Skip to main content

Top 10 Burning Fantasy Football Questions (2022)

Top 10 Burning Fantasy Football Questions (2022)

Our analysts took a look at the NFL landscape, identified the biggest fantasy-relevant question for every team, and then broke down each situation. Here are  10 burning questions they have for some of the situations around the league ahead of the 2022 NFL Season.

Previously, our analysts took a look at the most overrated and underrated players, the top rookies, the top breakout candidates and the safest pick on each NFL team:

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.

Fantasy Football Redraft Draft Kit

Will Deshaun Watson play in 2022?

If QB Deshaun Watson plays for even half of the 2022 season, then the Browns have a shot of competing for a Super Bowl, and most of their skill-position players will offer value at their current ADPs. If, however, Watson misses a supermajority of the year, then not even RB Nick Chubb will be a player I’ll want much exposure to in fantasy.
Matthew Freedman

Will anybody step up in the receiving corps behind Travis Kelce?

Travis Kelce can’t do it all in the Chiefs’ passing game. Somebody is going to have to step up behind him. But it’s unknown at this point whether it will be a different guy every week based on gameplan/matchup or if someone will actually carve out a consistent target share behind Kelce. JuJu Smith-Schuster is probably the “safest” bet to lead the WRs in target share based on his career history and Mahomes’ track record of targeting the slot without Tyreek Hill in the lineup.
Andrew Erickson

Is Cam Akers worth drafting as a top 20 running back?

The short answer is yes. Cam Akers faced a mountain of adversity last season in his return, and that’s not even accounting for the severe injury he returned from. Akers played at least 53% of snaps in three of his four games in the playoffs, with a high of 81% against the Buccaneers. Sean McVay had no issues leaning on his young back, but the offensive line offered him no help up front. 94.8% of his rushing yards during this stretch came after contact.

Add in that Akers faced four teams that ranked 17th, fifth, second, and ninth in adjusted line yards allowed last year, and it’s no wonder he struggled. With a full offseason to work his way back, a coach willing to roll with him in a workhorse role, and an offense that was sixth in points per game and third in red-zone scoring attempts per game, Akers is primed to pay off.
Derek Brown

Will Justin Jefferson get 2021 Cooper Kupp usage?

New Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell coordinated the Rams offense that funneled a league-high 191 targets to WR Cooper Kupp last year, and now he has WR Justin Jefferson, who is No. 1 with 3,016 yards receiving in his first two NFL seasons. Like Kupp, Jefferson can play in the slot and on the perimeter, and he could legitimately build on his 167 targets from last year as the Vikings shift toward a more pass-focused offense. Regularly selected as a top-three receiver in fantasy drafts, Jefferson could lap the field — as Kupp did last year — if he gets Kupp-like usage.
Matthew Freedman

Is Saquon Barkley still elite?

Saquon Barkley was the RB1 in PPR leagues as a rookie, and he followed that up by finishing RB10 in 2019 despite missing three games. He missed 14 games in 2020 after a devastating knee injury and didn’t look himself in 2021, averaging 3.7 yards per carry and 4.6 yards per target. He also missed four games with a sprained ankle. After two injury-plagued years, Barkley is more affordable than ever in fantasy drafts, and the arrival of new head coach Brian Daboll offers hope for a livelier NYG offense, but can Barkley still be the fantasy colossus he was in his first two NFL seasons?
Pat Fitzmaurice

How will Deebo Samuel be used?

In the first half of last season, WR Deebo Samuel had 81 targets in eight games. In the second half, he shifted to the “wide back” position and had just 40 targets in the same number of contests. He had almost as many yards (904 vs. 866), but he did it with unsustainable efficiency (13.1 yards per target, 6.5 yards per carry) and an unlikely rushing workload (53 carries). If Samuel is to repeat as a top-10 fantasy receiver in 2022, he will almost certainly need to have more target volume than he did to close the 2021 season.
Matthew Freedman

Can the “King” Derrick Henry still handle an insane workload?

Derrick Henry was viewed as nearly invincible but finally broke down in the middle of last season with a foot injury after averaging nearly 30 touches per game. At 28 years old coming off a season with a career-low in yards per carry (4.2) and rushing yards over expectation per attempt (0.05) is this the beginning of the end of his supreme reign in fantasy football?

A lack of receiving usage combined with impending offensive regression from last year’s No. 1 seed in the AFC. The Titans plan on riding him out as long as he’s healthy, so Henry might start out the gates hot. But things could turn quickly by the time the fantasy football playoffs come along.
Andrew Erickson

Is Michael Thomas still good?

The last time we saw WR Michael Thomas, he was one of the best receivers in the league — but that was almost two years and one Hall-of-Fame coach-quarterback combination ago. Thomas is now 29, and he’s still not fully recovered from his ankle injury. If he’s still the player he was in 2020, he will offer massive value at his ADP. If he isn’t, then WRs Chris Olave and Jarvis Landry could be underappreciated sleepers.
Matthew Freedman

Who will be Russell Wilson’s go-to wide receiver?

Cover your eyes, Jerry Jeudy believers. While Jeudy did take a step forward last season, ranking 24th in yards per route run (minimum 50 targets, per PFF), he has never displayed elite-level target earning ability and won’t be the deep threat in the offense. In his two seasons, Jeudy has ranked 30th and 35th in targets rate per route run. Sutton dipped to 62nd in this metric last year, but if we peer back to 2019, he was 13th while also ranking 12th in yards per route run (minimum 50 targets, per PFF).

The downfield role with Russell Wilson is huge. Wilson has ranked second, tenth, and second over the last three seasons in deep ball rate (minimum 20 deep attempts, per PFF). Only 22.5% of Jeudy’s career targets have been 20-plus yards down the field, where he’s struggled with 55.7 and 67.1 passer ratings when targeted. Last season Sutton ranked second in aDOT and sixth in deep targets. Jeudy can log a productive season with Wilson in 2022, but Sutton will be the king of the Mile High castle.
Derek Brown

How will the Cardinals’ offense function without DeAndre Hopkins?

Kyler Murray‘s production dipped last season without Hopkins in the lineup over the final four weeks of the season. He averaged 18.8 fantasy points per game and 6.3 yards per pass attempt. Murray averaged 24.9 fantasy points per game and 8.7 yards per attempt in the nine games with Hopkins fully healthy. He also posted the No. 1-ranked PFF passing grade (90.5).

Losing Hopkins for six games cannot be ignored, but the addition of Marquise Brown figures to make up for some of the lost production. Murray also tends to post his best fantasy production during the beginning of the season. Considering Murray has averaged 27.8 fantasy points per game as the QB1 and QB3 respectively over the first half of the last two seasons — before he’s gotten hurt — I’d be all over him in drafts if others are reading too much into Hopkins’s absence.
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.

More Articles

FantasyPros Dynasty Football Podcast: How Much is Your First-Round Draft Pick Worth?

FantasyPros Dynasty Football Podcast: How Much is Your First-Round Draft Pick Worth?

fp-headshot by FantasyPros Staff | 2 min read
3 Dynasty Fantasy Football Trade Targets: Running Backs (2024)

3 Dynasty Fantasy Football Trade Targets: Running Backs (2024)

fp-headshot by Anthony Corrente | 2 min read
Fantasy Football Mock Draft: FFPC Best Ball Picks (2024)

Fantasy Football Mock Draft: FFPC Best Ball Picks (2024)

fp-headshot by Tom Strachan | 3 min read
3 Fantasy Football Draft Picks to Avoid: Tight Ends (2024)

3 Fantasy Football Draft Picks to Avoid: Tight Ends (2024)

fp-headshot by Mike Fanelli | 2 min read

About Author

Hide

Current Article

4 min read

FantasyPros Dynasty Football Podcast: How Much is Your First-Round Draft Pick Worth?

Next Up - FantasyPros Dynasty Football Podcast: How Much is Your First-Round Draft Pick Worth?

Next Article