11 Safest Players to Draft (2022 Fantasy Football)

A couple of weeks ago, our experts took a look at breakout candidates. Identifying breakout candidates is a great way to get more production at a lower cost on draft day. But every player on your team won’t be a breakout candidate. You need those safe and reliable players to provide a solid foundation for your fantasy squads.

Our analysts combed through the NFL rosters and identified the safest picks on every team. The results and accompanying justifications are below. Previously, our analysts took a look at the most overrated and underrated players, the top rookies, and the top breakout candidates on each NFL team

Quarterbacks

Since 2019, Lamar Jackson has never finished lower than tenth among quarterbacks in the percentage of top 12 finishes in games he’s played in.
– Derek Brown

We don’t know how Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon will split carries, and we don’t know how targets will be divided in Denver. What we do know is that Russell Wilson has finished in QB1 range in 9 of his 10 NFL seasons. He finished in QB2 range last year after missing three games (and a big chunk of a fourth) with a finger injury. It was the first time in Wilson’s career that he had missed any starts.
– Pat Fitzmaurice

Running Backs

Joe Mixon was the only RB last season to finish inside the top-36 weekly in a full 16 games played.
– Andrew Erickson

Nick Chubb has scored at least eight TDs in each of his four NFL seasons. He’s run for 1,000 yards in three straight seasons after finishing with 996 rushing yards as a rookie. He’s also finished in RB1 range in each of the last three seasons — even in 2020 when he missed four games. Chubb is one of the best pure runners in the game, and he offers steady fantasy production even though he doesn’t catch many passes and has to share work with Kareem Hunt.
– Pat Fitzmaurice

Volume is king, and Najee Harris is living proof. Despite playing on a bottom-feeding offense a season ago, the Steelers RB posted the 3rd-most top-12 finishes and top-24 finishes.
– Andrew Erickson

Beyond our fantasy football content, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you prepare for your draft this season. From our free mock Draft Simulator – which allows you to mock draft against realistic opponents – to our Draft Assistant – that optimizes your picks with expert advice – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football draft season.

Wide Receivers

Justin Jefferson may be the safest investment of any elite WR. Cooper Kupp is coming off a gigantic workload and you can argue Jefferson is not only the safest Viking, but also the safest fantasy receiver there is.
– Joe Pisapia

Jakobi Meyers finished as a WR4 or better in 80% of his games last season.
– Andrew Erickson

Brandin Cooks finished as a WR2 or better in 53% of his games played last season. That was better or equal to the likes of CeeDee Lamb, Tyreek Hill, Hunter Renfrow, DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Williams, Ja’Marr Chase, DK Metcalf, Michael Pittman Jr., Tee Higgins and Amari Cooper.
– Andrew Erickson

Keenan Allen never finished a week last season as a top-6 WR. But he also busted just once in 15 games played.
– Andrew Erickson

Mike Evans has averaged over 1K yards and 13.5 TDs since Tom Brady rolled into town. He has 1K yards in all eight of his NFL season. He is Mr. Consistency.
– Joe Pisapia

Tight Ends

List of tight ends that played all 16 games last season and busted on fewer than 25% of them: Mark Andrews, Dalton Schultz.
– Andrew Erickson

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 Trade Analyzer – which allows you to instantly find out if a trade offer benefits you or your opponent – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.

NFL