September is here and we are less than one week from NFL kickoff. With football right around the corner, months of fantasy draft research will soon to an end. You’ve likely completed countless mock drafts, endured endless debates with league mates and scrolled rankings/projections for weeks on end. Trust us, we can’t wait for regular season action, too. Whether you’re ready to rock for your league’s draft, looking to refine your strategies or need a place to start, you’ve come to the right place.
Our 2022 Football Draft Guide is loaded with the tools you need to ace your summer drafts, filled with multi-scoring format rankings, industry expert mock drafts, high-upside sleepers, hundreds of player profiles and so much more - we’re confident this year’s edition is among the finest we’ve ever produced. Plus, you’ll find exclusive feature columns from our experts on a range of important topics ahead of the season. If you’re looking for positional tiers, team-by-team insights, and projections for a variety of formats including Best Ball, IDP and Dynasty, then our Draft Guide could be exactly what you’re looking for.
We have already shown off a variety of tools and columns from our latest Draft Guide; RB Half-PPR rankings, WR Receiving Yards projections, expert mocks, and undervalued players, just to name a few, and today we’ll be showing off the final mock draft conducted by Lawrence Jackson Jr, along with his analysis for each round. Have a look below at the first three rounds and his takeaways:
With the last weekend of fantasy drafts on deck, I got together with some fantasy analysts to complete a 12-man, PPR mock. It was a tough, sharp and competitive draft where I definitely got sniped a couple of times. This mock should give you an idea of what’s to come in other drafts this weekend. Nobody let me pick exactly who I wanted, I was mad, but that’s the beauty of it. For the first round, I’ve added analyst Twitter and/or Instagram accounts next to their picks, go ahead and give these folks a follow. Without further ado, here are the analyst and their draft positions
- Dalton Kates (Mojo)
- Samantha Holt (Fantasy Life)
- LaQuan Jones (NFL Network)
- Chris Allen (4for4)
- JL Garofalo (Front Yard Fantasy)
- Faraz Siddiqi (Upper Hand Fantasy)
- Gene Clemons (The Athletic)
- Corey Parson (Bettor Sports Network)
- Adam Ronis (Fantasy Alarm)
- Lawrence Jackson Jr. (Rotoworld)
- Joe Volpe (Fantasy Analyst)
- Troy King (Football Guys)
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Round 1
1.01 Christian McCaffrey - @Dalton_Kates
1.02 Jonathan Taylor - @SamanthaRHolt
1.03 Austin Ekeler - @RealDealFantasy
1.04 Cooper Kupp - @ChrisAllenFFWX
1.05 Justin Jefferson - @FYFJohnLuke
1.06 Dalvin Cook - @UpperHandFantasy (IG)
1.07 Derrick Henry - @geneclemons
1.08 Davante Adams - @TheFantasyExec
1.09 Ja’Marr Chase - @AdamRonis
1.10 Najee Harris - @LordDontLose
1.11 D’Andre Swift - @fantasy.football.analyst (IG)
1.12 Alvin Kamara - @TKingmode
Nothing crazy and out of the ordinary here. Kates noticeably goes CMC first overall for the minor shake up but it gets on par after that. Parson electing to go with Adams over Chase probably is not a popular move on the surface, but considering that Adams eclipsed 110 catches in three of the past four seasons is a PPR dream. The first round ends with three pass-catching backs in Harris, Swift and Kamara, players you love to lock up in this format.
Round 2
2.01 Joe Mixon - King
2.02 Deebo Samuel - Volpe
2.03 Aaron Jones - Jackson Jr.
2.04 Saquon Barkley - Ronis
2.05 Javonte Williams - Parson
2.06 Stefon Diggs - Clemons
2.07 Travis Kelce - Siddiqi
2.08 Tyreek Hill - Garofalo
2.09 CeeDee Lamb - Allen
2.10 Nick Chubb - Jones
2.11 Leonard Fournette - Holt
2.12 Kyle Pitts - Kates
In round two, four of us (myself, King, Jones and Holt) decided to double up on running backs we feel have high upside in PPR. Mixon and Chubb may have been tough to pass up in the second round, but Aaron Jones and Fournette certainly are 50-plus catch type backs in their team’s offense. Garofalo in my opinion comes out of the first two rounds with a bang pairing Tyreek Hill with Justin Jefferson. Allen is not far behind with a combo of Cooper Kupp and CeeDee Lamb. Sadiqqi made Travis Kelce the first tight end taken in the middle of the second round.
Round 3
3.01 Tee Higgins - Kates
3.02 Keenan Allen - Holt
3.03 Ezekiel Elliott - Jones
3.04 Mark Andrews - Allen
3.05 A.J. Brown - Garofalo
3.06 Michael Pittman - Siddiqi
3.07 Mike Evans - Clemons
3.08 Josh Allen - Parson
3.09 Courtland Sutton - Ronis
3.10 Jaylen Waddle - Jackson Jr.
3.11 James Conner - Volpe
3.12 DJ Moore - King
Parson makes Josh Allen the first quarterback off the board to solidify that spot on his roster. To this point, only Kates and Garofalo have no running backs through round three, true PPR pioneers. My favorite pick here is Keenan Allen by Holt, getting a WR1-type player in the third round after starting out with two backs is magical. While I’m not crazy about Courtland Sutton going in the third, the trusty vet Ronis grabs him and must know something we don’t. Volpe and King take James Conner and D.J. Moore respectively, which is about where they go in drafts. Jones gets Ezekiel Elliott here to complete a trio of backs by letting the draft fall to him. After three rounds, Allen is all about pass catchers as he grabs Mark Andrews to go with Cooper Kupp and CeeDee Lamb. Clemons getting Evans as his WR2 after Stefon Diggs is a solid start and Siddiqi chose to take a different position each round.
To see every single round along with the rest of our exclusive features and columns, get your copy of our 2022 Football Draft Guide today!
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