With the 2022 NFL Draft less than a month away, rookie fever is running rampant in dynasty leagues across the fantasy football landscape. Despite not knowing where this year’s crop of highly touted rookie prospects will be playing in the professional ranks, now is a great time to run through some rookie mock draft exercises to gauge player values as they stand currently.

We will be running through a 12-team, five-round Superflex PPR mock draft for today’s exercise, and I will be selecting from the ninth spot. Let’s dive into it and see how things end up.

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Round One

• 1.01 – Kenny Pickett (QB)
• 1.02 – Malik Willis (QB)
• 1.03 – Breece Hall (RB)
• 1.04 – Sam Howell (QB)
• 1.05 – Treylon Burks (WR)
• 1.06 – Matt Corral (QB)
• 1.07 – Carson Strong (QB)
• 1.08 – Garrett Wilson (WR)
• 1.09 – Drake London (WR)
• 1.10 – Kenneth Walker (RB)
• 1.11 – Desmond Ridder (QB)
• 1.12 – Isaiah Spiller (RB)

The demand at the quarterback position, given the Superflex format, is on full display throughout round one. The big takeaway is that it will push premier players at other positions down the board for those drafting in the back half of round one. We’re all well aware of how valuable quarterbacks are in Superflex, but the only one currently I’d personally feel solid about selecting in round one is Malik Willis.

With him off the board by the second overall selection, it was just a matter of who would make it to me at the ninth pick. Drake London is currently my second-ranked rookie wide receiver, so to grab him with the ninth pick is a huge win. We saw five quarterbacks come off the board in round one, three running backs, and three wide receivers.

Round Two

• 2.01 –  Chris Olave (WR)
• 2.02 – Jameson Williams (WR)
• 2.03 – George Pickens (WR)
• 2.04 – David Bell (WR)
• 2.05 – Jahan Dotson (WR) 
• 2.06 – Zamir White (RB)
• 2.07 – Jalen Wydermyer (TE)
• 2.08 – Kyren Williams (RB)
• 2.09 – Rachaad White (RB)
• 2.10 – Christian Watson (WR)
• 2.11 – John Metchie (WR)
• 2.12 – Brian Robinson (RB)

The strength of this year’s wide receiver class is on full display through the top of round two. We see five more wide receivers come off the board consecutively to kick off round two. A number of these players are round one talents, pushed down due to the depth of the position and the demand at quarterback.

A bit of a cliff came at wide receiver after Jahan Dotson went off the board with the 2.05, so I happily pivoted and selected Rachaad White with the ninth round-two selection. White has the highest receiving upside of any running back in this class. Combined with his patient running ability and slightly better than expected athletic testing at the combine is a great value towards the end of round two.

Round Three

• 3.01 – James Cook (RB)
• 3.02 – Skyy Moore (WR)
• 3.03 – Justyn Ross (WR)
• 3.04 – Trey McBride (TE)
• 3.05 – Dameon Pierce (RB)
• 3.06 – Wan’dale Robinson (WR)
• 3.07 – Jerrion Ealy (RB)
• 3.08 – Tyler Badie (RB)
• 3.09 – Jerome Ford (RB)
• 3.10 – Jalen Tolbert (WR)
• 3.11 – Tyler Allgeier (RB)
• 3.12 – Calvin Austin (WR)

In round three, we get a relatively even mix of running backs and wide receivers coming off the board, along with who many people consider the top tight end in the class in Trey McBride. None of the running backs who went off the board ahead of my selection are ranked higher for me than Jerome Ford, making him a fairly easy choice in this scenario. From a sheer value perspective, I view Ford similarly to Rachaad White, who we selected a full round earlier. At this point in the draft, Ford has better odds of earning a true three-down role for an NFL team than many of his peers.

Round Four

• 4.01 – Pierre Strong (RB)
• 4.02 – Khalil Shakir (WR)
• 4.03 – Isaiah Likely (TE)
• 4.04 – Ty Chandler (RB)
• 4.05 – Jeremy Ruckert (TE)
• 4.06 – Greg Dulcich (TE)
• 4.07 – Kennedy Brooks (RB)
• 4.08 – Romeo Doubs (WR)
• 4.09 – Alec Pierce (WR)
• 4.10 – Jelani Woods (TE)
• 4.11 – Tyquan Thornton (WR) 
• 4.12 – Bailey Zappe (QB)

We see a bit of a run on tight ends here in round four, which makes sense as we’re well into dart throw territory for the majority of the wide receivers and running backs selected this late in the draft. While some of the tight ends may take longer to return value in terms of fantasy productivity, some are more likely to enjoy more fruitful NFL careers than some of the running backs and receivers. The player who stood out for me when we came back on the clock is Alec Pierce. Pierce is a player who I think stands apart from the rest of these late-round wide receivers in the sense that I think there is a chance he ends up a better player in the pros than he was in college. His size and toughness should make him an early contributor, especially in the red zone.

Round Five

• 5.01 – Tyrion Davis-Price (RB)
• 5.02 – Charleston Rambo (WR)
• 5.03 – D’Vonte Price (RB)
• 5.04 – Zonovan Knight (RB)
• 5.05 – Hassan Haskins (RB)
• 5.06 – Kevin Harris (RB)
• 5.07 – Keaontay Ingram (RB)
• 5.08 – Sincere McCormick (RB)
• 5.09 – Charlie Kolar (TE)
• 5.10 – Daniel Bellinger (TE)
• 5.11 – Bo Melton (WR)
• 5.12 – Trey Sanders (RB)

The last of the worthwhile running back targets came off the board ahead of our selection in round five, and any of the wide receivers available aren’t exactly what I’m looking for this late. After the early run on quarterbacks, there has not been much movement. I’m typically not a fan of investing in quarterbacks that I don’t expect to ever turn into long-term starters, but if Bailey Zappe made it to me in round five, he would have been in consideration.

With the ninth selection in round five, I selected Charlie Kolar. Kolar was a tight end I was a fan of last offseason before he decided to return to school. After a productive four seasons with Iowa State, Kolar has the receiving chops to come in and be a steady, reliable pass-catching option for whichever team selects him in the NFL draft.

Biggest Takeaways

The early run on quarterbacks pushed a ton of talent into the second round of this simulation. In your rookie drafts, there’s a likelihood that not all of these quarterbacks go round one, but it’s a fair assumption that many, if not all, go in the top two rounds.

The value at wide receiver is substantial throughout the top two rounds, but it falls off a cliff once the likes of Skyy Moore and Christian Watson are off the board late round two or early round three.

Running back is interesting this year. The three players commonly mentioned at the top of the class (Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker, and Isaiah Spiller) all went round one, but good value was found over the next two rounds. Once the NFL Draft concludes and we know landing spots for all of these players, it will be fascinating to see how values change.

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