Over the past few years, college fantasy football and devy leagues have become increasingly more popular. With this influx in players and popularity around the sport, questions are sure to arise. Entering the 2023 season, one big question looms large: This Who should you value more in fantasy, Caleb Williams or Drake Maye?
College Fantasy Football Faceoff: Caleb Williams vs. Drake Maye
Entering 2023, CFF players will have to pick between their desired strategy on how to draft a roster. No matter the strategy, however, the question of which star quarterback to draft will loom large as you build your roster. Breaking it down, quarterback by quarterback, here are your top two options.
Caleb Williams, USC
Starting with the 2022 Heisman winner, we have Williams. By far the best player in college football last year, Williams has the data to back up lofty expectations for his 2023 season. In 2022, Williams had 42 touchdowns and 4,537 passing yards, an astonishing feat that won him the Heisman Trophy.
In fantasy football, the rushing ability for a QB is crucial, especially in CFF. For any newcomers to college football scoring, the quarterback getting sacked counts as negative rushing yards.
Despite being sacked 30 times and losing 247 rushing yards, Williams still added great value with his legs. This past season, Williams scored 10 touchdowns and racked up an additional 382 rushing yards on 113 attempts.
It’s safe not to expect much change in his output in 2023.
The Trojans run a high-octane passing attack with their pace of play. Under Lincoln Riley, the team averaged 41.4 points and 335.4 passing yards per game in 2022. Now that Riley and Williams have had two full seasons together, the ceiling is proverbially sky-high in 2023.
Drake Maye, North Carolina
While Drake Maye didn’t win the Heisman like his counterpart here, he still had a phenomenal 2022 season. Despite playing with less talent around him than Williams, Maye totaled 38 touchdowns with 4,321 passing yards.
Although Williams performed better through the air, Maye arguably had a better season on the ground. In 2022, Maye ran for 698 yards with seven rushing touchdowns. He accomplished this despite being sacked 40 times and losing 204 rushing yards.
The Tar Heels averaged 34.4 points and 309.3 passing yards per game with Maye leading the charge in 2022. Maye enters what is likely his final season with UNC, and it’s safe to expect 38 touchdowns to be his benchmark this fall.
Williams vs. Maye – The Final Results
Overall, despite his rushing prowess, there is no world that Maye can outrank Williams this fall. The proverbial ceiling for Williams was set with his Heisman-winning season a year ago, but with the Trojans’ additions this offseason, another year in the system should raise that ceiling even higher.
Although Maye is a great player, Williams is the clear-cut QB1 in 2023 college fantasy football.
