Good morning! Are you ready for fantasy football season?
SI Fantasy’s 2022 Fantasy Football Draft Kit launched this morning with loads of content from our analysts aimed at helping you have the absolute best draft possible. Inside you’ll find player rankings for multiple formats, mock drafts for reference, strength of schedule breakdowns as well as projected sleepers and busts.
The draft kit includes in-depth analysis from Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Famer Michael Fabiano, FSWA-award nominee Jen Piacenti, statistical guru Shawn Childs, dynasty expert Matt De Lima and yours truly.
Please enjoy this fantasy-focused edition of Winners Club to celebrate the launch of SI’s draft kit and feel free to revisit this email—or the hub itself—as much as you need in the lead up to your league’s draft day. Happy drafting!
Multi-Format Player Rankings
Let’s begin with the most commonly used fantasy football draft tool and one of the easiest to understand: player rankings!
Fabiano ranked the top 200 players overall in a PPR format and then went position-by-position with accompanying auction values. Cooper Kupp has asserted himself as the WR1 after his historic 2021 season and MVP favorite Josh Allen is at the top of the QB rankings.
Kohjiro Kinno/Sports Illustrated
For the dynasty community, Fabiano also put together his top-200 rankings. Remember: Dynasty rankings take age and long-term outlook into account more than your redraft player rankings.
And for a difference of opinion, De Lima also ranked the skill positions in PPR formats and went 400 players deep. He also compiled his top 400 players in superflex, as well as his top 100 rookies overall and he ranked the 400 best players for best ball, an increasingly popular format that optimizes your best lineup week-to-week. These lists are extremely comprehensive—enjoy!
Team-by-Team Divisional Breakdowns
In case you haven’t been following the turbulent NFL offseason news cycle, a lot of players have changed teams. That movement shook up team and division dynamics, all of which Childs covers in his 32 team previews, which are broken up below by division.
How will the Dolphins use their stable of running backs? What does DeAndre Hopkins’ suspension mean for the Cardinals’ pass catchers? And will Baker Mayfield really make that much of a difference in Carolina?
Find the answers to all those questions and more in these team fantasy outlooks.
AFC North: Ravens | Bengals | Browns | Steelers
AFC South: Colts | Jaguars | Titans | Texans
AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Patriots | Jets
AFC West: Broncos | Chiefs | Raiders | Chargers
David Zalubowski/AP
NFC North: Bears | Lions | Vikings | Packers
NFC South: Falcons | Panthers | Saints | Buccaneers
NFC East: Cowboys | Giants | Eagles | Commanders
NFC West: Cardinals | Rams | 49ers | Seahawks
Opponent Strength of Schedule
Facing a difficult slate of defenses shouldn’t scare you off an elite player. For instance, the AFC West is a gauntlet this year after so much talent flocked to the division, but that doesn’t mean you should stay away from Justin Herbert.
With that in mind, find the strength of schedule breakdown for each fantasy skill position along with a takeaway from each.
“The value of Tua Tagovailoa is on the rise after the Dolphins acquired Tyreek Hill in the offseason, but his schedule is the toughest among quarterbacks.”
Sam Navarro/USA TODAY Sports
“Cordarrelle Patterson, who finished last season as the RB9, could be a potential bust candidate in 2022. The schedule won’t help change that notion, as Atlanta’s backs have the second-toughest slate.”
“The Bengals have one of the top wideout trios in the league in Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, and their 2022 schedule is a favorable one.
“Dalton Schultz has the fourth-easiest schedule among tight ends, which makes him an even more valuable asset in fantasy leagues. The third-best player at his position last year, Schultz could see an even bigger target share in 2021 now that the Cowboys will be without Amari Cooper.”
In Search of Sleepers
Now for everyone’s favorite fantasy category: Sleepers!
Finding a true sleeper is difficult, but it’s a highly rewarding pursuit if successful. Before getting into the sleepers at each position, allow De Lima to define the often-used term:
So without further ado…
Matt Ryan, Colts: “Your friends may not pat you on the back for drafting Ryan, but he's a slam dunk value at QB20 in average draft position.”
Robert Goddin/USA TODAY Sports
James Cook, Bills: “I believe he’s a great fit in this offense. His PPR numbers should keep him competitive for fantasy managers as he builds experience in Year 1.”
Courtland Sutton, Broncos: “I believe given his skill set and experience, Sutton is most primed for a breakout.”
Austin Hooper, Titans: “He’s the No. 1 tight end with the Titans and I’m calling a comeback.”
Fabiano also tried his hand at crowning some sleepers and deep sleepers for 2022. Among them: Elijah Moore, Russell Gage, David Njoku, Ronald Jones and Darrel Williams.
Putting Stock into Mock Drafts
I highly recommend completing mock drafts of your own. Try different strategies, see how your team looks if you grab a quarterback early, select back-to-back running backs and prepare for every possible draft scenario so you don’t end up panicking when it comes time to make a pick.
Or you can consult one of these two 12-team SI Fantasy PPR mock drafts for reference based on your own draft position.
May Mock: Cooper Kupp came off the board at the 1.02 early in Round 1, but the first round was still running back-heavy despite the top-end talent at receiver.
June Mock: Receivers became even more popular a month later with Kupp and four other wideouts, including Chase, being selected in the first 12 picks.
Kareem Elgazzar/Cincinnati Enquirer/USA TODAY
And, again, for the dynasty crowd, Fabiano reviewed the SiriusXM Fantasy Dirty dynasty draft with rookies only.
Rookie-Only Mock: Drake London was a surprise 1.01 pick, unseating running backs Breece Hall and Kenneth Walker.
In Other News
Bills 2022 Over/Under Betting Breakdown: The Super Bowl favorites kick off the team-by-team over/under betting previews for the coming season. Buffalo’s win total is set at 11.5—Should you take the over?
2023 NFL Draft No. 1 Pick Futures Odds: Two Alabama players are among the three players with the best odds to come off the board first in the draft next spring. Unsurprisingly, the two Heisman front runners are first and second.
MLB Releases Full All-Star Game Rosters: The league’s showcase in Los Angeles is just over a week away and the complete rosters for the American and National Leagues are out. The World Series-favorite Yankees led all teams with six All-Star selections.
British Open DFS Primer: Find out which players you should target in each tier before the Open begins Thursday in St. Andrews. Rory McIlroy is the most expensive player in the field. Should you pay up for him?
British Open Betting Preview: Get the recent history of winners across the pond, see who the favorites are and how each of the top contenders have fared on this course and in recent months.
Enjoyed what you read in today’s newsletter? There’s plenty more where that came from in the draft kit!
You can find projected busts, breakouts, the fantasy case against a slew of stars, how coaching changes will affect fantasy production and more on the basics of playing fantasy football.
Thanks for reading, and remember to follow us on Twitter @SI_Fantasy!
