It’s never too early to prepare for your 2022 fantasy football draft. What better way to do so than to mock draft against the top experts in the fantasy football industry! You can use our FREE mock draft simulator to do just that. Let’s take a look at our latest mock draft and player notes.
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Mock Draft Picks: 12-Team, Half-PPR, No. 2 Pick
Round 1, Pick 2: Christian McCaffrey (RB – CAR)
We all know the deal with CMC. When healthy, he’s easily the best player in all of fantasy football. He played in four games in 2021 with at least a 50% snap share and his PPR fantasy finishes were RB1, RB3, RB4 and RB3. McCaffrey averaged 26 fantasy points per game. Considering the extent of CMC’s injuries have not resulted in major surgeries or completely torn ligaments, I like him bouncing back to form in 2022. I like that the Panthers are already putting him in preseason bubble wrap to make sure he’s full-go for Week 1. Four of the Panthers’ 5 wins last season came when CMC was active and playing.
Round 2, Pick 11: Saquon Barkley (RB – NYG)
Last season was nightmare fuel for Saquon Barkley. In his return from the ACL injury, he posted his career’s lowest breakaway run rate (3.1%, per Playerprofiler.com) and yards after contact per attempt (2.69, per PFF). With Joe Judge and Jason Garrett’s special brand of season-destroying special sauce gone, Barkley has all the motivation to crush this year as a pending free agent. With the additions of Jon Feliciano, Mark Glowinski, and first-round pick Evan Neal to pair with holdover Andrew Thomas, the blocking upfront should be much improved. A massive bounce-back campaign could be brewing.
Round 3, Pick 2: Keenan Allen (WR – LAC)
The 2021 season represented the latest installment of Keenan Allen just being straight a baller and one of the most perennially underrated wide receivers in the NFL. He caught 100-plus passes for the fifth straight season and finished as the WR14 overall and in fantasy points per game (12.8).
The Chargers slot receiver remained Justin Herbert’s go-to option as his 17th-ranked 22% target share led the Chargers. But it’s worth noting that Mike Williams out-scored Allen in half-point scoring in the season’s totality, and that Allen posted his lowest yards per route run (1.78) since 2014.
Round 4, Pick 11: DK Metcalf (WR – SEA)
D.K. Metcalf played last season with Geno Smith and a watered-down version of Russell Wilson under center and still managed to finish as WR20. While the pairing of Smith and Drew Lock might hamper his ceiling, Metcalf’s floor is as a low-end WR2. Metcalf’s volume and efficiency should still lend to spike weeks regardless of the quarterback. Last season he was eighth in target share (27.3%), 24th in targets per snap and 20th in yards per route run (minimum 50 targets, per PFF).
Round 5, Pick 2: Brandin Cooks (WR – HOU)
Brandin Cooks has finished worse than the fantasy WR20 only once since 2015, and that was due to injury. He has eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards six times with four different teams during that span.
At just 28 years old, Cooks shows little signs of slowing down. Last season, he was a target and air yards hog, finishing fourth in air yards share (36%) and ninth in target share (24%). And during the final four games of the season with Davis Mills at quarterback, Cooks was top 10 in fantasy points per game (15.0) to go along with a top-five target rate per route run (33%).
Round 6, Pick 11: Kyler Murray (QB – ARI)
DeAndre Hopkins is being suspended six games for violating the NFL’s Performance Enhancing Drug policy. This penalty has massive fantasy football repercussions for the Arizona Cardinals’ offense, starting with quarterback Kyler Murray.
Murray’s production dipped last season without Hopkins in the lineup over the final four weeks of the season. He averaged 18.8 fantasy points per game and 6.3 yards per pass attempt.
Murray averaged 24.9 fantasy points per game and 8.7 yards per attempt in the nine games with Hopkins fully healthy. He also posted the No. 1-ranked PFF passing grade (90.5).
Losing Hopkins for six games cannot be ignored, but the addition of Marquise Brown figures to make up for some of the lost production.
Round 7, Pick 2: Gabriel Davis (WR – BUF)
Gabriel Davis averaged 19.8 fantasy points per game (PPR) and 16.0 expected fantasy points per game in his last six games while running a route on 88% of dropbacks as the Bills finally emphasized his playing time in the offense.
As a strong bet to earn the No. 2 wide receiver job come opening day, Davis has a legitimate shot to be a reliable fantasy option in a Josh Allen-led offense in 2022.
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Round 8, Pick 11: Tony Pollard (RB – DAL)
Tony Pollard is coming off a career-high in rushing attempts (130) and targets (46). Pollard was one of the most efficient running backs in the NFL. Last season, he was fourth in yards after contact per attempt behind only Rashaad Penny, Nick Chubb and Jonathan Taylor (minimum 100 carries, per PFF). He was also first in yards per route run at the position. Pollard offers standalone RB3 production, as he was the RB30 in fantasy points per game last season. If anything happens to Ezekiel Elliott, Pollard has league-winning upside.
Round 9, Pick 2: Chase Claypool (WR – PIT)
Chase Claypool’s second-year breakout was inevitably halted by Ben Roethlisberger’s lack of downfield throwing ability: On throws with 20-plus air yards, Big Ben graded 31st out of 38 qualifying QBs.
Claypool commanded a 27% air yards share on the season and led the team in the metric over the final four weeks. Better days should be ahead of the Notre Dame product if Pittsburgh can get better downfield quarterback play from Kenny Pickett/Mitchell Trubisky.
Claypool is also due for positive touchdown regression after catching just one of his 12 end-zone targets last season. The 6-foot-5 monster is no stranger to hitting paydirt, after being one of eight wide receivers to score double-digit touchdowns as rookies since 1998.
However, Claypool’s range of outcomes is quite wide heading into his third season with 2022 second-round pick George Pickens, chomping at the bit to be the No. 2 on the offense behind Diontae Johnson.
Round 10, Pick 11: Jakobi Meyers (WR – NE)
Jakobi Meyers is easily the most slept-on wide receiver in fantasy football. The former undrafted free agent has been the Patriots’ target leader for the past two seasons, with his most recent accomplishment finishing top-12 in target share (23%) in 2021.
The high-end target share also aligned with Meyer’s deployment in the Patriots’ passing attack, where Meyers was running a route on 92% of team dropbacks — the sixth-highest mark in the league.
New England’s No. 1 receiver just needs to cash in on more touchdowns to unlock his fantasy ceiling. He has been extremely underused in that category; his 866 receiving yards resulting in two touchdowns were the lowest of any WR in 2021.
Round 11, Pick 2: Zach Ertz (TE – ARI)
The stage is set for Zach Ertz to volume hog his way to another top 12 tight end season. With DeAndre Hopkins missing a chunk of the season, Ertz should get off to a fantastic start. Last season without Hopkins in the lineup (Weeks 9-11, 15-18), Ertz saw a 23.7% target share and finished as a top ten tight end in 71.4% of his games. Arizona adding Marquise Brown and Trey McBride will muddy the target waters some, but Ertz’s role in the offense and Hopkins’ missing time should allow him to get off to a fast start and propel him to another TE1 season.
Round 12, Pick 11: Darrel Williams (RB – ARI)
Darrel Williams should compete with Eno Benjamin and Keaontay Ingram immediately for the primary backup role behind James Conner. Williams should be considered the early favorite. While he’s not an efficient runner of the football, he was exquisite in the passing game in 2021. He ranked outside the top 40 backs in true yards per carry, juke rate, evaded tackles, and breakaway run rate. Williams was 12th in yards per route run which helped fuel his 12th ranking in yards per touch. Conner should still be considered the workhorse, but Williams could steal some routes and touches as the season progresses. If Conner goes down, he proved that he could perform in an every-down role last year.
Round 13, Pick 2: Tim Patrick (WR – DEN)
Pairing Tim Patrick with Russell Wilson is the best way to find fantasy value in the later rounds of drafts. Patrick is seriously underrated despite the fact that he has out-produced Jerry Jeudy in the fantasy points column the last two seasons and has seen a featured role as a red-zone threat.
His production over the last two seasons earned him a three-year, $34.5 million contract extension. Like it or not, Patrick will be on the field as much – if not more – as Jeudy in 2022 as the boundary receiver opposite Courtland Sutton. And their two ADPs couldn’t be more different.
Round 14, Pick 11: David Njoku (TE – CLE)
Franchise-tagged tight end David Njoku has a golden opportunity to break out in 2022 with Deshaun Watson as his quarterback after an encouraging 2021. He set career highs in PFF grade (70.9, 10th), yards per route run (1.56, 8th), and yards after the catch per reception (7.0, first) among tight ends that commanded at least 50 targets in 2021.
The Browns also released Austin Hooper, which should open up the opportunity for the athletic Njoku to take a major leap. Don’t be too quick to forget that Njoku already has a top-10 TE finish on his career resume.
Mock Draft Results and Analysis
FantasyPros Staff Consensus 2022 Redraft Fantasy Football Rankings
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If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup, based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant – that allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and by how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.
