While it’s key to have a great set of fantasy football draft rankings, it’s also important to know player’s average draft position. This allows you to see where a player is likely to be drafted versus where the experts have the player ranked. You can then ‘reach’ for a player that experts are higher on before they are usually selected by your leaguemates. Let’s take a look at players the experts think you should consider reaching for this fantasy football draft season.
Rankings noted using FantasyPros half-PPR Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR) and Consensus ADP.
8 Wide Receivers Experts Are Reaching For
Mike Evans (TB)
ECR WR7 | ADP WR9
Mike Evans‘ consistency in fantasy football is astounding. Over the last eight seasons, he’s hit 1,000 yards or more every year. He’s finished as a top 20 wide receiver in weekly fantasy scoring in every season but one. Last season he ranked 11th in red-zone targets and second in total touchdowns at the receiver position. With Tom Brady back in the fold, Evans is a locked-in top 12 option at the receiver position that could crest the top five if Chris Godwin is slow out the gate or starts the season on the PUP.
Michael Pittman Jr. (IND)
ECR WR13 | ADP WR16
Pittman got the true WR1 treatment from the Colts coaching staff in 2021, running a route on 96% of offensive dropbacks – third to only Cooper Kupp (WR1) and Ja’Marr Chase (WR4) through 17 weeks. He also finished the season tied for the league’s eighth-highest target share (24%), which was 11 percentage points higher than the next closest Colt, Zach Pascal, at 13%.
He also made 18 highlight-reel contested catches – fourth most in the NFL. And his 31% target share from Weeks 13-18 cemented his place in Indy’s WR1 chair heading into 2022.
With Matt Ryan under center Pittman has the volume potential to be a top-12 fantasy option. Ryan has a history of fueling top-end fantasy WRs like Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley, making a top-five finish not all that crazy for Big Mike in 2022.
Don’t forget that last season, Ridley as the Falcons’ No. 1 receiver owned the sixth-highest target rate per route run and ranked second among all wide receivers in expected fantasy points per game (16.5).
DJ Moore (CAR)
ECR WR14 | ADP WR18
There’s no denying D.J. Moore’s talent or elite usage for the Carolina Panthers. He was just one of 11 WRs to run a route on at least 90% of their team’s dropbacks to go along with a top-three air yards share (36%) and seventh-ranked target rate per route run (25%).
Most wideouts that own this usage are no-doubt top-12 fantasy options, but Moore’s abysmal quarterback play continues to hold him back. He only finished as the WR19 last season in half-point scoring, as his QB play was graded out as the stone worst in the NFL per PFF. The Panthers literally had the worst QB play last year across several metrics including EPA per dropback and success rate.
But with Baker Mayfield in Carolina, it’s an upgrade for all parties involved.
It’s not being discussed enough that before Mayfield separated his shoulder in Week 6 he ranked sixth in yards per attempt (8.5) and 7th in aDOT (9.6).
The Browns quarterback has shown the ability to support multiple fantasy weapons (not-named Odell Beckham Jr. when healthy) so Moore should be firmly at the top of the fantasy WR2 conversation during the fantasy football draft season. Jarvis Landry – as the Browns No. 1 – finished as WR19 and WR13 in half-point scoring in 2018/2019 with Mayfield at quarterback.
Mayfield also boasts the highest passing TD% of any QB Moore has ever played with, suggesting a career-high in touchdowns is well within reach for 2022.
Courtland Sutton (DEN)
ECR WR21 | ADP WR27
Entering Year 3, it looked like Courtland Sutton was on the cusp of true elite fantasy WR1 production, but his 2020 season was lost due to a torn ACL in Week 2. It was unclear how productive Sutton would be returning from the devastating knee injury.
But to start the 2021 season, the Broncos wide receiver looked like his old self. He averaged 13.8 fantasy points per game (17th) and had a 27% target share in Weeks 2-7 during the regular season.
It wasn’t until Jerry Jeudy‘s return from injury that Sutton – and the rest of the Broncos pass catchers – became obsolete in a crowded, run-heavy offense led by a combination of Drew Lock/Teddy Bridgewater. Nevertheless, Sutton finished the season as the fantasy WR46.
However, even in the anemic offense, Sutton still finished seventh in air yards (1,756), cemented in between Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf, in 2021.
Sutton has a real chance to recapture his elite form another year removed from his ACL injury. It also helps substantially that he has received an ultra upgrade at the quarterback position with Denver’s trade for Russell Wilson.
Wilson has always been an elite downfield passer – he had the sixth-highest passer rating on throws of 20-plus air yards last season – which plays heavily into Sutton’s strengths as a vertical threat.
Rashod Bateman (BAL)
ECR WR27 | ADP WR37
The Baltimore Ravens traded Marquise Brown to the Arizona Cardinals this offseason, opening the WR1 role on offense. Bateman has the opportunity to step in and be the true No. 1 wide receiver for Lamar Jackson (QB – BAL) in 2022 and beyond.
With Brown’s 23% target share departure, Bateman can seize a massive role for fantasy as a high-end WR2. 2022 is Shoddy B breakout SZN.
Other wide receivers the experts are reaching for:
- JuJu Smith-Schuster (KC): ECR WR32 | ADP WR35
- Drake London (ATL): ECR WR39 | ADP WR44
- Christian Kirk (JAC): ECR WR41 | ADP WR45
FantasyPros Staff Consensus 2022 Redraft Fantasy Football Rankings
If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, 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, which allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.
