Counting Down the Top Fantasy Rookies for 2022

Every year, over 224 college football players get drafted into the NFL. Even more get signed to teams as undrafted free agents and compete to make a 53 man roster. Most of these kids are largely irrelevant for fantasy purposes, but there are a few gems sitting out there that could potentially help you win your fantasy league this year. When it comes to rookies it’s all about talent and opportunity (with a little luck thrown in there as well).  The following is a list of rookies and their current ADP according to ESPN.

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Wide Receivers

1. Drake London 98.9
2. Chris Olave 118.0
3. Garrett Wilson 122.5
4. Skyy Moore 138.3
5. Treylon Burks 142.8
6. George Pickens 148.2
7. Jahan Dotson 149.1
8. Romeo Doubs 168
9. Christian Watson 169.7
10. Jalen Tolbert 167.7

Recently, we’ve seen rookie wide receivers explode into the league.  Justin Jefferson and Ja’marr Chase won people a lot of money during their first year in the league.  There are a few wide receivers I’d like to highlight this year that could put up big numbers for you and your team.  

Drake London is the number one receiver in Atlanta.  Marcus Mariota can’t throw thirty passes a game to Kyle Pitts, and the rest of the receivers on the team, at best, exist.  There should be a lot of opportunities for London and opportunities equal points. 

Chris Olave is another good receiver surrounded by questionable talent.  Michael Thomas is still hurt and Jarvis Landry has never exactly been exciting.  Olave runs a 4.26 and Jameis Winston loves chucking the long ball.  Expect explosive plays in New Orleans with this speedster.  It also helps to know that the organization literally gave up a second, two thirds, and a fourth between two teams to move up in the draft to pick him at 11.  A team doesn’t give up that much capital for nothing.

George Pickens was the front runner for offensive rookie of the year after the first two games of the preseason.  He is somehow the sixth rookie taken in fantasy drafts.  The house always wins and if the house is already worried about Pickens, maybe you should pick him.

Somebody has to catch passes from the former MVP in Green Bay. My money is on Romeo Doubs. The Green Bay Packers threw two darts for Aaron Rodgers at Wide Receive in the 2022 NFL Draft, and Doubs has had a great camp.  He does have to worry about fellow rookie Christian Watson, but that shouldn’t be a problem.  Watson has been hurt and Doubs has spent all summer gaining Rodgers’ trust.  

The rest of the rookie class have red flags that are enough for me to wait and let someone else draft them. I call them the “Maybe Next Years.” Jahan Dotson has Carson Wentz throwing to him.  Treylon Burks has had conditioning problems and high expectations for supposedly being an AJ Brown clone. Christian Watson has been hurt so he hasn’t developed any rapport with the world’s pickiest QB. Jalen Tolbert is probably the defacto two for now in Dallas, but has struggled all preseason. 

Skyy Moore is on the high-powered Chiefs offense, but it’s hard to tell who Mahomes will throw to (other than Travis Kelce, of course).  Jameson Williams will be great in dynasty, but he just tore his ACL in January and that’s an injury that takes time to be any good again.  And, in conclusion, Garrett Wilson is a Jet.

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Running Backs

1. Breece Hall 50.9
2. Dameon Pierce 102.7
3. James Cook 122.1
4. Kenneth Walker III 131.0
5. Brian Robinson 149.9
6. Isiah Pacheco 167.9
7. Tyler Algier 167.9
8. Isaiah Spiller 169.9
9. Rachaad White 169.9

I honestly don’t have a lot to say about the rookie running back class. Dameon Pierce is the only one I really trust to have a workhorse type season.  He is a powerful runner that crushed the starting job for the Texans so hard that Marlon Mack was cut from the team in shame. I absolutely loved Brian Robinson, but I have no idea how long gunshot wounds take to heal. It legitimately makes me very sad and I hope he can get back on the field soon.

Every other rookie has a murky backfield situation and I just don’t know how the competitions will shake out. Any one of these guys could be a lottery ticket that pays out, but I refuse to take any of them at their current ADPs. Breece Hall was picked the highest in this year’s draft, which implies usage but I believe Michael Carter has been serially underrated.  He’s also a Jet so… yeah…

The quarterbacks are fairly irrelevant this year until Kenny Pickett gets the starting job in Pittsburgh and even then he’s probably not worth a pick.

Overall Power Rankings

1. George Pickens
2. Chris Olave
3. Dameon Pierce
4. Drake London
5. Romeo Doubs
6. Jahan Dotson
7. Garrett Wilson
8. Breece Hall
9. Treylon Burks
10. Christian Watson
11. Jalen Tolbert
12. Skyy Moore

None of the other running backs

During the season I’ll keep track of who ends up being the best fantasy rookie. I can’t wait until all of my predictions blow up in my face. Follow along this year and see how these kids do during their first year in the big leagues.  Tweet your best fantasy team names @ me and we’ll see what AI generated art we can create!

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