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Shortly after Iowa State QB Brock Purdy was dubbed 2022’s Mr. Irrelevant by the 49ers, teams began scouring for leftovers of what remained from a crazy NFL Draft.
As anybody who has ever rummaged through a bargain bin knows, it’s not always about what you get as long as you get something. Similar vibes can be felt across the NFL as teams sign UDFAs from schools that, at times, sound as prestigious as Bishop Sycamore and whose names may have been generated in Madden franchise mode.
Despite your lack of familiarity with some of these NFL hopefuls, my research has confirmed they are indeed real football players. Some even enjoyed massive amounts of success at Power 5 programs despite their undrafted status leaving you to think otherwise.
You may be old enough to remember when Jaguars running back James Robinson turned into a league winner for fantasy in 2020 despite joining a roster that at the time featured 2017 first-rounder Leonard Fournette.
Fournette would be cut near the end of Jacksonville’s training camp, as Robinson emerged as the team’s No. 1 back to start the season. He rushed for 240-1070-7 and was the overall RB7 in fantasy points per game with 18.0.
This year’s undrafted free agent class may not feature a league-winner of Robinson’s caliber, but that’s not to say reliable contributors can’t come from this class down the road. With dynasty drafts now firing on all cylinders, let’s take a look at some 2022 UDFAs you may want to consider stashing on your taxi squads.
Note: Advanced stats and metrics courtesy of RotoViz, Sports-Reference.com and Pro Football Focus.
A Recent History of UDFAs in Fantasy
Before we dive into a few players of interest, I thought it would be worthwhile to take a quick step back to see how UDFAs have paid off in recent seasons.
Below is a chart that shows how UDFAs have fared in total PPR through their first three seasons in the league over the last 10 seasons (2012-2021) with qualifiers used for each respective position.
- Running Backs (min. 100 carries)
- Wide Receivers (min. 50 receptions)
- Tight Ends (min. 30 receptions)
It’s easy to see the stark difference between production amongst UDFA tight ends relative to what we see from receivers and running backs. Outside of occasional outliers like Antonio Gates, undrafted tight ends struggle to produce early in their careers -- if at all. They have seldom boded well for fantasy as of late.
Running backs and receivers on the other hand have produced at a much higher level, with a total of 23 running backs meeting the 100+ carries threshold and 33 receivers meeting the 50+ receptions threshold. The five highest scores amongst running backs and wide receivers are shown below.
For those curious about UDFA production for quarterbacks, posting the results would only serve a comical purpose. Not many Tony Romos exist out there.
Knowing what we do, honing in on running backs and wide receivers is the clear and obvious edge, which will be our main focus here.
Kennedy Brooks: Philadelphia Eagles, RB
Oklahoma’s Kennedy Brooks enjoyed a long and productive career during his time at Oklahoma, rushing 472 times for 3,320 yards and 31 touchdowns in three seasons. Brooks has the unique distinction of posting a 1,000-yard season in each of his three years in college which included a freshman year in which he averaged 8.9 YPC.
Per Pro Football Focus, Brooks forced a missed tackle on 31% of his touches throughout his career and saw 49.1% of his runs come on gains of 15+ yards.
Eagles running back Miles Sanders is set to be an unrestricted free agent after this season and has missed nine games over the last two years. Veteran running back Boston Scott has been mostly pigeonholed into a backup role as has second-year back Kenneth Gainwell, who saw the fewest carries (56) on the team despite playing the most games (15).
While Brooks played three seasons at Oklahoma, he was on campus for five years and opted out of 2020 due to COVID. He is one of the older running backs in the class and set to turn 24 in October.
Kevin Austin: Jacksonville Jaguars, WR
For a team that broke the wide receiver market earlier this offseason, the Jaguars may have found a bargain in Notre Dame’s Kevin Austin. NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein profiled Austin as a third or fourth-round selection in this year’s draft only to see the results play out far differently.
Austin comes with a few red flags on his collegiate profile including a suspension (undisclosed) for the entirety of the 2019 season and a lost 2020 due to a foot injury.
With a healthy 2021 campaign, Austin showed the nation what he was capable of by going for 48-888-7 and averaging an explosive 18.8 YPR. He eclipsed the century mark three times last season and closed out the year with back-to-back 100-yard games against Stanford and a stout Oklahoma State defense.
When it comes to size-adjusted athleticism, Austin is elite.
His 9.94 RAS ranks 18th of 2,786 wide receivers dating back to 1987, making him a near #unicorn. He had a 14.9 career aDOT during his time at Notre Dame and converted an impressive 52.2% of his contested targets into receptions.
Austin may not crack Jacksonville’s starting lineup as a rookie, but veteran wide receiver Marvin Jones is nearing the back nine of his career while offseason free agent signing Zay Jones has yet to prove himself capable of consistent production.
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Abram Smith: New Orleans Saints, RB
After Alvin Kamara, the Saints have one of the more underwhelming running back depth charts in the league. Veteran Mark Ingram appears to be next in line for work behind Kamara but is set to enter his age-32 season with unproductive college producer and 2020 UDFA Tony Jones behind him.
Ingram spent a portion of his 2021 with the Texans before joining the Saints. In his encore season with the team, Ingram rushed for 68-260-1 in 14 games but was a healthy scratch in the final two weeks of the season. Jones averaged a dismal 2.6 yards per carry on 54 touches, with his best game coming in a Week 1 blowout over the Packers. He would earn double-digit touches just once over the following 16 games.
Enter Abram Smith, who joined Baylor as a running back, switched to linebacker in 2020, and reverted back to running back for 2021.
Another UDFA contract with strong guarantees:#Saints RB Abram Smith's deal includes a $15k signing bonus and $207k base guarantee for $222k in total guarantees.
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) May 3, 2022
New Orleans didn't draft an RB. Smith earned a 90.2 @PFF grade at Baylor last season.
Despite meager production early in his career, Smith exploded for 257-1601-12 in his lone season as Baylor’s lead ball-carrier, earning 46.3% of the Bears’ rushing opportunities. Smith forced 49 missed tackles on the year per PFF and surpassed 100 yards in nine of his 14 games.
The Saints didn’t address running back during the draft and made Smith their only UDFA running back at the time of this article being written.
Ingram could make for an easy cut candidate this offseason with the twilight of his career in sight, and Jones’ status as the RB3 is far from safe. Smith is worth a look if for no reason other than the aging, underwhelming RB depth chart he hopes to break into.
Mataeo Durant: Pittsburgh Steelers, RB
Similar to Abram Smith, former Duke running back Mataeo Durant will look to crack an underwhelming backfield in hopes of earning a spot on the Steelers’ 53-man roster this offseason. The Steelers made Durant the highest-paid UDFA RB in team history after the draft, which included a $15,000 signing bonus.
Behind second-year running back Najee Harris, the Steelers have a veteran group of backs who have offered up little in recent years.
Benny Snell is entering his fourth year with the team and has a career rushing line of 255-892-6 (3.5 YPC), but posted career lows last season despite playing in all 17 games. Anthony McFarland finds himself in a similar scenario, entering his third year with just 36 carries for 116 yards to his name.
Durant won’t turn a lot of heads coming as a running back from Duke, but he gave the Blue Devils solid production over his final two years with the team.
Durant didn’t earn an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine but ran a 4.43 at Duke’s pro day and finished with an above-average RAS of 6.50. He’s a bit undersized at 196 pounds but displayed some pass-catching prowess with 55 receptions in 42 career games. Durant split time with current Colts running back Deon Jackson for most of his time at Duke but broke out in his final season as Duke’s lead back.
Durant may face an uphill battle to land on Pittsburgh’s 53-man roster to start the season, but given the lack of production by soon-to-be third and fourth-year veterans, there’s no reason to believe Mike Tomlin will be giving any preferential treatment to his backfield’s incumbents.
Justyn Ross: Kansas City Chiefs, WR
One of the more interesting UDFAs of this year’s draft is Clemson receiver Justyn Ross.
Former first-round prospect Justyn Ross goes undrafted, hopes for one chance. https://t.co/0hvJqgCpkX
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 1, 2022
Ross burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2018 with the Tigers and quarterback Trevor Lawrence, going for 46-1000-9 (21.7 YPR) -- narrowly outproducing some other guy named Tee Higgins. Ross would find similar success in 2019 (66-865-8) but saw his career hit a detour in 2020.
That season, Ross was diagnosed with a condition known as Klippel-Feil syndrome, which requires spinal surgery to correct. He would miss all of 2020 but returned in 2021 despite recommendations to avoid anything that may cause damage to his neck.
Nevertheless, Ross appeared in 10 games for the Tigers last season, but was hampered by underwhelming quarterback play and a stress fracture in his foot that he battled through for several games before shutting down late in the season. He finished with just 46 receptions for 514 yards and three scores, appearing in 10 games for the Tigers.
After going undrafted, Ross signed with the Chiefs, making his potential upside all the more interesting with Patrick Mahomes throwing him the football.
From a real-life standpoint, Ross’ long-term health is a legitimate concern and likely the reason went undrafted. In dynasty, however, he’s a free square receiver whose college production profile would have left us drooling if attached to a clean bill of health.
Chiefs GM Brett Veach shared that Ross has been medically cleared to play. Now it’s on him to stay healthy, earn a roster spot, and prove the doubters wrong while leading us to fantasy glory.
