Fantasy Football 2022 Rookie Rankings: Top 5
Today, we’ll rank the Top 5 rookies for the 2022 fantasy football season. You can check out Nos. 10-6 here, and the Honorable Mentions here. Remember, these are ranked for this upcoming season, not for dynasty. Without further ado…
5. Garrett Wilson, WR, Jets (Round 1, No. 10 overall)
Wilson, a teammate of Chris Olave, who was sixth on our list, was just as impressive as his teammate at Ohio State in a different way. While Olave enters the NFL with the reputation of a route technician, Wilson plays with more flair. Wilson made highlight reel contested catches with the Buckeyes, has incredible hands and is more reliant on his speed to get open rather than the precision of his routes. Wilson’s final season with Ohio State was impressive, as he caught 70 passes for more than 1,100 yards with 12 touchdowns. His landing spot in this draft will cause his positioning on lists such as this to fluctuate. Should fantasy managers be happy he ended up with the Jets? Zach Wilson was statistically one of the worst QBs in football last season, but there is no doubt the Jets have added a lot of talent to their offense in the past two seasons. Last year they added WR Elijah Moore in the draft, who should help keep defenses from focusing on Wilson. They also have added Mekhi Becton and Alijah Vera-Tucker to the offensive line via the draft, and Pro Bowl guard Laken Tomlinson in free agency to help give Zach Wilson time to find his new toys. Garrett Wilson will find plenty of playing time immediately, and could easily be second on the team in targets. Should Zach Wilson make a second year jump, Garrett Wilson will absolutely benefit.
4. Kenneth Walker III, RB, Seahawks (Round 2, No. 41 overall)
Walker is in a similar spot to Javonte Williams last season. While he’s obviously a tremendous talent, his landing spot places his 2022 value in question. Walker would be significantly higher if these were dynasty rankings. Pete Carroll is still running the show in Seattle, so if Walker can wrest the lead back duties then he has a strong chance to be the most important rookie in the 2022 draft for fantasy purposes. In college, he was an absolute animal when it came to scoring touchdowns. He found the end zone 13 times as a sophomore at Wake Forest, then became the lead dog at Michigan State as a junior and completely dominated. Walker carried the ball 269 times, proving he can be a bell cow, and totaled 1,636 yards and 18 touchdowns. If given opportunity – and the Seahawks’ lead man gets that, especially now with Russell Wilson gone – he will likely return second round value at worst. The problem is we cannot be sure what his workload will be.
Chris Carson is still a Seahawk, although the status of his neck injury makes him a wildcard. Then there’s the matter of Rashaad Penny, who won fantasy championships last season when he averaged 165 yards per game over Seattle’s final three tilts and rushed for 130+ yards in four of his last five. He is back on a one-year deal, and if there’s any red flag about Walker’s opportunity it is Penny. Penny was Seattle’s first round pick in 2018 – that’s more draft capital than is attached to Walker – and he lost his opportunity to Carson and didn’t get it back until Carson was seriously hurt. And while Penny definitely had injuries affect his opportunity, he played in 24 games in his first two seasons, as a first round pick, without making a start. If Penny’s close to 2021 was real, he’s going to play no matter how early Walker was drafted because Carroll runs a real meritocracy. And as a believer in Penny’s talent, I believe he is going to stunt Walker’s upside in Year 1.
3. Treylon Burks, WR, Titans (Round 1, No. 18 overall)
Burks earned comparisons to A.J. Brown during the buildup to the draft, and now is going to slot right into Brown’s role from Day 1. Burks, at 6’2, 225 lbs. is a physically similar player to Brown, and on film he has Brown’s ability to overpower opposing DBs in any scenario. He also has uncommon speed for a receiver of his size and bulk, just like Brown. Burks improved in each season with Arkansas, culminating in a junior season in which he caught 66 passes for 1,104 yards and 11 touchdowns. While Brown was a monster for fantasy managers, the offense Burks is entering is not a typical environment for receivers to thrive statistically. Derrick Henry remains the sun this offense revolves around, so Burks will have to produce very efficiently to make good on his promise. Brown was able to do that in Year 1 – 52 receptions, 1,051 yards, eight touchdowns – and Tennessee is banking on him to be as similar in efficiency as he is physically.
2. Drake London, WR, Falcons (Round 1, No. 8 overall)
London was somewhat polarizing in the leadup to draft night because of the way he dominated Pac-12 competition. London is a big boy, measuring 6’4, 219 lbs., and he used that size to great effect at USC. It’s been said that London lacks high-end speed and a knock on him in college was a lack of separation, but that didn’t stop him from piling up more than 1,000 receiving yards and eight touchdowns as a junior for the Trojans. According to Reception Perception, London posted an 82.5% contested catch rate and 31.5% of all of his targetes were contested. London was efficient, averaging 12.3 yards per receptions and more than 13 for his career, while also doing well with high volume (88 receptions). With a contested catch rate like that, and playing in a major conference at the college level, it isn’t hard to see London, at worst, racking up red zone touchdowns right away.
In addition to his size and skill, London has landed in Atlanta, where TE Kyle Pitts is the only pass catcher of note with Calvin Ridley suspended for the entire season. Matt Ryan is gone, and replacing him with Marcus Mariota may signal the end of the Falcons being among the NFL leaders in pass attempts. Still, London figures to be frequently targeted in the red zone and in the end zone, making him the primary rookie WR to target in 2022.
1. Breece Hall, RB, Jets (Round 2, No. 36 overall)
There are always rookie RBs in the upper echelon of final RB rankings, and Hall is the obvious best bet to be there in this crop. Yes, the Jets already have Michael Carter in the fold, and Carter was a solid player when he had opportunity, but Hall is simply a different caliber of back. Hall has amassed nearly 4,000 rushing yards in three seasons at Iowa State, averaged more than 5.5 yards per carry across his final two seasons, and scored 23 touchdowns in back-to-back seasons for the Cyclones. He was considered the top RB in this draft, and has every physical tool necessary to thrive as a three-down workhorse.
Hall should also be happy to be with the Jets, which is unusual to say. While the Jets offense was abysmal last season, they were among the NFL’s youngest teams and played the vast majority of the season without star LT Mekhi Becton. The Jets have invested heavily in the offense the past two seasons, especially the line as was covered when we talked about Garrett Wilson. This is an offense on the rise, and with the explosive receivers they now have it’ll be riskier for defenses to load up vs. Hall. Carter will still be involved in this offense, and he’s a talented player, but investing this high of a pick in Hall, coupled with his massive college production, and it’s clear he’s going to be the leader of this committee. He’s easily the top choice among the 2022 rookie class for fantasy.