Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts left a lasting impression on the 2022 NFL season by delivering a thrilling Super Bowl in Phoenix four months ago.
With the Chiefs getting the best of the Eagles, Mahomes was the one who got the victory tour this offseason, including visiting the White House and riding the Super Bowl MVP float at Disneyland.
But Hurts also received the bulk of the spotlight, turning his breakout season into a massive five-year, $255 million contract extension. Not bad for a quarterback who lost his starting job in college and waited until the second round of the draft to hear his name called.
Odds are Hurts and Mahomes will once again define the upcoming season, but every year offers a new crop of breakout stars and juicy story lines from new faces in new places or surprise teams that no one expected to make the postseason. Or a memorable statistical season that’s remembered for years, which Justin Jefferson delivered last season en route to winning Offensive Player of the Year.
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With all of this in mind, we decided to list the 10 offensive players who could define the 2023 NFL season. But before you scream at me on social media about the list, I tried my best not to make this all about the quarterbacks.
10. Amon-Ra St. Brown
- Team: Lions
- Position: WR
The Lions won eight of their final 10 games in 2022 and have received the most hype this offseason. To meet those high expectations, they’re going to need a monster third season from St. Brown, especially with Jameson Williams suspended the first six games for violating the league’s gambling policy. St. Brown established himself as one of the best wideouts in the league last season with 106 catches for 1,161 yards and six touchdowns. He’s a feisty competitor who fits the culture coach Dan Campbell has created in Detroit. St. Brown can show the country the Lions are for real with a dominant performance against the Chiefs in the league’s season opener Sept. 7.
9. Mike Evans
- Team: Buccaneers
- Position: WR
With the Buccaneers entering the post–Tom Brady era, they might be quick to trade their best players to begin a full rebuild if they have a slow start in 2023. Something tells me that Evans will end up getting traded to a Super Bowl contender, possibly the Chiefs, Jets or Bills. If this develops, Evans, 29, could be the key to deciding the next Super Bowl champion. Evans, who has nine consecutive seasons of at least 1,000 receiving yards, is scheduled to be a free agent next offseason with void years left on his current deal.
8. Bijan Robinson
- Team: Falcons
- Position: RB
NFL pundits wasted the first three months of the offseason discussing whether a team should draft Robinson in the first round only for the Falcons to take him No. 8 without hesitation. Expect Robinson to have a dynamic rookie season to make teams reconsider how they value running backs. This likely wouldn’t help veteran running backs get paid with their second contracts, but it might start a new trend of drafting running backs in the early rounds. If Robinson records 1,200-plus rushing yards with 10-plus touchdowns in 2023, his rookie contract of four years, $21 million will be a bargain for the Falcons.
7. Christian McCaffrey
- Team: 49ers
- Position: RB
McCaffrey’s contract of $16 million per year isn’t a bargain, but it will be worth it if he leads the 49ers to a Super Bowl title. McCaffrey regained his top spot as the league’s best running back after the Panthers traded him last season to San Francisco, where McCaffrey had dominant performances on a weekly basis. With McCaffrey looking to repay the 49ers, he could have another season of 1,000-plus rushing yards and 1,000-plus receiving yards, which he accomplished in 2019.
6. Derrick Henry
- Position: RB
- Team: Titans
Henry is another potential star player who might find himself on the trading block this season. Rumors swirled earlier this offseason about the Titans possibly looking to move the bruising running back with new GM Ran Carthon looking to get younger and shed salary cap. If the Titans aren’t in the playoff race, which is a high possibility, Henry could be this year’s McCaffrey. Perhaps the Ravens, Eagles or Cowboys express interest in Henry, 29, who displayed last season he has plenty left in the tank by recording 1,538 rushing yards with 13 touchdowns.
5. Josh Allen
- Team: Bills
- Position: QB
Allen has dominated the offseason headlines for the wrong reasons the past two seasons. First, for his costly coin-flip loss in overtime before falling to the Chiefs in the memorable divisional-round shoot-out two years ago. That was followed by his taking the brunt of Stefon Diggs’s frustrations on the sideline during a blowout loss to the Bengals, once again in the divisional round. Odds are Allen will once again find himself in the headlines, but perhaps this could be the year he and the Bills advance to the Super Bowl.
4. Justin Fields
- Team: Bears
- Position: QB
With all the notable moves GM Ryan Poles made this offseason, Fields could have a memorable third season, similar to what Hurts did with the Eagles last season. Fields was one of the funnest players to watch last season, despite playing with arguably the worst roster in the league. He now has a better offensive line with the arrivals of guard Nate Davis and rookie tackle Darnell Wright. Fields could also improve in the passing game with No. 1 wide receiver DJ Moore, whom the Bears acquired from the Panthers after trading the No. 1 pick. The Bears backed Fields this offseason, and now he’ll aim to prove them right this season.
3. Aaron Rodgers
- Team: Jets
- Position: QB
Of course, Rodgers is on this list. The Jets became instant Super Bowl contenders the second the trade with the Packers became official. The Rodgers-led Jets will be playing under a microscope during the 2023 season, and the brash second-year cornerback Sauce Gardner will also add to the spotlight for Gang Green. Rodgers’s arrival will likely turn the Jets into a playoff team for the first time since the ’10 season, but it might be tough for them to make a deep postseason run with so many talented teams with young star quarterbacks in the AFC.
2. Dak Prescott
- Team: Cowboys
- Position: QB
Whether good or bad, Prescott seems destined to make a lasting impression on the 2023 season. With the Cowboys having a stacked roster, this might finally be the year Prescott guides Dallas to the NFC championship game or further. If he doesn’t, the Jones family might decide to pull the plug on this endless cycle of quick playoff exits and search for another quarterback. Prescott needs a legacy-defining postseason performance after delivering a dud in the loss to the 49ers last season in the divisional round.
1. Joe Burrow
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- Team: Bengals
- Position: QB
This is shaping up to be the year of Joe after the Bengals made roster upgrades that could get them to the mountaintop after two consecutive seasons of falling short. (Cincinnati lost to the Chiefs in the AFC title game last season and fell to the Rams in Super Bowl LVI in 2022.) Burrow could have better protection this season with the arrival of left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. The Bengals’ defense could also be better with first-round edge rusher Myles Murphy playing with Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson. Burrow made it clear he’s a top-two quarterback last season with his stellar performance. He might surpass Mahomes for the top spot in ’23.
