With fantasy football drafts ongoing and the NFL season just around the corner, one of the biggest conversations this time of the year centers around breakout players. Figuring out who will improve off their previous season and end up being a steal in the draft is often the key to winning a fantasy football league.

With that in mind, here are five young receivers who are not only breakout fantasy candidates in 2023, but also receivers who will garner more targets and those oh-so-valuable points in PPR leagues.

Fantasy Football Wide Receivers Who Will Gain Targets In 2023

George Pickens (Pittsburgh Steelers)

With a penchant for the big play his rookie year, George Pickens racked up 801 receiving yards on 52 receptions. Pickens was mainly a deep threat, ranking third in the league in average depth of target, but the word out of Steelers training camp is that the team is focusing on improving his route tree — expanding it to include the full breadth of underneath routes. If defenders are unable to simply play off and defend the deep ball, George Pickens is going to be even more of a pass-catching threat moving forward.

Christian Watson (Green Bay Packers)

After a slow start to his rookie campaign, Christian Watson came on as a dangerous big-play threat in the latter part of the season. From Week 10 onward, Watson had eight touchdowns, three games with 100+ receiving yards, and totaled at least four catches in 75% of those contests. In fact, 523 of his 611 receiving yards on the season came during these eight games, and all of his touchdowns came during this period. The switch from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love at quarterback lowers Watson's ceiling a bit, but he is still in for a big jump in his second season if he plays all 17 games.

Elijah Moore (Cleveland Browns)

After two years of mediocre quarterback play in New York, Elijah Moore enters his third NFL season at just 23 years of age and with the promise of a new start in Cleveland. Reports from Browns' training camp were extremely complimentary of the wideout, with head coach Kevin Stefanski even comparing him to Percy Harvin. Moore already slots in as the team's number two wide receiver ahead of Donovan Peoples-Jones, who amassed 839 receiving yards on 61 catches. Expect Moore to easily surpass his total of 37 catches and 446 yards from last year while playing alongside Deshaun Watson in an improving Browns passing attack.

Garrett Wilson (New York Jets)

Garrett Wilson is coming off a phenomenal rookie season in which he had 83 catches for 1,103 yards, earning AP Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in the process. He managed those totals while catching passes from four different New York Jets quarterbacks. With new QB Aaron Rodgers under center, Wilson has the potential to improve on those fantastic numbers and become an elite fantasy football option.

Jahan Dotson (Washington Commanders)

While he may be catching passes from unproven second-year signal-caller Sam Howell, Jahan Dotson is still a fantasy football breakout candidate. The 16th overall pick in 2022 jumped up to the number two receiver on the Commanders' depth chart, ahead of Curtis Samuel who had 656 receiving yards in 2022. Dotson had 35 catches for 523 yards last season while missing five contests and came on strong late in the year, with 21 catches for 344 yards and 3 TDs over the final three games of the campaign, accounting for 72 of the 169 yards Howell threw for in Week 17.

If that rapport continues, Jahan Dotson will be an underrated fantasy football asset in 2023.