Fantasy Football: Breakout wide receivers for 2023

Drake London started breaking out with Desmond Ridder: London was among the best fantasy wide receivers at the end of last season, and now gets a full year with the former Cincinnati quarterback.
The 2022 wide receiver class is full of breakouts: Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave already have top-25 fantasy seasons under their belt. Multiple other receivers from the class could join them this year.
Jahan Dotson keeps scoring touchdowns: Dotson averages a touchdown a game as long as he’s playing at least 78% of offensive snaps and even scored in the first preseason game.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

These breakout players are those who have an ADP between 48 and 120 on ESPN who I have ranked notably higher than their ADP, and they have a good chance of producing the best season of their career. For help on draft strategy, rankings or for more details about other players, check out the rest of my summer content below. For rankings with better filtering along with auction values, check out our draft rankings page.

Check out PFF's 2023 Fantasy Draft Kit for even more content to help you dominate your league.

Last updated: 7:15 a.m. Tuesday, August 15

Drake London, Atlanta Falcons (ADP: 89.9, From ESPN)

London was a constant target for Atlanta, and he could build on a strong end to his 2022 season.

London was the eighth overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
He was the clear top wide receiver on the Falcons' depth chart by the team’s first preseason game in 2022.
He made an immediate impact with 16 catches for 214 yards and two touchdowns over his first three games.
Atlanta then stopped throwing the ball as much, leading to nine straight games with 40 receiving yards or less.
Desmond Ridder started the last four games of the 2022 season, leading to the Falcons passing more. London was WR18 during that time despite not scoring a touchdown.
Atlanta also had a noticeable uptick in passing plays after the switch to Riddler.
That is very promising for this season with Ridder still at quarterback, but those big games to end the season also came at a time when Kyle Pitts was injured, and Bijan Robinson wasn’t on the roster yet.
On the bright side, Atlanta’s other starting wide receivers are slated to be Mack Hollins and KhaDarel Hodge, who shouldn’t be taking many targets away from London.
London achieved an 83.2 PFF offensive grade, which was the best among the rookie class with at least 800 offensive snaps but also the second-best for a rookie over the past five seasons, just behind Justin Jefferson and just ahead of Ja’Marr Chase.
The only thing that will hold London back is passing volume, but if he takes a step forward, Atlanta will have no choice but to get him the ball more often.