2023 Big 12 Conference Preview: Sleepers, Busts and All-Conference Teams

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Published on August 17, 2023

We continue our College Football conference previews with the Big 12, where offense leads the way and is typically where fantasy owners sharply follow. Texas and Oklahoma are still part of the conference for one more season before bolting for the SEC. Although they will lose two of their most storied programs next year, it's an expansion season for the Big 12 in 2023 with newcomers BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston entering the fray. That's just the beginning, as Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah will also join the realignment party next season. Earlier this year, I wrote about what players are flying under the radar in the conference in 2023.

Check out all of our 2023 College Football Draft Kit offerings below, along with some sleepers, busts and all-conference fantasy teams for the Big 12.

2023 College Fantasy Football Draft Kit

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Big 12 All-Conference Fantasy Teams

All-Big 12 First Team

QB: Tyler Shough, Texas Tech

RB: Ollie Gordon, Oklahoma State

RB: CJ Donaldson, West Virginia

WR: Xavier Worthy, Texas Texas

WR: Matthew Golden, Houston Houston

WR: Jalil Farooq, Oklahoma

TE: Ja'Tavion Sanders, Texas Texas

All-Big 12 Second Team

QB: Jalon Daniels, Kansas Kansas

RB: Aidan Robbins, BYU BYU

RB: RJ Harvey, UCF Central Florida

WR: Jerand Bradley, Texas Tech

WR: Chase Roberts, BYU BYU

WR: Kody Epps, BYU BYU

TE: Mason Fairchild, Kansas Kansas

All-Big 12 Third Team

QB: Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma

RB: Devin Neal, Kansas Kansas

RB: Jovantae Barnes, Oklahoma

WR: Kobe Hudson, UCF Central Florida

WR: Luke Grimm, Kansas Kansas

WR: Ja'Shaun Poke, West Virginia

TE: Isaac Rex, BYU BYU

2023 Big 12 Fantasy Sleepers

QB: Quinn Ewers, Texas

Texas is back! Or at least that's what I'm banking on with the recommendation of Ewers, as I think the Longhorns' roster is clearly the best in the conference. Ewers is being pushed by some extremely talented young signal callers behind him on the depth chart (Maalik Murphy & Arch Manning), so I think it's his time to shine, and he has no shortage of weapons around him. Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington, and Ja'Tavion Sanders are in for huge years for an offense that should be able to do whatever it wants for most of the season. If Ewers can orchestrate a win at Alabama in a hostile environment, watch out; he could be the Heisman winner!

RB: Devin Neal, Kansas

Fantasy projections aside, Neal could be one of the best backs in the conference this year. The projections have some minor downside because of how talented Daniel Hishaw is as a teammate in the backfield and quarterback Jalon Daniels' propensity to run the ball. That doesn't mean Neal cannot do it all, as he showed he can while averaging 6.06 yards per carry in 2022. I'm so bullish on the Jayhawks' offense in 2023 that I'm willing to die on a hill for Neal because he's that special. It's only a bonus that Kansas will have one of the most experienced offensive lines in the conference.

RB: Treshaun Ward, Kansas State

Speaking of a strong offensive line, that's a calling card for Kansas State, and it's absolutely no different for the 2023 season. The Wildcats return all five of their starting offensive linemen and could push to be one of the best units in the nation. I'm sure that's a reason why Ward was interested in a transfer from Florida State. I expect Ward to be quite dynamic in this offense right away, and he should be able to come close to matching the running production from Deuce Vaughn. He's likely not as great a receiver as Vaughn, but neither is backup running back DJ Giddens, so Ward will have a chance to gain the trust of quarterback Will Howard.

WR: Javon Baker, UCF

Baker is my projected No. 1 receiver for the Knights despite the presence of Kobe Hudson, who certainly has all of the traits of a special pass-catcher. Hudson ended up with two more touchdowns than Baker during the '22 season in two fewer games. However, Baker had 39 more targets over that span. John Rhys Plumlee loves to look for Baker as one of his first reads, and this team could be sneaky good this year. Of the four expansion teams in the Big 12, I think UCF has the best shot at competing immediately.

WR: De'zhaun Stribling, Oklahoma State

It feels like the nation is sleeping on Mike Gundy and the Oklahoma State offense. They are a prime candidate for a bounceback season as Gundy brought in transfer quarterback Alan Bowman who is well-known to the conference from his time at Texas Tech. They also brought in a transfer wide receiver from Washington State in Stribling. I absolutely love Stribling and Bowman to inject some new juice into this offense because they needed a change from Spencer Sanders. I also like Brennan Presley, but Stribling's value in drafts is even better.

2023 Big 12 Fantasy Busts

QB: Chandler Morris, TCU

Nothing against Morris personally; however, it's likely going to be extremely difficult for the Horned Frogs to see the success they saw on their runner-up finish in the National Championship in 2022. TCU returns just three offensive starters this season; none of them are the explosive playmakers they had last year. For comparison purposes, TCU returned 18 starters last season, which is a big reason why Max Duggan was able to win the starting job back and keep this team rolling through the Big 12 schedule. Morris could be great, but there's certainly a world where the inverse could be true.

RB: Richard Reese, Baylor

Reese was a waiver-wire darling in his freshman season with 972 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns, including three 100-yard rushing performances. None of those performances came over the last five weeks of the season as Baylor returned to a committee approach in the backfield. Reese's slowdown at the end of 2022 makes you wonder if they would be smarter to go with a committee approach from the beginning of the season, and they'll be able to do so with Oklahoma State transfer Dominic Richardson. While it's nice that Baylor's approach revolves around the run game, it's too hard to peg Reese as the primary benefactor of that approach.

RB: Corey Kiner, Cincinnati

Kiner transferred in from LSU a year ago and could not surpass Charles McClellan as the primary back for the Bearcats a year ago. Some out there think he can make the jump in 2023, yet there's some skepticism from my side because I believe Cincinnati could struggle the most in their debut Big 12 season. Not only do they have to break in a new HC in Scott Satterfield, but they also have just three offensive starters returning. It's all lining up to be a transition year for Cincinnati, making it a hard place to look for fantasy production.

WR: All Pass-Catchers, West Virginia

The Mountaineers' HC Neal Brown is firmly on the hot seat, and it will be very interesting to see what product he can muster on the field at Penn State to open the season. It appears that dual-threat quarterback Garrett Greene will be the starter, and some of his new faces at receiver this year will be Ja'Shaun Poke from Kent State, Devin Carter from NC State, and TE Kole Taylor from LSU. In addition to the need for some time for chemistry with a new quarterback, West Virginia has always prided itself in its run game and has an uber-talented runner in CJ Donaldson. For me, it won't be easy to envision a West Virginia receiver breaking out and having a significant role for fantasy purposes.