See how a fantasy expert navigates his draft

14.08.2022, 02:20 sportingnews.com

The NFL season is drawing nearer and nearer by the day, and that means fantasy football draft days are just around the corner, too. The big fantasy drafts tend to happen in late August/early September, but eager owners have surely already started gathering their cheat sheets, reviewing their rankings, highlighting sleepers, and choosing which draft strategy will be their preferred approach in 2022. One of the best ways to test out all of these fantasy football resources is via a mock draft. Sometimes, mock drafts take a while to complete, especially if you have slow drafters in your pool. So, if you’re busy, check out the FantasyPros Mock Draft Simulator, which allows you to do a mock draft in minutes. That said, if you do have time available in which to complete a 10- or 12-team mock draft, it can prove beneficial. That's exactly what I did recently when I participated in a 15-round mock draft with Walter Cherepinsky of WalterFootball.com. In a standard scoring league, I put The Sporting News' top 200 rankings to the test to see what type of team I was able to get. DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: Ultimate 2022 fantasy cheat sheet In this mock, I had the No. 3 overall pick, so I wanted to get a top-tier running back with that first selection. After all, running backs are very valuable in standard formats. After that, my goal was to create a balanced team and attempt to load up on high-quality receivers and then target sleepers once I selected my quarterback and tight end. 2022 PPR RANKINGS:QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers | Top 200 | Superflex Without further ado, here's a look at my first fantasy football mock draft of the offseason. 2022 STANDARD RANKINGS:QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers | Top 200 | Superflex * This draft was for a standard league that starts 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE, 1 FLEX, 1 D/ST, 1 K and has 6 bench spots Round 1, Pick 3: RB Dalvin Cook, Vikings. If you have the No. 2, 3, or 4 pick in fantasy drafts this year, you will have your choice of several stud RBs. Ultimately, I opted to go with Cook — SN's fourth-ranked player in standard formats — because of his three-down upside. Cook has never played more than 14 games in a season, but he has averaged 12 total touchdowns per season his past three years and has posted three straight seasons with at least 1,135 rushing yards. He should be even better with an offensive-minded coach, Kevin O'Connell, taking over in Minnesota and calling a less conservative game than Mike Zimmer and Co. That, along with an improved offensive line, makes Cook a legitimate threat to record 1,500-plus scrimmage yards and another 12 touchdowns. Round 2, Pick 22: WR CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys. Running backs flew off the board in the first two rounds, so that sent some top receiver talent tumbling to the end of the second. Lamb was the best of the bunch left on the board as SN's 15th-ranked player in standard formats, and he could be a top-five fantasy receiver this year. Lamb has averaged 7.2 targets per game during his career with the Cowboys, and that number only figures to rise with Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson leaving the team. The duo combined for 165 targets last year, and while Lamb won't get all of those, he should get some as the No. 1 wideout. His upside is greater in PPR, but his floor is high, as he has averaged 81 catches, 1,082 yards, and six touchdowns per 17 games played during his career. 2022 FANTASY SLEEPERS:QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | One from each team Round 3, Pick 27: WR Tyreek Hill, Dolphins. Hill is another top-tier playmaker who lasted longer than he should have in this mock. Some are scared off because he is going from Patrick Mahomes to Tua Tagovailoa, but Hill has sung the praises of his new QB. As such, their chemistry should be good. Jaylen Waddle could eat into Hill's targets a bit, but he's still a big-play threat waiting to happen. That said, he's not limited to just being a deep threat, as he is elusive and fast with the ball in his hands. So, he may actually generate more catches in Miami's short-passing-oriented offense. That won't make a big scoring difference in non-PPR leagues, but Hill should still generate plenty of catches and plenty of yardage after posting back-to-back 1,200-yard seasons. Round 4, Pick 46: WR Terry McLaurin, Commanders. A third receiver before a second running back? It's a risk, but there were enough solid RBs left on the board, so I thought I could wait until Round 5 to select one. McLaurin is an intriguing fourth-round pick given that he averaged eight standard fantasy points per game (FPPG) last season despite playing with lower-level starters for yet another year. Carson Wentz may not be an above-average quarterback, but he is still better than what McLaurin has had in recent seasons. Round 5, Pick 51: RB Damien Harris, Patriots. As expected, waiting on an RB2 paid off. Harris was still on the board, so I scooped him up quickly. Harris ranked second among NFL RBs in rushing touchdowns last year with 15 and has averaged a whopping 4.8 yards per carry during his career. Harris may see a bit of TD regression as Rhamondre Stevenson eats into his workload, but in standard formats, both Harris and Stevenson are viable. Harris has a high floor as an RB2 considering that the Patriots ran the ball the eighth-most among NFL teams last season. 2022 AUCTION VALUES (Standard & PPR):QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers | Overall Round 6, Pick 80: WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lions. Taking a fourth receiver here may not have been the best move, but St. Brown was arguably the best player on the board. We got him with the 80th pick despite his ranking as SN's 62nd overall player for standard scoring leagues. He should be great insurance in case the McLaurin/Wentz connection doesn't develop as we hope. St. Brown averaged 11.2 targets, 8.5 receptions, 103.5 yards and a touchdown over his final six games with the Lions last season, showcasing his top-tier upside. As he continues to develop, he could become a potential high-end WR2, so getting him here could prove to be a steal. Round 7, Pick 85: RB Tony Pollard, Cowboys. One of the other reasons I took a No. 4 receiver before a No. 3 running back is that the starting talent had largely dried up. There were still some intriguing backs on the board, but I thought Pollard would make it back to me, and he did. Pollard totaled 1,056 scrimmage yards last year and averaged an elite 5.5 yards per carry for the Cowboys. Dallas may want to continue starting Ezekiel Elliott, but Pollard is the more explosive playmaker. And if Elliott struggles or gets banged up...look out. Pollard could be a true RB1 because of his speed and elusiveness. Round 8, Pick 104: TE Dalton Schultz, Cowboys. OK, so if you've noticed by this point, I got a bit too Cowboy-happy and selected Schultz here. Now, I have three Cowboys offensive players, which could backfire if their offense struggles in 2022. Still, I needed a tight end, and Schultz was one of the best players on the board. He averaged 6.1 targets per game last year — good for the eighth most among TEs league-wide — and like Lamb, he should be targeted more in 2022 with Cooper gone. So, while having three Cowboys, and needing to start two, is less than ideal, both Lamb and Schultz should be able to coexist just fine. 2022 RANKINGS TIERS & DRAFT STRATEGY:QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs Round 9, Pick 109: QB Tom Brady, Buccaneers. Brady turned 45 during the offseason, but he showed no signs of slowing down last season. He ranked third among all quarterbacks in fantasy points, throwing for a league-high 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns. His blocking has declined a bit as a result of Ali Marpet's retirement, Ryan Jensen's injury, and Alex Cappa heading to Cincinnati, but Brady still has plenty of weapons and the Bucs will continue to be a pass-heavy offense with him at the helm. Round 10, Pick 128: WR Robert Woods, Titans. Another receiver? Yup. There weren't a lot of top backs left on the board, so I instead opted to roll with Woods here. Woods played second-fiddle to Cooper Kupp in Los Angeles last season but was on pace for a 1,000-yard season before he suffered a torn ACL. Woods will be the No. 1 receiver for Tennessee with A.J. Brown gone, so we're getting a good value with him in the 10th round. Sure, we have to wait for him to get healthy before we can use him, but he's our fifth receiver. He's a great stash given the depth of our receiving corps. Round 11, Pick 133: RB Isaiah Spiller, Chargers. Ideally, we would have taken a fourth running back earlier, but we didn't. As a result, we have to roll with a couple of sleepers as our depth candidates. Spiller is a pro-ready back at 6-1, 216 pounds and should take a majority of the 165 non-Austin Ekeler touches handled by Chargers backs last year. Los Angeles has shown an interest in limiting Ekeler's reps to keep him healthy, so Spiller should have a big role with the Chargers even if Ekeler plays in all 17 games. 2022 FANTASY DRAFT STRATEGY:Snake drafts | Auctions | Dynasty | Best ball | IDP Round 12, Pick 152: WR Julio Jones, Buccaneers. Jones was unable to stay healthy during his lone season with the Titans, but he still showed off some solid downfield playmaking ability. He averaged 14 yards per catch with Ryan Tannehill at quarterback. Imagine what he can do with Brady. Jones will likely begin the season as the Bucs' No. 3 receiver behind Mike Evans and Russell Gage, but if he stays healthy, Brady could learn to love throwing to him. The only downside with Jones is that his targets may decrease when Chris Godwin returns, but the good news is that we have a Brady/Jones stack that could pay off big. Round 13, Pick 157: RB Jamaal Williams, Lions. Williams is like a veteran version of Spiller for this team. He has the skills needed to be a lead back, but he is serving as the backup to D'Andre Swift. Still, he logged 179 touches in 13 games played last season, so Dan Campbell will continue to get him th