Season Long Fantasy Football | The Dream Draft

We are officially one week away from the NFL's triumphant return, and with that comes "draft weekend". It's estimated as of 2021 that over 40 million US residents partake in fantasy football leagues, with Labor Day weekend being the most popular time frame for drafts. In this article, I'm going to highlight my guys for the 2022 NFL season. These are players that I'm most high on having a big season. I'm also going to break down how I would be attacking my more casual fantasy football draft with friends and family. With that being said, let's get into the picks...

Round 1

Round 1 is very straightforward for me this season. If I have a top-two pick, I'm selecting Christian McCaffrey and Jonathan Taylor in that order. If I pick after the top two, I’m hoping and praying that I can get Justin Jefferson. Cooper Kupp is fresh off a near 2,000 receiving yard season, but with the true uncertainty surrounding Matthew Stafford’s elbow I’ve bumped Jefferson slightly above him. Jefferson has already had basically the best two year stretch to start a receiving career in NFL history, and he could truly pop off this season playing in a more fantasy-friendly offense. If all three of those players are gone, I would be happy with either Cooper Kupp or Ja’Marr Chase as consolation prizes. Chase one-upped Jefferson’s dominant rookie season in 2021 while playing with a truly horrific offensive line. There’s no telling how high his upside actually is this season.

Round 2

Round 2 is a running back round for me, and it starts with Saquon Barkley. This is the one player I have the most conviction on this season, and it pains me to see him creeping into the bottom of Round 1 after being regularly selected in the third round a few months ago. I think people have forgotten how good he is. I full-faded him the last two seasons due to how bad the Giants offense projected to be, but now is the time to buy back in. I’m much more bullish on this offense this season from a play-calling standpoint. I don’t think they’re going to be a great offense, but they can’t possibly be any worse than what they were under Jason Garrett and I think Barkley is going to be on the field a ton. Kenny Golladay is reportedly “moving as stiff as a mannequin” and Kadarius Toney has barely practiced over the last few weeks – though he will reportedly be ready for Week 1. This severe lack of weaponry is going to force touches to Barkley, and there’s a good chance he can lead the league in touches in 2022. He was second in the NFL in touches in 2018, and has a 90 catch season on his resume. For reference, Alvin Kamara has never eclipsed 90 catches in a season. If you can’t get Barkley, the next best things would be D’Andre Swift or Alvin Kamara in that order. Kamara has gone ahead of Barkley in a lot of drafts, but the suspension concerns have held him out of Round 1. Swift is someone I like a lot, and he’s another guy with a massive receiving role. What separates Barkley from Swift for me, is the presence of Jamaal Williams. Williams is going to play, and probably play a lot, and Barkley just doesn’t have those concerns. If things break right for Swift, however, he could be the number one overall player in fantasy football and getting that ceiling outside of Round1 is always a fine move.

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Round 3

Round 3 might shock some people, but this is a priority for me in my drafts this season and it’s locking in Kyle Pitts. Pitts is a historic NFL prospect, and is coming off arguably the best season ever for a rookie Tight End. He fell just short of Mike Ditka’s 1,076 receiving yards, but hauled in 12 more catches. The thing that held back Pitts was the fact that he scored just one touchdown. People can argue back and forth about good luck or bad luck when it comes to touchdowns, but the fact is he’s most likely going to score more touchdowns in 2022. Locking in a massive ceiling at a position almost devoid of ceilings is a fruitful move – and if for some reason Mark Andrews is there in the third round he would be considered for me as well. Depending on how soft your draft is, you may be able to get Pitts in Round 4.

Round 4

There’s a few players I’m targeting in Round 4 of my drafts but the number one priority is Travis Etienne. It’s worrisome that Jame Robinson has returned so quickly from his Achilles tear last season, but we’ve also never really seen an NFL RB return to form after that injury. Cam Akers returned quickly from the same injury late last season, and looked terrible. It’s a win that Robinson will even be on the field at this point and I just can’t expect him to have a good season. Etienne is playing with his college Quarterback, and has elite receiving upside. There’s a real chance he’s a second round pick next off-season so it will feel good to get in early. I don’t love any of the other running backs in this range, so if he’s off the board I would be leaning towards a WR.

Round 5

Round 5 is another spot to pound WR for me, with some strong options in Courtland Sutton, Jaylen Waddle and Amon-Ra St. Brown. I think Sutton is in for a smash season playing with the best Quarterback of his NFL career. We've seen a few WR's take massive fantasy leaps in recent seasons after receiving a QB upgrade and Sutton fits that mold in 2022. Waddle has to share the field with Tyreek Hill this season, but I’m not as concerned as my peers. YAC guys have perennially excelled in Shanahan-like offenses and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect Waddle to score similarly to Hill for a much lower cost in your drafts. St. Brown is another guy I’m very high on, manning the slot role for Jared Goff in Detroit. We saw the rapport they have together late last season, and I think he is a fantastic mid-round fantasy pick.

Round 6

When looking at ADP, I’m focused on WR’s in high-powered offenses in Round 6. We have both Gabe Davis and JuJu Smith-Schuster primed for big-time seasons. Davis feels like a reach, but we all saw what he can do in that playoff game against KC. Davis is a guy that always had upside but was never really awarded the opportunity until late last season. JuJu is the complete opposite of Davis, excelling early in his career and fading since but this clearly a better situation. Patrick Mahomes is a massive upgrade over late-career Ben Roethlisberger and I wouldn’t be shocked at all if JuJu tops 100 catches in 2022.

Round 7

At this point we’ve locked in a solid, solid team and pounded WR effectively. This round can go many ways for me and it just depends on your leaguemates. Weeks ago I was able to grab Dameon Pierce here, but in the smarter drafts he is likely going 5th or 6th Round after the moving of Marlon Mack to the Texans practice squad. It’s a pipe dream that he’s still there, so I would be looking at either another running back – like Chase Edmonds – or a receiver like Michael Thomas. I think Thomas could have a really good season and this is such a discount for someone that has his ability. Ultimately grabbing him here and hoping for Edmonds in the next round would be my strategy.

I'll also bring up the possibilty that Clyde Edwards-Helaire is still on the board. It's gross, I know, but he's still the starting running back on one of the best offenses in the NFL. I think him vs Edmonds is close -- and if you don't want to touch MT you could try to grab both these RB's. 

Round 8

As I just noted, if Chase Edmonds is still here at this point I'm grabbing him. If you locked him up in Round 7 or for some reason he's off the board my lean would be to draft based on your team. You can reach for another RB like Rhamondre Stevenson who I think is a lock to have a big role over Damien Harris for this Pariots team. You also could attempt to set up a back-end stack, picking up Brandon Aiyuk here and pairing him with Trey Lance in the next round. I would rank them Edmonds, Aiyuk, Stevenson in that order. 

Round 9

Around Round 9 is where I’ll go Quarterback. Trey Lance is the clear pick here, I think he has overall QB1 upside and it’s very rare to get that type of potential at this point in the draft. I have 0 concerns about Lance personally, and I think he will be a top-five fantasy QB if he plays a full season in 2022. You can also go for a stack route based-off my prior targets. For example, if you drafted Courtland Sutton, you can pair him with Russell Wilson. I like Russ a lot this season, and he’s been a model of consistency for fantasy football purposes. This offense should be tailored to him, and he could be in for a huge season. Another guy I like late is Kirk Cousins, especially if you managed to get Justin Jefferson. These are really the three main QB’s I’ve been targeting in my drafts this season.

Guys I Like Later On

--Isaiah Pacheco

--Jahan Dotson

--Josh Palmer

Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)