The 2022 NFL season is rapidly approaching and that means it is fantasy football draft season. The 2022 FullTime Fantasy Staff Predictions give you all the insight you’ll need to dominate your league’s draft.
FullTime Fantasy’s exclusive Preseason Pro Series offers unique insight from some of the world’s most successful high-stakes players. In addition, we have the reigning No. 1 draft ranker Billy Muzio and former Most Accurate Expert, Jody Smith, assuring that FullTime Fantasy members get the absolute best rankings and analyses that are available anywhere!
Just like when you visit our PreSeason PRO Hub, we polled the FullTime Fantasy staff to present our official preseason staff picks for sleeper, bust, breakout, and comeback players of the year. For transparency, here’s how we’re defining those picks.
- Sleeper: A player who is being overlooked and will outperform his average draft position (ADP) in 2022.
- Bust: A player who is highly regarded and will underperform his ADP in 2022.
- Breakout: A player (rookies included) who will rise up with career-best numbers in 2022 and make a huge impact.
- Comeback: A player who underperformed or was injured in 2021 and is due for a significant rebound in 2022.
Before you prepare for the real deal, be sure to snag your first free mock draft on us and be eligible for some amazing prizes. Now, let’s get on to the 2022 FullTime Fantasy Staff Predictions.
Our 2022 Breakout Player is…
Michael Pittman (WR) Indianapolis Colts – Fresh off the heels of a solid WR18 campaign last season, Michael Pittman checks all the boxes of an ascending player. First, he’s already an elite talent with the size (6-4, 223) to dominate in all facets of the game. Secondly, he fits the third-year wide receiver breakout narrative, although the 88/1,082/6 showing in 2021 indicates he has already arrived. Finally, the upgrade from Carson Wentz to Matt Ryan can not be understated. Ryan has a history of peppering his No. 1 wideouts with targets. If the past is any indicator, Pittman is about to contend for top-5 fantasy numbers in 2022.
Matt Ryan’s No. 1 WRs
2008- 148 tgts. 88 rec. 1382 yds 7 TD (WR4)
2009- 165 tgts. 85/1153/11 (WR9)
2010- 179 tgts. 115/1389/10 (WR1)
2011- 180 tgts. 100/1296/8 (WR5)
2012- 142 tgts. 92/1351/7 (WR10)
2013- Julio Jones played just 5 games but pace of 188 tgts. 131/1856/6 (WR2)— Jody Smith #TagsStrong💪 (@JodySmithNFL) August 22, 2022
Looking at our 2022 Fantasy Football Rankings, we’re all-in on Pittman in 2022. And that’s why he’s our easy pick for Breakout Player of the Year.
Our 2022 Bust Player is…
Cam Akers (RB) Los Angeles Rams – You have to love that Akers made such a rapid recovery from a debilitating Achilles injury. His postseason usage during LA’s Superbowl run was also encouraging but Akers didn’t look like the same player he was pre-injury. Akers averaged a paltry 2.4 yards per tote in 2021 and rushed for 15-plus yards on just one of his 72 attempts. Worse, he ranked 147th, dead last, in PFF’s running back grades and 95th in Elusive Rating. Rumors also persist that Sean McVay has every intention of keeping Darrell Henderson heavily involved. Perhaps Henderson even overtakes Akers as the main pass-catching back. Akers is still being drafted as a top-20 fantasy running back this summer but we have a hard time seeing him living up to that lofty ADP.
Our 2022 Sleeper is…
Nico Collins (WR) Houston Texans – Collins has drawn rave reviews from the Houston media ahead of his sophomore NFL campaign. The 6-foot-4 215-pound wideout has made several big plays in August, including reeling in an impressive touchdown strike from QB Davis Mills during the Texans’ preseason victory in Los Angeles against the Rams. Collins is locked into the No. 2 role in Houston and should see extremely favorable game scripts for a team with the third-lowest win total this season. Finally, looking at FullTime Fantasy’s Strength of Schedule Tool, the Texans have the league’s 13th easiest schedule during the regular season. But that slate improves to No. 1 in the fantasy playoffs from Weeks 14-17.
Our 2022 Comeback Player is…
Allen Robinson (WR) Los Angeles Rams – Generally, a comeback player missed a significant portion of the preceding season due to injury. That makes Christian McCaffrey and Derrick Henry easy choices but we wanted to dig a little deeper. No one disputes Allen Robinson‘s skills but he has been hampered by anemic quarterback play throughout his career. Yet, Robinson has managed to be a solid fantasy option despite the suboptimal signal callers. That won’t be the case in 2022 as Robinson will get to catch targets via Matthew Stafford. Stafford just led Cooper Kupp to a fantasy MVP campaign in 2021. We expect Robinson to rebound in a huge way and feel comfortable projecting him to flirt with WR1 numbers.
Lastly, If you have time to prepare, make sure you mock in our Mock Draft World Championships. No better way to practice for the real thing. NEW THIS YEAR: FullTime Members get 5 Free On-Demand Mock Drafts in our contest! Head to MockDraftNow.com and enter the REDEMPTION CODE you received by email.
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