Fantasy Football Midseason Report Cards: Top Candidates for MVP, Bust, Waiver Wire Pickup and Rookie

Eight weeks into the 2023 campaign, our experts take a look at which players will be vying for honors at the end of the season.

There’s still another seven weeks before most leagues open their fantasy playoffs. A lot can happen between now and the end of the 2023 season, but the first eight weeks have at least allowed us to make some definitive observations.

We’ll wait until the season’s over to hand out our awards, but we’ve asked out team of fantasy experts to offer up their top five candidates -- so far -- for best fantasy rookie, best waiver wire addition, biggest bust and MVP.

Some picks are obvious; others quite surprising. Here are a few of the observations:

• When a player scores at least one touchdown in every game, he’s got a good shot at neing the favorite to win fantasy MVP honors. That’s exactly the case with Christian McCaffrey.
• Even though the Rams have a disappointing 3-5 record, they’ve produced two of our five top waiver wire adds, so they’ve at least helped fantasy managers to a few victories.
• Joe Burrow has plenty of time to turn things around, but his poor start to the season has been devastating for many fantasy managers who believed the Bengals’ QB was right up there with Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen.
• Two of the top five candidates for best fantasy rookie were first-round draft picks, but the leader in the pack didn’t hear his name called until Round 5. 

Check out all four midseason report cards:

Top 5 Fantasy MVP Candidates

Top 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

Top 5 Biggest Busts

Top 5 Fantasy Rookies