The key to any fantasy football season is preparation. Whether you have the first overall pick or the last of the first round, having a sense of who will be available in each round is key.
I’ll be doing mock drafts throughout the summer while offering scenarios and feedback for each position. The point of these mocks is to prepare for the unexpected.
The mock drafts will assume that 12 teams are in the league with the following roster construction: quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, tight end, a flex (running back, wide receiver or tight end) defense, kicker and seven bench spots. It is a 16-round snake draft in a half-point-per-reception (half-PPR) league.
If you read my draft guide, you know I’m not a fan of drafting kickers and defense if it’s not necessary. I’d rather add a few running backs who could end up being a starter in the event of an injury. However, for the sake of this exercise, I’ll round out each draft by doing so. Remember, do not draft either before your final two picks!
Most important of all, be creative with your mock drafts. Don’t take the same players in every mock. Your favorite sleeper is probably someone else’s too. I’m guilty of this myself — see Rashod Bateman — but I will try to go with different approaches in many of these mock drafts.
The draft is just the start of the season. If you are drafting early, work the waiver wire to your advantage if any major injuries arise. If you’re a fantasy nerd like me, turn on notifications from your favorite NFL insider for breaking news around the league. But the draft is where you build the foundation of your roster, and the goal is to have as deep a roster as possible.
We are on pick No. 10 now as we inch closer to the start of the new campaign. (See also: No. 1 pick – 3 RBs, No. 1 pick – 2 RBs/1 WR, No. 2 pick, No. 3 pick, No. 4 pick, No. 5 pick, No. 6 pick, No. 7 pick, No. 8 pick, No. 9 pick, 16-team league). We’ll mix in a 10-team draft at some point as well as a Superflex and non-PPR draft.
Let’s get started with the latest mock draft of the 2022 season.
Here is my roster:
Round 1, Pick 10: Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Round 2, Pick 3: Stefon Diggs, WR, Buffalo Bills
Round 3, Pick 10: James Conner, RB, Arizona Cardinals
Round 4, Pick 3: Travis Etienne, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Round 5, Pick 10: Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints
Round 6, Pick 3: Darnell Mooney, WR, Chicago Bears
Round 7, Pick 10: Chase Edmonds, RB, Miami Dolphins
Round 8, Pick 3: Kareem Hunt, RB, Cleveland Browns
Round 9, Pick 10: DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Arizona Cardinals
Round 10, Pick 3: Brian Robinson, RB, Washington Commanders
Round 11, Pick 10: Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams
Round 12, Pick 3: Zach Ertz, TE, Arizona Cardinals
Round 13, Pick 10: Khalil Herbert, RB, Chicago Bears
Round 14, Pick 3: Samaje Perine, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Round 15, Pick 10: New England Patriots DST
Round 16, Pick 3: Tyler Bass, K, Buffalo Bills
Observations:
Joe Mixon is a carryover from my previous mock as he fell one more spot, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Mixon was RB3 last year behind a dreadful offensive line that has since been revamped. He’s the unquestioned bell cow for the Bengals and will see more work as a pass-catcher this season. Landing Mixon anywhere between picks 8-12 is a good start to your draft.
I found myself in a dilemma with my second-round pick but went with Stefon Diggs over Davante Adams and Alvin Kamara. I have Kamara now ranked ahead of Diggs, but as I’ve stressed repeatedly throughout these mock drafts, I like going with a different approach in each. There is clear top five at the receiver position, and I felt confident that I could find another quality running back in the third round.
I lucked out because there was only one running back worth a third-round pick, and it was one I have ranked a bit higher than most in James Conner. He’s due for touchdown regression after finishing with 18 touchdowns last year, but there is no one on the roster who is a real threat to his workload. He proved his worth as a pass-catcher when Chase Edmonds missed games last season. A double-digit touchdown season is almost certain.
Then I had a decision to make with a plethora of players I liked in the fourth-round range, but I went with the upside play in Travis Etienne. He’s the lead back until James Robinson gets up to speed, and he will get a ton of looks as a receiver even once Robinson is back to full health. I expect him to get somewhere near 225 touches, roughly the same number as Aaron Jones (223), who finished as RB12 last year. Jones is going two rounds earlier, so Etienne at this spot is perfect.
It always amazes me how quickly some players fall out of favor due to injury issues. Michael Thomas is a perfect example of that. He didn’t live up to his first-round draft position in 2020 and missed all of last season with a season-ending ankle injury. Thomas was the clear No. 1 wideout in fantasy with Drew Brees at quarterback, but it wasn’t long ago that Jameis Winston — another player ranked far too low in the fantasy world — supported two 1,000-yard receivers. Thomas is typically going in Rounds 5-6 but offers second-round upside.
I know I just hyped up Thomas, but I felt it was smart to get myself some insurance at receiver with the next pick just in case. Darnell Mooney is another player featured in my previous mock who I’m targeting often. Sure, the Chicago offense is likely to be one of the worst in the league. That’s beneficial in this case, as the Bears are sure to be in plenty of games where they are playing catch-up. Someone has to catch passes from Justin Fields, and Mooney is the clear No. 1 on the roster.
My next four picks all provided elite depth at their respective positions. Chase Edmonds is the No. 1 back in the Dolphins’ new backfield. Kareem Hunt is sharing carries with Nick Chubb and still offers value, but he rises way up the board if he gets his wish to be traded. DeAndre Hopkins is suspended for the first six weeks but as my No. 4 receiver, he could be a game-changer in the second half of the campaign or a great trade piece. Brian Robinson, the rookie running back for Washington, looks to be the favorite for lead back duties. Antonio Gibson has worked with the second team in recent days.
This mock is another example of just how late you can wait for a reliable starting quarterback, and honestly, I might have been able to wait another round or two. Matthew Stafford is coming off a career year with a 67.2 completion percentage and 41 passing touchdowns. There is some concern about his throwing elbow, which has kept him out of practices. Still, he was one of only two quarterbacks to throw over 40 touchdown passes. That’s the kind of value you look for in the 11th round.
I must admit, Zach Ertz was sitting on top of the rankings for multiple rounds, but I kept passing on him because I already have Conner and Hopkins on my roster. I try to avoid having too many players from one team on mine. At the same time, I have Ertz as TE8 and landing him in the 12th round made too much sense. He saw extensive targets with Hopkins out of the lineup last season with a 23.7 percent target share. That’s elite usage from the tight end position.
Khalil Herbert and Samaje Perine round out my skill position players. Herbert was impressive when he stepped in for an injured David Montgomery last season, and the Bears’ new coaching staff has no loyalty to Montgomery. Perine is the handcuff to Mixon and while he doesn’t vault into a top-15 back if something were to happen to Mixon, there are worse options in these late rounds.
I am very happy with my first 12 picks. I am absolutely stacked at running back and wide receiver and got a top-10 quarterback and tight end very late. Thomas might be a bit of a risk where I took him, but with Mooney and Hopkins also on the roster, I feel really good about my options at receiver. Based on the FantasyPros draft analyzer, this has been my best draft yet and I agree totally. This is a championship roster.
What do you think of this roster? Let’s discuss on Twitter @JoeSerp.
You can do your own mock draft in seconds by clicking here.