The 2022 NFL season is approaching, and that means 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’re also going to have you covered throughout the draft prep season with our content.
The goal of every fantasy football manager is to complete the perfect draft. Impossible, you say? Let’s call it a stretch goal and strive for fantasy football glory. Here’s Derek Brown’s perfect 2022 fantasy football draft.
- Derek Brown’s Early-Round Draft Strategy & Top Targets
- Derek Brown’s Mid-Round Draft Strategy & Top Targets
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 – which optimizes your picks with expert advice – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football draft season.
Derek Brown’s Top Late-Round Draft Picks
Round 10 Target
- James Cook: James Cook will automatically hog the passing downs for the Bills. Devin Singletary has struggled as a pass protector and has been horribly inefficient as a receiving option. Among 73 running backs with 15 or more targets last season, Singletary was 71st in yards per route run. Cook will be a pass game weapon from Day 1 with the upside to eat into Singletary’s early-down work and high-value touches.
Round 11 Target
- Jakobi Meyers: After compiling a top 36 wide receiver last season (WR35), you’d think the fantasy community would put some respect on Jakobi Meyers’ name, but sadly this isn’t the case. Meyers should be a priority target at this point in a draft. He finished sixth in route win rate and second in win rate against man coverage last year. If the Patriots take the training wheels off Mac Jones and let him chuck the rock at will this year, Meyers could be moon-bound. Take advantage of the field’s tepid approach to the Patriots’ offense and punch your ticket for this magical voyage.
- Justin Fields: The brakes need to be pumped immediately on Justin Fields’ fear. Fields finished as a top ten fantasy quarterback in each of his final four full starts last year, with Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet leading the way. Fields averaged 64.2 rushing yards per game in that stretch. While Trevor Lawrence is granted leniency as he emerges from the depths of a broken offensive system, Fields isn’t afforded the same vibe. Unlike Lawrence, Fields displayed growth down the stretch despite his difficult surrounding last year. In his full starts after Week 7, he was the 11th highest graded passer per PFF and seventh in big-time throw rate.
- Skyy Moore: Like with Drake London, it hurts my heart not to name Isaiah Spiller here. Spiller is the 1B selection should you get sniped on Skyy Moore. Moore has the talent and tackle-breaking ability to serve as the underneath weapon Patrick Mahomes sorely needed last year. Moore ranked eighth in yards per route run and 16th in yards after the catch last year (minimum 50 targets). The hype is justified, and the “Skyy” high ceiling is real.
Round 12 Target
- Irv Smith Jr.: Irv Smith is the perfect late-round dart throw at the tight end position. He’s young, talented, in a consolidated passing offense, and in a contract year. What’s not to like here? In 2020 he was eighth in yards after the catch per reception and fifth in passer rating when targeted from the slot (minimum ten slot targets). Smith is a mismatch weapon from the slot for new head coach Kevin O’Connell.
- Albert Okwuegbunam: Albert Okwuegbunam resides in a crowded receiving depth chart with Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, and Tim Patrick all possibly above him in the target line. Okwuegbunam is a player to push your chips to the middle with if we’re betting on talent winning out, especially late in drafts. Over the last two years, he has ranked sixth and fifth in yards per route run and seventh and fourth in YAC per reception (minimum 15 targets). Talent plus massive touchdown upside in an improved offense make Okwuegbunam a priority late-round tight end target.
Round 13 Target
- Rachaad White: While Ke’Shawn Vaughn hype memories remain, Rachaad White is an entirely different beast that resides in one of the league’s best offenses. If Leonard Fournette succumbs to injury or the Slimfast shakes don’t do the trick, White could be a league-winning pick in 2022. White finished his career at Arizona State with a 98th percentile target share and 88th percentile dominator. He was ninth in yards per route run, and the third-highest PFF graded receiving back in 2021 (minimum 20 targets). With the size and soft hands to handle a three-down workload, it is easy to envision a sky-high ceiling in his range of outcomes.
Final Round Targets Targets
- Jameson Williams: Jameson Williams is the perfect dart to throw as a premeditated stretch run difference-maker. Williams’ health is still in the air as he could start the year on the PUP. He could be the explosive element for the Lions’ passing attack and your fantasy squad when he can get on the field. In his final collegiate season as the Alabama alpha, he was 13th in yards per route run (minimum 50 targets).
- David Njoku: My love for David Njoku is well known if you have already listened to our scorching hot take podcast episode. Njoku has the perfect blend of talent and circumstances that we covet in a breakout tight end. He’s an elite athlete with target volume upside in a consolidated passing tree.
- Tyrion Davis-Price: Depending on which site you’re drafting on, Tyrion Davis-Price could be buried in the ADP, so make sure you find him and add him to the queue before you’re on the clock late. Could Elijah Mitchell return as the 49ers’ primary rusher for 2022? Sure. Is the possibility that Davis-Price wrangling the starter’s job away from Mitchell factored into his ADP? No. His bruising frame and 73rd percentile 10-yard split time could allow him to take over as Kyle Shanahan’s primary early-down and goal-line hammer.
- Jalen Tolbert: Jalen Tolbert is competing with James Washington for starter snaps once Michael Gallup returns to the lineup. Tolbert should beat out Washington, who has only been a part-time field stretcher in his NFL career. In Tolbert’s range of outcomes also lies the possibility that he supplants Michael Gallup as the main competitor with Dalton Schultz for the number two role in this passing offense. Gallup has been just a guy for most of his career, with sub 1.40 yards per route marks in three of his four seasons. Tolbert might hale from a small school, but after ranking 32nd and 12th in yards per route run (minimum 50 targets) over his final two college seasons, we can say the talent is legit.
Derek Brown’s 2022 Redraft Fantasy Football Rankings
ADP – Average Draft Position
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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 Waiver Wire Assistant – that allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and by how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.
