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.
Mock Draft Picks: 12-Team, PPR, No. 11 Pick
Round 1, Pick 11: D’Andre Swift (RB – DET)
In Weeks 1-11, before suffering an AC joint sprain that kiboshed his season, D’Andre Swift was a fantasy monster. He was the RB7, averaging 19 touches and 97.5 total yards per game. While the Lions have added more passing game weapons in the offseason with D.J. Chark and Jameson Williams, Swift’s efficiency through the air allows for hope that his target share (18.4%, second among running backs) won’t see a drastic dip. In Weeks 1-11, he was ninth in yards per route run (minimum 15 targets, per PFF) among running backs.
Round 2, Pick 2: Travis Kelce (TE – KC)
After finishing as the fantasy TE1 for three straight seasons, Travis Kelce was finally de-throned by Mark Andrews in 2021. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end posted his worst points per game average (16.6) dating back to 2017 while also posting a career-low in yards per route run (1.84) and PFF grade (81.8).
It seems logical that Kelce’s reign as the perennial consensus TE1 has come to a conclusion as he enters his age-33 season in 2022.
However, it’s impossible to ignore the high-end target share that Kelce will command in the Chiefs’ offense after they traded Tyreek Hill. His 20% target share ranked second-best at the position in 2021. However, it was a slight fall-off from his 23% average target share from 2019 and 2020.
Round 3, Pick 11: 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 2: Tee Higgins (WR – CIN)
Tee Higgins’ 23% target rate per route run was higher than Ja’Marr Chase‘s 21% during the 2021 regular season as was his 25% target share in the games they played together when healthy. There’s no denying that WR1 overall upside exists with Chase in 2022, but Higgins’ constant command of targets in a loaded Cincinnati offense will make him a screaming value in 2022 fantasy drafts.
Round 5, Pick 11: Travis Etienne Jr. (RB – JAC)
Travis Etienne Jr. was a standout college football running back for the Clemson Tigers from 2017 to 2020 and was selected by the Jaguars in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft -25th overall. However, his rookie season was cut short by a preseason Lisfranc injury. Some NFL personnel reported that Etienne could have come back towards the end of the year had the Jaguars been in playoff contention instead of being the league’s laughing stock.
Etienne is expected to be fully cleared by training camp, giving him a leg up on the RB1 role as the Jacksonville Jaguars install a new offense under new head coach Doug Pederson. With James Robinson attempting to come back from a torn Achilles injury suffered on December 26th, Etienne figures to be the featured back during this spring/summer.
Do not forget what this guy did at Clemson with Trevor Lawrence as his quarterback. During his final season as a Clemson Tiger, he led the country in receiving yards and ranked second in receptions among running backs. Etienne also racked up the most rushing attempts of 20-plus yards (40) from 2018 to 2019 while only carrying the ball 20-plus times once since 2018.
Round 6, Pick 2: Darnell Mooney (WR – CHI)
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 2022 drafts.
Round 7, Pick 11: Jalen Hurts (QB – PHI)
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is easily the biggest winner as A.J. Brown‘s absurd efficiency and YAC-ability in Tennessee was a primary driving force behind Ryan Tannehill‘s fantasy success as a Titan. Hurts is an easy top-eight fantasy quarterback next season with top-five status well within reach. The Eagles ranked second in screen rate a season ago, so anticipate plenty of plays where Hurts just dumps the ball off to AJB for massive chunk gains. Brown finished fourth in yards per route run last season (2.72) despite battling injuries throughout the season.
Round 8, Pick 2: Kareem Hunt (RB – CLE)
Kareem Hunt’s been rumored to be on the trade block this offseason. His contract expires in 2023, and the Browns have a mighty stable of backs behind Nick Chubb including D’Ernest Johnson, Jerome Ford and Demetric Felton.
If no deal is reached by the time the season starts, it would be much less likely that Hunt stays in Cleveland, making him a prime trade target for any team that suffers an injury at running back through training camp/preseason.
Last year, Hunt was limited to just eight games due to a calf injury — but he maintained his effectiveness when healthy through the first six weeks of the season. He was a top-10 running back in PPR averaging 17 fantasy points per game and compiling just south of 15 touches per game.
Hunt’s true upside will always be capped in a backfield as the Robin to Chubb’s Batman. But should an injury occur to Chubb or another star running back, Hunt would easily flirt with league-winning upside if he is awarded the requisite volume to do so.
His sixth-ranked yards after contact per attempt (3.54), sixth-ranked yards per route run (1.81), and 26% target rate suggest he’s not slowing down entering his age-27 season. All he needs is a change of scenery to recapture his rookie-year accolades when he led the NFL in rushing yards.
Round 9, Pick 11: Kadarius Toney (WR – NYG)
Kadarius Toney is a wild card. With offseason rumblings that he could be dealt and an offseason knee surgery to pile on top, Toney is a boom or bust type proposition for 2022. When Toney was on the field last year, there’s no denying that he flashed immense upside. In 2021 among all wide receivers with 100 or more routes, only Cooper Kupp, Davante Adams, A.J. Brown, Antonio Brown and Toney finished with a 29% target per route run rate (or higher) and at least 2.20 yards per route run.
Round 10, Pick 2: Melvin Gordon III (RB – DEN)
Gordon is bound to be written off by fantasy draft pundits this offseason due to his age, but he proved that he still has gas in the tank in 2021. The 29-year-old running back was efficient across the board, ranking eighth in both PFF rushing grade (83.4) and forced missed tackles (45) while compiling 231 touches (16th).
With him back on a high-powered offense and with the potential to receive goal-line touches, he could easily become a screaming value in 2022 like James Conner or Leonard Fournette last year.
Round 11, Pick 11: Rondale Moore (WR – ARI)
Rondale Moore is entering his second season with a straightforward path for an expanded role in the Cardinals’ offense. He flashed his potential early on for Arizona in 2021, with 182 receiving yards in his first two NFL games. But Kliff Kingsbury never opted to go back to Moore with the likes of A.J. Green and Christian Kirk playing solid roles. We should see Moore — and his dead-last 1.3 aDOT — experience significant growth in Year 2 especially with DeAndre Hopkins suspended for the first six weeks of the season.
Round 12, Pick 2: DJ Chark Jr. (WR – DET)
D.J. Chark is likely a better NFL signing than an addition to your fantasy squad. Chark has eclipsed 1.50 yards per route run in only one season (2019), so expecting him to enter this target tree and contend for the top option is asking a lot. His ability to stretch the field is real, as he’s finished with a 119.4 or higher passer rating on deep throws in two of the last three seasons. If the Lions sustain injuries to their depth chart, Chark has shown the ability to lead a passing attack, but outside of that scenario, he’s best viewed as a matchup flex play.
Round 13, Pick 11: Jamaal Williams (RB – DET)
Last season in the early going, Jamaal Williams was the understudy to D’Andre Swift, which is a role he will reprise this season. In Weeks 1-7, he averaged 12.4 touches and 58.7 total yards per game playing 29-49% of snaps per game. He was the RB37 in fantasy points per game. When Swift was out and Williams was active, he played 42-47% of snaps with 18 rushing attempts and 74 rushing yards per game. Williams isn’t the sexiest handcuff or late-round selection, but the Lions’ offense should take another step forward this year, and Williams will be the primary back if Swift were to miss time again.
Round 14, 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.
Mock Draft Results and Analysis
FantasyPros Staff Consensus 2022 Redraft Fantasy Football Rankings
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