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.
4 Late-Round Running Backs to Target
Rhamondre Stevenson (RB – NE)
Stevenson experienced a very successful rookie season that should not be overlooked. After fully escaping the Bill Belichick doghouse in Week 9, Stevenson earned top grades across the board. He was PFF’s third-highest graded running back (84.2). Stevenson also ranked 13th in rushing yards and yards per route run (1.41).
For fantasy, the rookie running back was the RB25 in total points scored, eight spots behind his backfield teammate Damien Harris. Stevenson (93) and Harris (86) split touches nearly 50/50 in the team’s remaining seven games. In the six games together, Stevenson slightly edged out Harris in expected fantasy points per game (9.3 vs. 8.9) with more favorable usage.
With impressive reports coming out of Foxborough as a receiver, Stevenson is a dark horse to see an expanded role on third downs with James White returning from a hip injury. The second-year back needs to be a priority target as the draft slips into the double-digit rounds.
He was PFF’s highest-graded rookie RB last year…putting him into a tier with the likes of Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jacobs, Nick Chubb and Alvin Kamara – all of who were top-8 fantasy RBs in their second seasons.
– Andrew Erickson
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
FantasyPros Staff Consensus 2022 Redraft Fantasy Football Rankings
