The best way to become good at something is to practice. So, what should you do if you want to draft a better fantasy football team?
Practice, of course!
Leading up to the start of the 2022 NFL season, we will use the 2022 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator (powered by FantasyPros) to complete fantasy football mock drafts.
We will use a variety of scoring formats -- PPR, half-PPR, standard scoring and even 2-QB leagues, league sizes and draft slots. The goal is to give you a good representation of the team that you may be able to construct given your league settings and the rationale of why we made the picks we did.
> Our mocks will be tracked here: Fantasy Football Mock Drafts.
That said, nothing beats practicing yourself so (check out the simulator) and complete a mock in a matter of minutes.
Half-PPR Mock Draft: 12 Teams, 1st Pick
1.01 - Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts
Taylor led the NFL in rush attempts (332), rushing yards (1,811) and rushing touchdowns (18) in addition to yards from scrimmage (2,171) and total touchdowns (20) in 2021. While he isn't as productive of a receiver as, say, Austin Ekeler or Christian McCaffrey (when healthy), he has a total of 76 catches for 659 yards over the past two seasons as well so he contributes in that aspect as well.
2.12 - Tyreek Hill, WR, Miami Dolphins
Even with the downgrade from Patrick Mahomes to Tua Tagovailoa, Hill becomes a solid mid-tier WR1 option at the end of Round 2 here.
3.01 - Deebo Samuel, WR, San Francisco 49ers
After missing nine games in 2020, Samuel had a breakout campaign (77/1,405/6 receiving and 59/365/8 rushing) in 2021. Samuel's physical play style and role puts him at increased risk for injury, but the do-it-all talent is a top-five receiver whenever he's on the field.
4.12 - Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos
Sutton broke out in his second season (2019) with 72 catches for 1,112 yards and six touchdowns, but then he tore his ACL at the beginning of the 2020 season. Given Russell Wilson's accuracy as a deep passer, Sutton could be positioned to have the best season of his career. The 6-foot-4 receiver has averaged 15.2 yards per reception so far in his career.
5.01 - Darren Waller, TE, Las Vegas Raiders
One of the most dynamic mismatches at his position, Waller had a massive 27.7% target share in his last full season (2020). Given the Raiders traded for Davante Adams this offseason, however, Waller's days of oversized target shares are likely over, but he's still a top-five fantasy tight end.
6.12 - Darnell Mooney, WR, Chicago Bears
Entering his third season as the team's clear No. 1 wide receiver, Mooney is coming off an 81/1,055/4 season in 2021 despite Chicago's passing game struggles overall. Depending on how much improvement we see from Justin Fields in his second season, there is plenty of upside with Mooney. And there is virtually zero downside here as my WR4.
7.01 - Dameon Pierce, RB, Houston Texans
Pierce never exceeded 106 carries in any season in Gainesville, but the former Gator has featured-back size who runs with physicality and good contact balance. While Rex Burkhead will handle most of the third-down reps and the Texans are going to trail often, Pierce should earn large enough of a workload to put him in the RB2 mix.
8.12 - Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots
Stevenson carried the ball 133 times for 606 yards (4.56 YPC) and five touchdowns as a rookie, and added 14 catches for 123 yards. He had 19-plus carries in three games last season and finished with 100-plus rushing yards and a pair of scores in two of them. Bill Belichick has talked up Stevenson's development in the pass game and said "it might even become a strength." Even if Harris enters the season as the 1A to Stevenson's 1B, it wouldn't be a shock if the former Sooner emerges as the team's most productive back.
9.01 - Tony Pollard, RB, Dallas Cowboys
Even though Ezekiel Elliott played a full 17-game slate in 2021, Pollard earned an expanded role with career highs in touches (169) and scrimmage yards (1,056). Pollard is one of my favorite backs to target in 2022, as he has enormous upside if Elliott misses any time, but he has stand-alone flex value even if Elliott doesn't.
10.12 - Michael Carter, RB, New York Jets
One of the few bright spots in New York's offense last year, Carter turned his 183 touches as a fourth-round rookie into 964 scrimmage yards and four touchdowns. Even though Breece Hall has the higher draft pedigree, Carter goes into his second season as the starter and as an undervalued option available many rounds later than Hall in drafts.
11.01 - James Robinson, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Robinson has been highly productive when on the field. Through two seasons, Robinson has averaged 4.55 yards per carry, racked up 2,403 scrimmage yards, hauled in 80 receptions and scored 18 total touchdowns. Even though Travis Etienne will score more fantasy points, there is little risk with Robinson at the end of this five-RB run.
12.12 - Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys
Excluding 2020 when he missed 11 games, Prescott has finished as fantasy's QB6, QB11, QB10, QB2 and QB7, respectively, in his last five full seasons. He set a career high in 2021 in both passing touchdowns (37) and TD% (6.2), but he averaged a career low in rush attempts (3.0) and rushing yards (9.1) per game and it was the first time he had fewer than three rushing scores in a season. The ceiling and floor are lower than they were last season, but he's a decent value waiting this long.
13.01 - D.J. Chark, WR, Detroit Lions
Signing a one-year deal to play for the Lions, Chark missed nearly all of the 2021 season, but the former Jag has a 1,000-yard season (73/1,008/8 in 2019) under his belt. He's developed good chemistry with Jared Goff leading into the season.
14.12 - Colts DST, Indianapolis Colts
15.01 - Justin Tucker, K, Baltimore Ravens
16.12 - Wan'Dale Robinson, WR, New York Giants
While it seemed like a reach in April, the Giants new front office and coaching staff liked Robinson enough to use the 43rd overall pick on him. When NBC's Peter King attended Giants' camp, he wrote that Robinson "stood out" due to "his versatility and confidence." Given the concerns with the team's other three top receivers, Robinson could turn out to become a draft-day bargain for fantasy managers.
- View Full Mock Draft Results
More of our content:
- 2023 NFL Mock Draft
- 2023 NBA Mock Draft
- Fantasy Football Mock Drafts
- Fantasy Football Rankings
- Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule
- Fantasy Football ADP
- NFL Power Rankings
Keep track of our site's updates: (1) follow us on Twitter, (2) like us on Facebook and/or (3) subscribe to our newsletter.
