The 2022 NFL season is approaching, so it’s time to prepare for your fantasy football draft. What better way to do that than to practice drafting with our free mock draft simulator! Beyond our tools, we’ll also have you covered throughout the draft prep season with our content.
To help you dominate your fantasy football draft, we share our 2022 fantasy football rankings, advice, and cheat sheets.
This cheat sheet is a handy cliff notes version of our approach to 2022 fantasy football drafts. Our in-depth strategies for the early, middle, and later rounds can be found in our fantasy football draft kit.
And you can find cheat sheets from all of our analysts below.
Fantasy Draft Cheat Sheets
- Freedman’s Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
- Fitz’s Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
- DBro’s Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
- Erickson’s Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
- Pisapia’s Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
Matthew Freedman’s Overall 2022 Fantasy Football Strategy
Check out my 2022 fantasy football draft plan for more details on my overall strategy. Here’s a quick synopsis:
In Rounds 1-2, I want to take 1-2 running backs because I want to go heavy on wide receivers in Rounds 3-6. After the first six rounds, I want to have this positional allocation.
- QB: Nothing
- RB: 1-2
- WR: 3-4
- TE: Top two or nothing
And then in Round 7, I start targeting players whom I believe have underappreciated upside at their average draft positions.
Matthew Freedman’s 2022 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
QB Sleepers:
QB Busts (in relation to where they’re being drafted):
- They’re not busts exactly, but I’m avoiding quarterbacks going in the first eight rounds.
RB Sleepers:
RB Busts (in relation to where they’re being drafted):
- Most running backs in Rounds 3-6 (a.k.a. the “Running Back Dead Zone”)
WR Sleepers:
- Drake London (WR – ATL)
- JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR – KC)
- Rashod Bateman (WR – BAL)
- Gabriel Davis (WR – BUF)
WR Busts (in relation to where they’re being drafted):
TE Sleepers:
- Albert Okwuegbunam (TE – DEN)
- Cole Kmet (TE – CHI)
- Irv Smith Jr. (TE – MIN)
TE Busts (in relation to where they’re being drafted):
Early-Round Value Picks (Rounds 1-5):
- Aaron Jones (RB – GB)
- CeeDee Lamb (WR – DAL)
- D.J. Moore (WR – CAR)
- Brandin Cooks (WR – HOU)
- Leonard Fournette (RB – TB)
- Saquon Barkley (RB – NYG)
- James Conner (RB – ARI)
Mid-Round Value Picks (Rounds 6-10):
- Miles Sanders (RB – PHI)
- Kenneth Walker (RB – SEA)
- Cordarrelle Patterson (RB – ATL)
- Kareem Hunt (RB – CLE)
- Tony Pollard (RB – DAL)
- Drake London (WR – ATL)
- JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR – KC)
- Rashod Bateman (WR – BAL)
- Gabriel Davis (WR – BUF)
Late-Round Value Picks (Round 11 or later):
- Trevor Lawrence (QB – JAC)
- Justin Fields (QB – CHI)
- Daniel Jones (QB – NYG)
- Brian Robinson (RB – WAS)
- Alexander Mattison (RB – MIN)
- Gus Edwards (RB – BAL)
- Jahan Dotson (WR – WAS)
- Christian Watson (WR – GB)
- William Fuller (WR – FA)
Deep-League Value Picks:
Backup RBs to Target:
- Isaiah Spiller (RB – LAC)
- Brian Robinson (RB – WAS)
- Alexander Mattison (RB – MIN)
- Gus Edwards (RB – BAL)
- Tyrion Davis-Price (RB – SF)
Backup RBs to Avoid:
- James Robinson (RB – JAC)
- Samaje Perine (RB – CIN)
- Nyheim Hines (RB – IND)
- Matt Breida (RB – NYG)
- Kenyan Drake (RB – LV)
- Boston Scott (RB – PHI)
- Kenneth Gainwell (RB – PHI)
- Benny Snell (RB – PIT)
Rookies to Target:
- Drake London (WR – ATL)
- Kenneth Walker (RB – SEA)
- Isaiah Spiller (RB – LAC)
- Brian Robinson (RB – WAS)
- Tyrion Davis-Price (RB – SF)
- Jahan Dotson (WR – WAS)
- Christian Watson (WR – GB)
- David Bell (WR – CLE)
- Wan’Dale Robinson (WR – NYG)
Rookies to Avoid:
D/STs to Target:
- I don’t think you should “target” any D/ST. If you must select one in your draft, then target one in the last two rounds with a good Week 1 matchup. That’s it.
D/STs to Avoid:
- Any D/ST going before the last two rounds is going too early.
5-Word Draft Tip:
- Wait on the onesie positions.
- Bonus tip: Shoot for upside.
FantasyPros Staff Consensus 2022 Redraft Fantasy Football Rankings
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