Here are late-round draft picks our analysts are targeting in their 2022 fantasy football drafts. You can find all of the players they are targeting and avoiding through the links below, which are included in our full 2022 Fantasy Football Draft Kit.
Players to Target & Avoid
- Matthew Freedman: (Target | Avoid)
- Pat Fitzmaurice: (Target | Avoid)
- Derek Brown: (Target | Avoid)
- Andrew Erickson: (Target | Avoid)
- Joe Pisapia: (Target | Avoid)
Beyond our fantasy football content, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you prepare for your draft this season. From our free mock Draft Simulator – which allows you to mock draft against realistic opponents – to our Draft Assistant – that optimizes your picks with expert advice – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football draft season.
10 Late-Round Draft Picks to Target
Justin Fields (QB – CHI)
Justin Fields has plummeted to QB17 in ADP. Everyone is afraid of the situation in Chicago. But don’t forget that a washed-up Cam Newton went from irrelevant to a top-12 ranked QB in one week last year because of rushing production.
Fields finished as a top-12 fantasy quarterback in his last four full games in 2021, averaging 21.7 fantasy points per game. He also averaged 56 rushing yards per game over his last six. All in all, Fields averaged 35 rushing yards per game during his rookie season. The last three rookie QBs to do so? Newton, Josh Allen, and Robert Griffin III. They all finished as top-12 fantasy quarterbacks in their second seasons, with the two former QBs finishing top six.
It won’t take long for the narrative to spin on the talented Fields after he starts the season hot out of the gates. Five of the Bears’ first six matchups are against secondaries that are the weak part of their respective defense, lost talent in free agency, and/or are unproven. In Week 1, Fields takes on the 49ers. He rushed for over 100 yards against them last season.
– Andrew Erickson
Daniel Jones (QB – NYG)
In Superflex leagues or in formats where it makes sense to draft a backup QB, Jones is an appealing off-brand option. But, unfortunately, the three-year veteran has become a fantasy football pariah, in part because this guy drafted him:
How I feel about the keyboard analysts right now: pic.twitter.com/G7GfUCxis0
— Dave Gettleman (@dave_gettleman) March 13, 2019
Jones was coached by Joe Judge, Jason Garrett and Freddie Kitchens last year. That’s not a recipe for success. He now comes under the tutelage of new Giants HC Brian Daboll, who turned Josh Allen from a scatter-armed project into the most fearsome offensive weapon in the league.
Jones is no Allen, of course. Allen has a cannon attached to his shoulder. Jones’ arm is more of a slingshot. But like Allen, Jones is a dangerous runner. He also has an interesting group of receivers in Kadarious Toney, Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson.
As Konami Code quarterbacks go, Jones is a cheap one, and the coaching change offers hope that he will take a significant step forward.
– Pat Fitzmaurice
Devin Singletary (RB – BUF)
The Buffalo back was unleashed down the stretch for the Bills, finishing as the RB3 in half-PPR scoring over the final six weeks of the season with 15.8 fantasy points per game — while catching just 14 passes.
He gained the coaching staff’s trust by earning 54-plus snaps to close out the season, the highest snap number Singletary saw all season dating back to Week 1.
With a proven track record and two years of bellcow back usage in spurts, don’t be surprised when PFF’s fourth-ranked running back in rushes of 15-plus yards and seventh-ranked player in forced missed tackles in 2021 is the highly sought-after RB breakout who emerges from a high-octane ambiguous backfield.
Rookie James Cook is talented, but it remains to be seen how much work the undersized back will see from the get-go. As noted by the Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia, “It would be illogical to think Cook is going to step into a gargantuan role as a rookie while Singletary remains on the roster. Still, Cook’s skill set can help them use the rookie more creatively than their other backs.”
I also think it’s interesting that during a portion of early August training camp, the RBs were split into two different groups. Singletary, Zack Moss and Taiwan Jones stayed with the RB coach, while Cook and Duke Johnson Jr. worked with WRs. Ergo, an injury to Singletary doesn’t necessarily greenlight Cook to be the next version of his brother with Moss likely inheriting work on early downs in case of a Singletary injury.
Either way, you should always be trying to leave your drafts with at least one, if not both, Bills running backs because their upside in a high-powered offense is not being captured in their asking price.
– Andrew Erickson
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Tyrion Davis-Price (RB – SF)
In his five years with the 49ers, HC Kyle Shanahan has had five different No. 1 running backs.
That doesn’t mean Elijah Mitchell won’t have success in 2022. He played well last year (1,100 yards in 11 games). But he’s not built like a lead back at 5-foot-10, 200 pounds, and the 49ers might consider him replaceable given his 2021 draft capital (pick No. 194). He’s vulnerable – and Davis-Price could be the guy to steal his job, given his size of 6-foot-1, 219 pounds, athleticism (4.48-second 40-yard dash) and draft capital (pick No. 93). If I can get a Shanahan back on the cheap with a foreseeable path to touches, I’m doing it.
– Matthew Freedman
Isaiah Spiller (RB – LAC)
Last year, the Chargers gave 137 carries and 33 targets to backup RBs Justin Jackson, Joshua Kelley and Larry Rountree. Those opportunities are up for grabs. Jackson left the team in free agency, and if the Chargers were satisfied with Kelley and Rountree, they almost certainly wouldn’t have drafted Spiller. The former Aggie fell to the fourth round because of a poor pro day with a 4.63-second 40-yard dash, but he remains a potential-laden player as a 21-year-old early-declare rookie with a four-star recruitment pedigree and three years of three-down SEC production (541-2,993-25 rushing, 74-585-1 receiving). Starting RB Austin Ekeler is coming off a career year with 276 touches. Either through a scaled-back workload or injury, he seems unlikely to replicate that usage, which means Spiller could have a valuable change-of-pace and handcuff role.
– Matthew Freedman
Will Fuller (WR – FA)
Fuller is still a free agent, but I bet he’ll sign with a team by August, and when that happens, his draft position and consensus ranking will rise, so I’m looking to get ahead of that now. For his career, Fuller has averaged 9.2 yards per target. Over the past five years, Fuller hasn’t played more than 11 games in any season, so he’s the human embodiment of a red flag – but his 166-2,501-22 receiving stat line for the past half-decade prorates to 1,037 yards and nine touchdowns over a 17-game season. You can’t ignore Fuller’s upside at his price.
– Matthew Freedman
Allen Lazard (WR – GB)
Allen Lazard is not a highlight reel WR talent, but he’s the last man standing in the Packers’ WR corps, and the quality volume will be there for the taking in 2022. In addition, he has familiarity with Rodgers, and Rodgers has expressed confidence in him. That’s enough for me to spend that draft capital on him as a WR3/flex play.
– Joe Pisapia
Drake London (WR – ATL)
London is precisely the kind of rookie receiver I want to take a chance on. He’s big (6-4, 219 pounds), he’s young (21 years old in July), and he’s entering the NFL early (as a junior). He has elite draft capital (pick No. 8), and he had strong college production (88-1,084-7 receiving in eight games in his final season). The USC product could be the next Larry Fitzgerald or Mike Evans with those attributes. If I’m a year too early in drafting him, so be it.
– Matthew Freedman
David Njoku (TE – CLE)
I covet athleticism and target upside at the tight end position, and you should love them too. David Njoku adamantly checks these boxes as we search for a late-round breakout. Njoku utilized his 97th percentile burst score and 81st percentile agility score to post some absurd advanced stat numbers in 2021. Last year he was 11th in yards per route run, fifth in yards after the catch per reception and seventh in slot yards per route run (per PFF). Amari Cooper is the only proven target on this depth chart who Njoku has to fight with for targets. In an offensive scheme that has seen the third and fourth highest target shares to the tight end position over the last two seasons and Austin Hooper gone, it’s Njoku’s time to shine.
– Derek Brown
Gerald Everett (TE – LAC)
Gerald Everett is easily one of my favorite late-round tight ends, so I am glad the consensus is finally starting to catch on. He was solid during stretches of the 2021 season, particularly after Russell Wilson returned from injury. The ex-Rams tight end ranked as the TE9 in fantasy points per game (PPR) from Weeks 10-16 while running a route on 74% of dropbacks.
Everett proved he can be the featured No. 1 tight end for the Chargers coming off a career year. He achieved career-highs in receptions (48) and receiving yards (478) and wreaked havoc with the ball in his hands, forcing 11 missed tackles after the catch — sixth-most among tight ends.
His peripheral metrics in Seattle’s offense — 12% target share, 63% route participation, and 17% target rate per route run — were nearly identical to Jared Cook in the Chargers’ offense last season.
Cook finished as TE16 overall, which seems like Everett’s fantasy floor heading into 2022. The tackle-breaking tight end finished the 2021 season just .4 points per game short of Cook’s average (8.3 versus 7.9) despite playing in an offense that ranked dead last in pass attempts per game (29.1).
L.A. ranked third in that category last season (39.6). They also ranked ninth in TE targets overall.
Breakout tight ends are generally athletic players who earn above-average route participation in high-powered offenses. Everett fits the profile of next season’s star at the position. And he’s still super cheap.
– Andrew Erickson
FantasyPros Staff Consensus 2022 Redraft Fantasy Football Rankings
