Rookie Scouting Profile: WR Erik Ezukanma
Erik Ezukanma (WR) Texas Tech Height Weight 40-Time DOB NFL Draft Dynasty ADP NFL Comp 6-2 209 4.49 01/25/2000 4-5th 4-5 Michael Crabtree College Production Ezukanma has led Texas Tech in receiving the last three
College Production
Ezukanma has led Texas Tech in receiving the last three seasons despite breaking his arm prior to the 2021 season and missing time, and only starting half the team’s games in 2018. In 2020 he was named first-team All-Big 12. The first Red Raider to accomplish that feat since Michael Crabtree. He was second-team last season. He’s an impressive athlete and prospect as a team captain and their best wideout.
Strengths
• Big body target with length and strength.
• Showed leadership.
• Can go up and…
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2022 Dynasty Rookie RB Rankings
For dynasty fantasy enthusiasts, the NFL Draft is the highlight of the entire season. All that hard work put into scouting, film, and rookie profiles finally play out and we get to see the results take place at the draft.
Now that we know the final landing spots of all the 2022 NFL rookies, it’s time to adjust our rankings and rank the 2022 rookie class of running backs.
Following up on my pre-draft rookie rankings, here is my updated approach to how I will be approaching rookie-only drafts in 2022 and how I value the next crop of rookie rushers.
Early-Round Targets
1. Breece Hall (New York Jets) – The pre-draft 1.01, Hall was the first running back selected but wasn’t targeted until the fourth pick of Round Two. Hall’s landing spot was fine, as the Jets seemed to walk away with an impressive draft haul. However, New York also has sophomore Michael Carter on the roster, who was a popular sleeper pick in early ADP.
Expect Robert Saleh to employ a full-blown backfield by committee, with Hall as the 1A to Carter’s change-of-pace and pass-catching role. While not ideal from a fantasy perspective, Hall’s size, speed, and three-down ability should give him the edge in an ascending offense.
2. Kenneth Walker III (Seattle Seahawks) – Speaking of committee backfields, the Seahawks have three capable runners in the fold and will be a tough team to handicap. Chris Carson is expected to be fully healthy and the club also re-signed Rashaad Penny, who single-handedly won many a fantasy league with his late-season performance last year.
Walker may not have an expansive role right away, but he also boasts three-down ability and finished second in this class in explosive rush rate. Regardless of Walker’s 2022 role, both Carson and Penny are in the final year of their contracts, which opens the door for Walker to possibly be the undisputed starter in 2023.
3. Dameon Pierce (Houston Texans) – As we say often, opportunity is everything in fantasy football. And when it comes to opportunity, Pierce appears to have the best shot at opening 2022 with a starting role. All that stands in the way of the fourth-rounder from starting is aging Rex Burkhead and Marlon Mack.
Pierce flashed dynamic upside, ranking second in FBS in missed tackles forced and fourth in yards created per attempt. He was also PFF’s top-graded receiving back in all of FBS and has a pretty clear path to immediate playing time.
4. Rachaad White (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) – Leonard Fournette re-signed with the Bucs but Tampa has little established depth behind their workhorse. White is an outstanding pass-catcher who could start contributing right away. At USC, White showed up outstanding versatility by lining up all over the field. He also has good size (6-0, 218) and boasted an 89th-percentile speed score.
Fournette is likely to remain Tampa’s lead dog but White was one of the top pass-catching options in this class and will give the Bucs a legitimate weapon that offers more three-down ability than Ronald Jones.
5. James Cook (Buffalo Bills) – Zay Jones truthers should be concerned because Cook is an excellent pass-catcher and Jones had clearly fallen out of favor by December. While Devin Singletary remains entrenched as the starter, he’s entering the final year of his rookie deal. Cook is actually bigger than Singletary and ran a 94th-percentile 4.42 40-yard dash. The former Georgia Bulldog has a good shot at being fantasy-relevant quite early on.
WHAT OTHER PLAYERS MADE JODY’S TOP-20 ROOKIE RB RANKINGS?
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Rookie Scouting Profile: WR Velus Jones
Velus Jones Jr. (WR) Tennessee Height Weight 40-Time DOB NFL Draft Dynasty ADP NFL Comp 6-0 203 4.31 05/11/1997 Day 3 3rd-4th Marquise Goodwin College Production After transferring to Tennessee, Jones was a dangerous deep threat and excelled in special teams as a returner. While his skill set may not earn him high grades by NFL teams, his Combine performance certainly did. His ridiculous 40 time combined with his built-in ability to contribute on special teams even if he struggles as a wideout earned him a Day 2 slot Strengths • Elite speed and acceleration • Punt and Kick returns • Can find the holes in a zone defense • Explosive and agile • More physical as a wideout and blocker than most speed guys • Above-average hands • Tracks deep balls well Weaknesses • Limited route tree • Will be 25 when the season starts • Not overly productive throughout college career • Limited experience outside of the slot • Questionable football I.Q. • Adds little to an offense outside of gadget plays and a straight-line deep threat Fantasy Outlook Jones has the potential to be one of if not the best return man in the league. If your league awards points for return yards then he is an intriguing process. Otherwise, he is an extreme boom or bust prospect. It’s extremely unlikely he develops into anything more than a big-play home run hitter. He will see bombs, screens, and end-arounds. He landed in Chicago which isn’t the best-case scenario but could be worse. At the very least the fact that they used Day 2 draft capital on him increases his likelihood of getting a legitimate shot on offense Post-Draft Recap Because of his rather advanced age, Jones might actually have more redraft than dynasty value in 2022. He’s less than one month younger than D.J. Moore, who is entering his fifth NFL season. While the door is wide open for Jones to emerge from a very thin Chicago receiving corps with a substantial role, he’s not a player we expect to see move up much in dynasty formats. Keep an eye on his usage this summer before making Jones a speculative redraft target in the final rounds. Other Rookie Profiles Breece Hall Isaiah Spiller Treylon Burks Garrett Wilson Chris Olave Drake London Kenneth Walker III Rachaad White Jameson Williams Abram Smith Malik Willis Skyy Moore Kenny Pickett Zamir White Wandale Robinson Jerome Ford Matt Corral Kevin Harris Jalen Wydermyer John Metchie Calvin Austin Sam Howell ZaQuandre White Tyler Allgeier Jeremy Ruckert Justyn Ross Jashaun Corbin Desmond Ridder Pierre Strong Jr. JOIN OUR MAILING LIST! GET THE LATEST ARTICLES & UPDATES Subscribe to our FREE newsletter – Breaking Fantasy news & site updates! Like and share our new Facebook page! Be sure to pay attention to our giveaways for your shot at some sweet prizes!
2022 NFL Vacated Targets and Air Yards
The NFL draft has come and gone, and if there is one thing we have learned from the beginning of the 2022 season, it’s that anything is possible. We have seen some of the biggest names in football be traded,
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2022 NFL Draft Risers and Fallers
2022 NFL Draft Risers and Fallers Between the Senior Bowl and the NFL Draft, players see their stocks rise and fall for various reasons on their way to being drafted. These are some of the guys who have seen the biggest swings in recent weeks. For more on the 2022 NFL Draft, check out Jody Smith’s mock draft, my latest mock, and the FullTime Fantasy football industry mock. Risers Derek Stingley (CB) – Not too long-ago Stingley was a lock to be an easy Top 10 pick and probably higher. Then he didn’t perform at quite as high a level in 2020 and missed most of 2021 with a Lisfranc injury. Then he also missed the combine while rehabbing and saw his stock drop. However, after an outstanding Pro Day and positive reports across the board as of late, his stock is back on the rise and he will likely still be drafted as a Top 10 pick. Malik Willis (QB) – We have seen Willis go from a potential high-upside project who hasn’t played against top competition to the likely first quarterback off the board since the Senior Bowl. He displayed his athleticism at the Senior Bowl and every workout since, and scouts and analysts have fallen in love with him. Now, he’s expected to be drafted ahead of every other quarterback in the class and some believe more than 10 spots higher. Rachaad White (RB) – The Top 3 running backs heading into the offseason were Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker III, and Isaiah Spiller. There wasn’t a ton of debate about that. After them, the most popular names were James Cook and Damion Pierce. After an impressive Combine analysts started reevaluating White’s film and statistics. We began to hear, “Spiller is still my RB3 but…” Which has now evolved into, “White has jumped up to my RB3 in this draft.” Treylon Burks (WR) – Burks has worked his way into the Top 10 pick conversation this spring after a rough combine. He ran a 4.55 forty which was slower than expected and many bumped him down their draft boards. However, it seems most are back on board after remembering just how physical and talented he is. The 40-yard dash causes big changes after the combine, but usually cooler heads prevail, and we remember it’s far more important to be good at football than to run fast in a straight line in shorts. Or you end up drafting Denzel Perriman or Darrius Heyward-Bey in the first round. Either or. Travon Walker (EDGE) – After displaying otherworldly athleticism at the combine, Walker shot up draft boards. You can make an argument he wasn’t a Top 3 player on his college defense before that. Now he’s the betting favorite to go first overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday. There’s no doubt he’s seen the greatest rise this spring of any player looking to join the NFL on April 28. Fallers George Karlaftis (EDGE) – Some considered him the top edge rusher in the draft heading into a combine. After a poor showing at the combine, he has fallen down draft boards. Many had who had him as a single-digit pick now have him going much later in the first. He looked stiff and didn’t show great bend in combine drills and opted not to participate in speed drills which were his biggest question mark. Isaiah Spiller (RB) – Spiller was locked in at the RB3 heading into the offseason, but that may not be the case anymore. He battled an abductor injury at the combine and other backs have climbed up draft boards. This isn’t to say he can’t still be a Top 3 back off the board, nevertheless, heading into the combine he was more likely to go No. 2 than No. 4. That’s no longer the case. Jamison Williams (WR) – Williams was at one point a lock to be the WR1 in this draft. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn ACL in the National Championship Game which puts his early-season availability in question. He will still be a high pick, and someone could even reach for him. However, others believe with the unbelievable speed we saw at the combine, teams may not be as inclined to reach for him because there is plenty of speed at the position. Although I will say, of everyone in this article, he’s the most likely to make me look like an idiot and fly off the board early. Sam Howell (QB) – Howell stinks and everyone knows it. However, in a bad draft class, he was still near the top of the list at his position heading into the offseason. Then we saw the ascension of Willis and Desmond Ridder. Even Carson Strong has made some noise this spring. Heading into the season Howell was a potential first-overall pick. Heading into the offseason he was a potential first-round pick. Heading into the draft he’s a potential Day 2 pick. Justyn Ross (WR) – Ross is polarizing, to say the least. He has plenty of raw talent and showed it off during his first two seasons at Clemson. Then he had a serious spinal injury that required surgery. He followed that with a lackluster 2021. We knew we would see a wide range of opinions of him because of course he wasn’t as good in 2021 coming off that injury, but that injury is very real and scary for an NFL team investing in him. Nevertheless, all the athleticism we saw at the combine from receivers likely tanked any chance of him being a high draft pick. Now he needs to hope he doesn’t fall past Day 2. JOIN OUR MAILING LIST! GET THE LATEST ARTICLES & UPDATES Subscribe to our FREE newsletter – Breaking Fantasy news & site updates! Like and share our new Facebook page! Be sure to pay attention to our giveaways for your shot at some sweet prizes!
Rookie Scouting Profile: RB Dameon Pierce
Dameon Pierce (RB) Florida Height Weight 40-Time DOB NFL Draft Dynasty ADP NFL Comp 5-10 219 4.59 02/19/2000 Day 2 late 2nd Chris Carson College Production Rushed for 2,123 yards and 32 TDs as a
College Production
College Production
Rushed for 2,123 yards and 32 TDs as a senior at Bainbridge (Ga.) High and spurned Alabama for Florida. Got 69 carries as a freshman for the Gators and produced 424 yards and a pair of scores. In 2020 rushed 106 times for a team-high 503 rushing yards and also contributed 17/156 as a receiver. Broke out in junior season, scoring 13 times on the ground in just 100 attempts and snagging 19-of-19 targets for an additional three scores.
Strengths
• Absolute beast. PFF’s highest-graded RB from 2021 as a runner and ranked 6th as a receiver.
• Hauled in all 19 targets.
• Scored a whopping 16 touchdowns on just 119 touches in 2021.
• 138 Elusive Rating ranked 14th amongst all running backs and was top-20 in yards per route run.
• Extremely powerful and violent runner who…
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2022 NFL Mock Draft
The 2022 NFL Draft is now just days away and the anticipation is growing. Trying to project this draft might be a futile project but it is always fun to break down prospects and predict their landing spots. It also
After posting Jody Smith’s 2022 NFL Mock Draft 1.0, here is my attempt at forecasting Round One.
1. Jacksonville Jaguars – Aiden Hutchinson (DE) – Many fell in love with Walker after the combine, but Hutchinson is simply the better player and needs to be the top guy off the board if the Jags go with a defensive end as I expect them to.
2. Detroit Lions – Travon Walker (DE) – I don’t love the pick her but the NFL loves upside. Walker is off the board at No. 2.
3. Houston Texans – Ahmad Gardner (CB) – The Texans need everything and Sauce is the best player in this draft. They need to go best available and they do here.
4. New York Jets – Kayvon Thibodeaux (EDGE) – With Gardner off the board to the Texans, Thibodeaux is the no-brainer choice here being that I can’t see them going O-line.
5. New York Giants …
WHO DOES MARK THINK THE GIANTS and the remainder of the teams will take?
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How to Play Dynasty Fantasy Football
I love playing fantasy football, but I prefer playing dynasty fantasy football. For those of you who are not familiar with dynasty leagues, the concept is very similar to a keeper league, but instead of keeping just one, three, or five players, you’re able to keep all of your players. The reason I play in a dynasty league is because of the additional strategy that is involved in these types of leagues. Many dynasty league players will cite the challenge, as most dynasty leagues have very serious owners. Dynasty leagues are basically a year-round league and are as close to owning an NFL franchise as most of us will ever come close to doing. After your league holds its yearly draft you have to decide whether the players you’ve just drafted are more valuable than those already on your roster because you have to cut players from your roster to get down to the roster limit prior to the first game of the season (or whenever your league has set the deadline). When making your player evaluations for the draft or roster cuts or free agent pickups, you have to be conscious of whether the decision you are making is a short-term solution or a long-term investment and then weigh the consequences of each. You do not want to fill your roster with aging veterans and cripple your team for years to come, (which you can do in a keeper league for instant success and still recover the following year with a good draft). Nor do you want to load up on first and second-year players, as this would hinder you from competing in the upcoming season. You need a nice blend of players that provide the best opportunity to succeed in both the short-term and long-term. You also want to be aggressive in trading away aging players prior to any dramatic decline in their value. And you want to have a continuum of developing players on your bench who can be a bye week fill-in today and potential future studs. It’s not easy to manage a dynasty league team as there are factors, and strategies, that you do not have to consider when making decisions in a keeper or redraft league. Even the best fantasy football players draft a bad team every now and then. While a bad draft often means a losing season in redraft leagues, owners of lousy teams can still build for the future in dynasty and keeper leagues. This article will focus on strategies for managing a dynasty league WIN NOW OR WIN LATER The first thing one must decide when rebuilding a dynasty team is whether to try to win now or later. If your team is loaded with promising rookies and second-year players then you may want to try to package some of those guys in trades with other owners for established stars. This is one obvious way to make your team an instant contender. However, trading away your youth may leave you hurting in future years. More importantly, it is unlikely that a bad team will have enough assets to trade for a solid starting lineup. Winning now is ideal, but it is not always a possibility and owners with truly awful teams are often better served by planning for the future. Losing can be frustrating, but rebuilding a franchise usually requires patience. And just like the NFL, it’s hard to win year in and year out, so you have to rebuild your franchise. PAY ATTENTION TO COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND KNOW THE TOP ROOKIES This is important in identifying which players will help you build your team. You should pay attention to the key players, and huge playmakers each week. By doing this you will have an idea of who the top players are before the NFL draft begins in April. Before the NFL draft actually rolls around, you should already know which players you want to target in your draft (know who are the top QBs, RBs, and WRs coming out). You can search the Internet for draft analysis and rumors, and get information on the top available rookies. Watch the draft or at least study post-draft analysis of where the player was drafted and the impact he will have on the team that drafted him. Having all this data allows you to compare the rookies to those players currently on your roster, and this will assist you in determining which players you might want to target in the draft or attempt trades to get on your team to help build your dynasty. WHEN TO TRADE THEM This is the hardest thing about a dynasty league: knowing when! When do you play for this year, or when do you play for the future? If before the season you think you have a quality team, go ahead and play for now, and if midseason rolls around finding you at the bottom, well it’s time to build for the future! Just the same, if before the season you can tell your team will not be very competitive, well it’s time to trade a few older marquee players for some future younger players or draft picks so you can rebuild for the long term. The first step to rebuilding your dynasty is deciding which players to keep and which players to let go, either by trading them or outright releasing them. It should be easy to identify the star players of your team and once you’ve identified them you’ll need to decide what to do with them. While a guy like Tom Brady, Ezekiel Elliott, Keenan Allen, or Zach Ertz might be nice to have this season, you could be better off trading either of them away for younger players. Why? Although they are great players they are aging players, and it’s unlikely they will be producing a few years down the line when your team is competitive. It is better to trade older guys now while they still have value. Your team
2022 FFWC Dynasty Draft 1st Round Recap
Our first $1,000 annual entry fee Dynasty Fantasy Football World Championship draft of the season has been taking place this week and there were plenty of surprises and interesting picks. We are going to take a look and recap the first round for you pick by pick. Pick:1.1 Jamar Chase (WR) Cincinnati Bengals With the first-overall pick in the draft Chase comes off the board. I firmly believe he should be the dynasty WR1 over Justin Jefferson so you can’t go wrong with him here. His future looks as secure as any future can be in this league situationally. He’s the clear-cut WR1 on an ascending offense with a quarterback in Joe Burrow who is just 25 years old and has all the makings of a superstar for the foreseeable long-term future. Beyond his situation, his talent is overwhelming. I graded him out as the best wide receiver prospect since Mike Evans in 2014. He did not disappoint with an incredible rookie season catching 81 passes for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns. The scary thing is he has only scratched the surface of his potential coming into the league in 2021 following a year off from football. Pick 1.2 Jonathan Taylor (RB) Indianapolis Colts Taylor is the no-brainer No. 2 pick here. I lean slightly towards running backs so he’d be my first-overall pick, but you can’t go wrong with either of those guys. Especially when you consider how true bell-cow backs are becoming rarer and rarer in today’s NFL. He saw 372 touches last season and I don’t anticipate any dip in his usage moving forward. It could even increase. With all those touches he rushed for over 1,800 yards and 18 TDs in 2021 and tacked on 40 receptions for 360 yards and two TDs through the air. He is as gifted a running back as there is in the league perhaps with exception of Derrick Henry and he gets to run behind one of the best offensive lines in the league. This is a home run pick. Pick 1.3 Justin Jefferson (WR) Minnesota Vikings After Chase, Jefferson is the obvious WR2 in dynasty currently. This is the exact spot he should be drafted at in every draft. In just two professional seasons he’s already amassed 196 receptions for over 3,000 yards and 17 TDs. After an impressive 88 receptions for 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns during his rookie campaign in 2020, he improved across the board catching 108 passes for 1,616 yards and 10 TDs in 2021. With Adam Theilen now on the downside of his career at age 31, Jefferson should only see his role increase particularly in the end zone. With his skill set, he could easily become a 15 TD receiver. The only question surrounding him is the quarterback situation. Kirk Cousins is not an issue for Jefferson’s production, however, he’ll be 34 when this season starts, and rumors constantly swirl each offseason about the possibility of Minnesota moving on from him. The good news is, he’s not a special talent so it’s not like he’d be irreplaceable if he did make his exit. Pick 1.4 Najee Harris (RB) Pittsburgh Steelers If this was the Steelers’ offense of even just three years ago, Harris would be the first-overall pick. The talent is there and the opportunity for touches is massive. Unfortunately, there are a ton of questions surrounding this offense now. The quarterback situation is in flux heading into the 2022 NFL Draft and the offensive line has gone from elite to among the worst in the league at a rapid pace. The offensive line is a huge concern. The loss of Ben Roethlisberger- not so much for me. Whether the quarterback moving forward is Mitch Trubisky, another acquired veteran or they draft a rookie at some point soon; I don’t see it as a detriment. Big Ben has been awful the past few years and declining quickly. I see Trubisky this year, who is the likely Week 1 starter, as an improvement from the Roethlisberger we saw in 2021. Pick 1.5 Kyle Pitts (TE) Atlanta Falcons Many won’t want to draft a tight end this high. I strongly disagree. Pitts is so far ahead of the pack at this position I wouldn’t let him drop anywhere past pick 1.6 and have no issues with him going at the 1.5. He’s a freak talent and at just 21 years old there is no one close to as valuable. With Travis Kelce turning 33 in October and Mark Andrews kicking off Week 1 at 27, the advantage Pitts gives you over any other tight end is almost unfathomable. Pitts caught 68 passes for over 1,000 yards and a TD as a rookie at a position where players typically approve by leaps and bounds in years two, three, and four. The quarterback situation is concerning, but being that he’s the clear top target and the perfect security blanket for either a rookie or weak-armed Marcus Mariota, I’m not too concerned about it. Pick 1.6 Ceedee Lamb (WR) Dallas Cowboys The departure of Amari Cooper from Dallas and a healthy Dak Prescott now a full season removed from injury should bode well for Lamb in Dallas. He caught 79 passes last season, topping 1,100 yards and six TDs. I expect all of those numbers to improve significantly this season and expect consistency from him year in and year out moving forward. There’s not much more to say about this pick. He’s ultra-talented with a solid quarterback and a creative offensive coordinator who will make every effort to get the ball in his hands as the now undisputed top weapon on the team. Pick 1.7 Javonte Williams (WR) Denver Broncos I love this pick and have him ranked Lamb and just about dead even with Pitts. He split time with Melvin Gordon last year as a rookie so his numbers won’t blow you away. He rushed for 903 yards on 203 carries
Rookie Scouting Profile: WR Khalil Shakir
Khalil Shakir (WR) Boise State Height Weight 40-Time DOB NFL Draft Dynasty ADP NFL Comp 6-0 196 4.43 02/03/2000 Day 2 3rd round Christian Kirk College Production Four-star recruit out of Vista Murrieta High School
College Production
Four-star recruit out of Vista Murrieta High School in Murrieta, California, committed to Boise State and played in 10 games during true freshman season, catching 16-of-22 targets for 170 yards and one touchdown. Became full-time starter during sophomore campaign, and put up a 63/872/6 line in 14 starts. During Covid-shortened junior season, caught 52 balls for 719 yards and 6 TDs in 7 games. Named to All-Mountain West First Team in 2021 and played in the Senior Bowl after compiling 1,117 receiving yards and 7 scored on 77 catches. Had second-most catches in the Moutain West since the 2020 season.
Strengths
• Versatile. Took snaps under center, lined up in backfield and on jet sweeps, and played all over the field as a wide receiver. Also has kick return experience.
• Hugely competitive with elite football IQ and character.
• Dangerous downfield threat who seems to always be where the ball is and make a big play each game.
• Very good hands catcher. Plucks passes out of the air in full stride and excels at creating space on breaks.
• Dangerous run-after-catch…
WHERE SHOULD YOU DRAFT Khalil Shakir in your Rookie Draft?
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