris Godwin 0.489
85. Jaylen Waddle 0.488
86. Davante Adams 0.487
87. Jakobi Meyers 0.486
88. Terry McLaurin 0.486
89. Romeo Doubs 0.485
90. Trevor Lawrence 0.485
91. Calvin Ridley 0.485
92. Tee Higgins 0.485
93. Cooper Kupp 0.485
94. Bijan Robinson 0.484
95. Zack Moss 0.484
96. Gabe Davis 0.483
97. Brandin Cooks 0.482
98. Najee Harris 0.482
99. Josh Jacobs 0.481
100. Garrett Wilson 0.480
101. Drake London 0.477
102. George Pickens 0.476
103. Aaron Jones 0.476
104. Austin Ekeler 0.476
105. Patrick Mahomes 0.473