The 2022 NFL Draft has come and gone, and that means it’s time for dynasty rookie and startup drafts to really take off. We’ll have you covered throughout the draft season. You can find our full dynasty startup, dynasty rookie, and dynasty superflex rookie rankings that will be updated through draft season.

Let’s take a look at players our analysts are targeting in dynasty startup drafts.

James Conner (RB – ARI)
Expert Consensus Ranking No. 68 overall – RB26

James Conner enters 2022 as the Cardinals’ undisputed workhorse for Arizona, with only Eno Benjamin, Keaontay Ingram, Jonathan Ward, Ronnie Rivers, and Jaylen Samuels behind him to conceivably vie for work. As Arizona’s bell cow in Weeks 14-18, he finished as an RB1 in 80% of his games. Conner proved he has plenty left in the tank last year, ranking 18th in yards created per touch, 14th in evaded tackles, and 17th in breakaway runs. The disparity in Conner’s rank in ECR (RB26) and my rankings (RB16) is something I’ll continue to pounce on.
– Derek Brown

Cole Kmet (TE – CHI)
Expert Consensus Ranking No. 117 overall – TE14

With the Bears failing to address the receiving depth chart outside of drafting Velus Jones (woof), Cole Kmet should compete with Darnell Mooney for the team lead in targets this season. With this 83rd percentile speed score and 89th percentile burst score, there’s reason to believe we still haven’t seen the best from Kmet. Last year he was excellent at earning targets ranking eighth in target volume (93), 11th in target share (17.7%), and 18th in targets per snap among tight ends. The problem was touchdowns. He finished with zero touchdowns despite ranking 15th (12) in red-zone targets. The touchdown regression pendulum is swinging back in his direction in 2022. With his volume locked in and touchdown regression on the way, Kmet is a player I want to target in startups aggressively.
– Derek Brown

Darnell Mooney (WR – CHI)
Expert Consensus Ranking No. 64 overall – WR27

Darnell Mooney is already a star in the making. The third-year receiver looks primed to cement himself as the Chicago Bears’ true No. 1 wide receiver. He already operated as the team’s No. 1 for most of the 2021 season, ranking as the WR27 in half-point fantasy scoring through 17 weeks. Mooney also finished the last four weeks of the season ninth in target share (27%) and fifth in route participation (95%).

With nobody worth much outside of third-year tight end Cole Kmet as legitimate competition, Mooney should build off his 8th-ranked 24% target share from last season.

Byron Pringle, Equanimeous St. Brown and 25-year-old rookie Velus Jones Jr. should only encourage targeting the 24-year-old Mooney in dynasty start-up drafts.
– Andrew Erickson

Allen Robinson (WR – LAR)
Expert Consensus Ranking No. 88 overall – WR38

Last year was a fantasy disaster for Robinson. He had the worst fantasy finish of his career. Furthermore, his 38 receptions, 410 receiving yards, and one touchdown were all career lows. Yet, Robinson has three career top-12 finishes, including two in the past three years.

Robinson put together back-to-back seasons as a WR1 with Mitchell Trubisky at quarterback and Matt Nagy on the sidelines. Image what he will do with Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay. At only 28 years old, Robinson has plenty of gas left in the tank. Furthermore, Robert Woods and Odell Beckham Jr. were productive wide receivers for the Rams and fantasy teams.

Currently, Robinson is the WR38 in the dynasty startup rankings for FantasyPros. Brandon Aiyuk (WR34) and Chase Claypool (WR35) are higher in the rankings than Robinson. I’ll happily take the 28-year-old with three WR1 finishes in every league possible over those two and several other wide receivers.
– Mike Fanelli

Other players our analysts are targeting in dynasty startup drafts

Derek Brown
Full Dynasty Rankings

• D.K. Metcalf (WR – SEA)
• Stefon Diggs (WR – BUF)
• Cam Akers (RB – LAR)
• Michael Pittman (WR – IND)
• Rashod Bateman (WR – BAL)

Andrew Erickson
Full Dynasty Rankings

• Kyle Pitts (TE – ATL)
• Nick Chubb (RB – CLE)
• George Kittle (TE – SF)
• Darren Waller (TE – LV)
• Courtland Sutton (WR – DEN)

2022 Dynasty Rookie Rankings

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