100 Facts and Takeaways | 2022 Fantasy Football Season

by Joe Beldner · Draft Strategy

Another NFL regular season has come and gone. As a fan of the New York Jets, I personally choose to conveniently forget some of the real football that was played in 2022 and instead shift my focus to the fantasy football season. This season was filled with an abundance of highs and lows from beginning to end. Without further ado, here are my Top 100 Facts and Takeaways from the 2022 Fantasy Football Season.

100 Facts and Takeaways from the 2o22 Fantasy Football Season:

*All data is pulled from 0.5 PPR, 4-point-per-passing-TD scoring format, full 18-week regular season.

1-10

1. It turned out that neither Patrick Mahomes nor Tyreek Hill needed each other to be elite fantasy options this year. Mahomes finished as the QB1, while Hill was the WR2 on the season.

2. After losing the top spot at the position to Mark Andrews last season, Travis Kelce proved that he is still the tight end king. He finished as the TE1 on the season with almost 100 fantasy points more than the TE2 on the year.

3. Cooper Kupp finished as the WR24 on the season despite only suiting up for nine games.

4. This included five top-ten finishes for Kupp after finishing as the WR1 last season. The only game he finished outside of the top 20 was Week 10 when he suffered his season-ending injury.

5. Jonathan Taylor finished as the RB1 last season and was a popular pick for 1.01 in redraft leagues. Although he missed six games due to injury this season, he was mostly a disappointment when active and he ended up finishing as the RB34 on the year.

6. The consensus 1.02 pick, Christian McCaffrey, lived up to his draft capital finishing as the RB2 on the season.

7. McCaffrey did not miss a game this season after missing a combined total of 23 games in the two years prior.

8. McCaffrey averaged 16.92 fantasy points in his six games with the Carolina Panthers prior to getting traded to the San Francisco 49ers. He averaged 19.31 fantasy points in eleven games with his new team.

9. The Carolina Panthers running back room averaged 77.33 rushing yards per game in the six games that McCaffrey was on the team. They averaged 129.91 rushing yards per game in the eleven games following the blockbuster trade.

10. Although we have grown familiar with quarterbacks scoring 30+ fantasy points in a game, it feels even more rare for positional players to reach this feat. With that said, it happened 33 different times this season.

11-20

11. In Week 8, an explosion of fantasy points came for positional players. Five different players reached 30+ fantasy points. This included Alvin Kamara (38.30), A.J. Brown (36.60), Christian McCaffrey (36.30), Derrick Henry (35.30), and D’Onta Foreman (31.80).

12. In Week 9, the greatest fantasy performance of the season by any position was had by Joe Mixon. He exploded for 53.10 fantasy points, including five total touchdowns.

13. The second-best fantasy point performance on the season occurred in Week 12 by Josh Jacobs. He finished with 45.30 fantasy points in this game.

14. Jacobs led the league in rushing yards on the season with 1,653 rushing yards. He finished as the RB3 on the year and well exceeded his preseason expectations. This was 158 fewer rushing yards than Jonathan Taylor had last year.

15. The most fantasy points by a wide receiver came at the very end of the season in Week 17. After a lackluster year, Mike Evans doubled his touchdown total on the season and exploded for 43.70 fantasy points.

16. In Week 4, T.J. Hockenson erupted for 35.90 fantasy points. This was the highest point total in a game by a tight end on the season. This performance helped lead him to a TE2 finish, only behind Kelce.

17. The peak fantasy quarterback performance came in Week 9 from Justin Fields with 42.72 fantasy points.

18. Fields ran for 178 rushing yards in this game, setting a new record for the position. The previous record was set in 2002 by Michael Vick (173 rushing yards).

19. Outside of the game he was inactive in Week 12, Fields finished QB10 or better in every game except one from Week 6 through Week 17. He ended up finishing as the QB6 on the season.

20. Fields also was only 64 rushing yards away from breaking the single-season rushing record by a quarterback held by Lamar Jackson (1,206 in 2019).

21-30

21. Fields’ positional-high 1,143 rushing yards would have ranked No. 7 most by a running back, right ahead of Christian McCaffrey and behind Dalvin Cook.

22. Jalen Hurts had the same amount of rushing touchdowns as Derrick Henry and Austin Ekeler (13).

23. Geno Smith now holds the Seattle Seahawks’ single-season passing yards record, surpassing Russell Wilson. He ended up leading Seattle to a playoff berth after going virtually undrafted in redraft leagues.

24. There were a bunch of unexpected jumps into the top ten for quarterbacks. Geno Smith moved from the QB40 in 2021 to the QB5 in 2022.

25. Trevor Lawrence went from the QB22 in 2021 to the QB8 in 2022. He also led his team to the playoffs in only his second season.

26. Daniel Jones had a career resurgence in 2022, finishing as the QB9. He was the QB27 a year prior.

27. Jones had a career-high 708 rushing yards in 2022. This was the No. 5 most by a quarterback on the season. He averaged only 333 rushing yards per season in his three seasons prior.

28. Jared Goff also had a career year after many wrote him off. He finished as the QB10 after finishing as the QB24 in 2021.

29. Two of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play took gigantic steps back in 2022. Tom Brady was the QB3, and Aaron Rodgers was the QB6 last season. Brady finished as the QB12 and Rodgers the QB13 in 2022. Outside of some vintage performances, both players hurt your fantasy rosters more times than not.

30. We are letting him off the hook because he was hurt in Week 11, but Matthew Stafford went from the QB5 in 2021 to the QB32 this season. Even if he played a full season, he would have almost definitely finished behind both Brady and Rodgers.

31-40

31. Russell Wilson finished as the QB15 or worse for the second consecutive season. This was after finishing as the QB4 in both 2019 and 2021.

32. Wilson finished as the QB17 on the year, but finished top five at the position in three of the last four games to finish the season.

33. Carson Wentz finished as the QB6 or better in three of his first five games. He did not finish inside the top twenty at the position in any other game played this season.

34. There was not a single startable rookie quarterback for a second straight season. Kenny Pickett (QB28) was the only rookie to finish inside of the top thirty at the position.

35. Behind him was Brock Purdy (QB33), despite not being active until Week 13. The San Francisco 49ers did not lose a game during the regular season with him as their starter.

36. Purdy finished two spots ahead of Deshaun Watson in total points by a quarterback after both made their season debut in the same week. 

37. Purdy only finished with 48.60 fewer fantasy points on the season than Pickett despite playing in seven fewer games.

38. Josh Allen finished as the QB5 or better in eleven of the sixteen games he played in this season. This was the most top five performances by a quarterback in 2022.

39. George Kittle finished as the TE2 or better in three of his last four games to finish the season. He finished the year as the TE3.

40. After finishing as the TE1 in 2021, Mark Andrews finished outside of the top ten at the position in nine of the sixteen games he was active in this year. He still managed to finish as the TE4 on the season. 

41-50

41. Taysom Hill finished as the TE5 despite having only nine catches on the season. He had 551 rushing yards on the year.

42. If he was listed as a quarterback, Hill would have finished as the QB29 right behind Kenny Pickett and in front of Baker Mayfield. 

43. As a running back, Hill would have ranked as the RB32, right behind Antonio Gibson and ahead of Latavius Murray.

44. Hill’s seven rushing touchdowns in 2022 were the same amount as Joe Mixon (RB12) and Najee Harris (RB14).

45. Evan Engram had a career resurgence in his first year with Jacksonville, finishing as the TE6 on the season. He still finished with slightly more fantasy points in his historic rookie season in 2017 (140.40 vs. 141.60).

46. Davante Adams (WR3) led the league in receiving touchdowns with fourteen this season. Justin Jefferson (WR1) only had eight on the year.

47. Although Jefferson finished as the WR1 on the season, he had two weeks where he finished outside of the top eighty at the position. This included a Week 17 performance where he finished as the WR86.

48. Kenneth Walker and Tyler Allegier were the only rookie running backs to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards in their rookie seasons.

49. Dameon Pierce would have joined this list if not for injury. With more volume earlier in the season, Isiah Pacheco and Brian Robinson could have done the same.

50. Breece Hall had 463 rushing yards in only seven games played prior to season-ending surgery. He additionally finished as the Jets leading rusher on the season even though his last game played was in Week 7.

51-60

51. This is the first year in a decade that a rookie running back failed to finish in the top fifteen at the position.

52. Kenneth Walker was the closest (RB16), followed by Tyler Allgeier (RB27), and Dameon Pierce (RB28). Breece Hall would have finished top ten at the position if he avoided injury.

53. Two rookie wide receivers finished inside the top twenty-five at the position: Garrett Wilson (WR19) and Chris Olave (WR25).

54. Wilson eclipsed 1,100 receiving yards in his rookie season despite having to play with four different quarterbacks. He is going to be great for a very long time.

55. Wilson and Olave are the first pair of collegiate teammates to each have 1,000 receiving yards in their rookie season.

56. From Weeks 10-13, Christian Watson had a total of seven touchdowns. He finished WR8 or better in every game in this time frame. Outside of these four games, he did not score any touchdowns and finished inside the top 40 only twice. He finished as the WR35 on the season.

57. Watson (WR35), Drake London (WR36), and George Pickens (WR37) all finished in consecutive order in total fantasy points scored in their rookie seasons.

58. After being labeled a bust for the majority of the season, Cam Akers was the RB4 from Week 13 to the conclusion of the season.

59. Akers finished as the RB23 or better in every game during this timeframe. This included three top-ten finishes. He was a true league-winner in many leagues.

60. Jerick McKinnon had similar success towards the end of the fantasy season. This included back-to-back finishes at the RB1 in Weeks 14 and 15.

61-70

61. Tony Pollard scored 52.0 more fantasy points than Ezekiel Elliott this year. He also finished as the RB7 on the season while Zeke was the RB19.

62. At 45 years old, Tom Brady set a single-season record for most passes attempted (733) and completed (490).

63. Patrick Mahomes finished the regular season with a new NFL record of 5,250 passing yards.

64. He is just the third player ever to top 5,000 passing yards in multiple seasons.

65. Heading into Week 18, Justin Jefferson needed 194 receiving yards to beat the 2012 single-season receiving yards record held by Calvin Johnson (1,964). He failed to do so and ended up finishing No. 6 all-time instead (1,809).

66. Cooper Kupp was only 17 receiving yards shy of breaking Johnson’s record last season.

67. Jamaal Williams not only had his first 1,000+ rushing yard season of his career but also broke Barry Sanders‘ franchise rushing touchdown record. He had 17 rushing touchdowns on the year and finished as the RB8. 

68. Williams (RB8) and D’Andre Swift (RB22) both finished top 25 at the position despite sharing a backfield and each having a snap percentage average below 45-percent.

69. Austin Ekeler finished as the RB1 on the season with 319.20 fantasy points. This was 33.90 fewer fantasy points than last year’s leader, Jonathan Taylor.

70. Ekeler finished as the RB2 the season prior. He finished with only 10.40 fewer fantasy points in 2021 than he did this season.

71-80

71. Nick Chubb finished RB14 or better in every game but one through the first 10 weeks of the season. He only had two games in the top 20 in the eight weeks following.

72. Saquon Barkley finished as the RB6 in 2022. This was his highest fantasy finish since his rookie year in 2018 when he finished as the RB2.

73. Amari Cooper had the best fantasy season of his career. He finished as the WR9 on the season with Jacoby Brissett as his quarterback for the majority of the season.

74. Excluding Week 18, Jalen Hurts finished as the QB6 or better in 12 of the 14 games he was active. He managed to finish as the QB3 on the season despite missing two games due to injury.

75. Christian Kirk had his first 1,000+ yard season. He added eight receiving touchdowns on the year and finished as the WR11.

76. Zay Jones finished as the WR26 on the year and had three games finishing inside the top five at the position. His boom weeks were a bit unpredictable, but there was no denying his impact in his first season with Jacksonville.

77. Clyde Edwards-Helaire scored over 10 fantasy points and was inside the top 20 at the position in every game through the first four weeks of the season. He did not repeat either in any other game in 2022 and finished as the RB46, one spot below Kenyan Drake.

78. After starting off the year with three straight performances in the top eight at the position, James Robinson ended up finishing as the RB47.

79. Despite playing in nine more games, Michael Carter (RB43) ended up finishing one spot below Breece Hall (RB42) in total fantasy points. The point differential was 0.1 points.

80. Three positional players would have ranked in the top 10 for total fantasy points scored by any player, including quarterbacks: Austin Ekeler (No. 5, 319.20), Christian McCaffrey (No. 7, 313.90), and Justin Jefferson (No. 10, 304.70).

81-90

81. D.J. Moore finished WR13 or better in four of the last six games of the season. In the other two games, he finished WR92 or worse.

82. Moore finally had a season with over four touchdowns in 2022. He caught seven touchdowns this year after having a total of four in three consecutive seasons.

83. Rashid Shaheed finished WR30 or better in five of the eleven games he played over a 10-percent snap percentage this season.

84. This was only two fewer than his rookie teammate, Chris Olave, in four fewer games played. Olave finished as the WR25 while Shahid finished as the WR67.

Chris Olave Advanced Stats & Metrics Profile

85. Once returning in Week 7, DeAndre Hopkins finished WR20 or better in all six games leading up to Arizona’s BYE week. He then finished the season WR34 or worse in every other game.

86. Deebo Samuel finished the 2021 season as the WR2. This season he finished as the WR38 and had only one week in the top 20 for the position.

87. Davante Adams finished as the WR3 in fantasy in back-to-back seasons. He scored only 2.7 more points last season than he did this year in his first season with Las Vegas.

88. Diontae Johnson had 86 receptions on 147 targets for 882 yards this season. Despite having a 27-percent target share and 18 red zone targets, he finished the year with zero touchdowns and was the WR39. He played all 18 weeks this season.

89. His 86 receptions are the most in the NFL this season for a player without scoring a receiving touchdown.

90. Gabe Davis was the definition of boom-or-bust in 2022. He was WR13 or better in four weeks this season but failed to reach the top thirty in any other game. This included six games outside of the top sixty.

91-100

91. Samaje Perine had a three-week-stretch from Weeks 11-13 where he finished RB9 or better in each game. He had eight games outside of the top 40 at the position.

92. Perine had the same amount of top-10 performances on the season as Joe Mixon (3).

93. J.K. Dobbins averaged 99.25 rushing yards per game once he returned from injury in Week 14. He did not have a single game in this time frame with a snap percentage above 50-percent.

94. Two teams boasted two top 10 fantasy finishing wide receivers this season: the Miami Dolphins with Tyreek Hill (WR2) and Jaylen Waddle (WR7) and the Philadelphia Eagles with A.J. Brown (WR5) and DeVonta Smith (WR10).

95. James Conner finished as the RB15 or better in every game from Weeks 10-17. This included four finishes in the top five.

96. Justin Herbert only had two performances this season finishing as the QB5 or better. He finished as the QB11 in 2022 after finishing as the QB2 last season.

97. There was only an 11.80 total fantasy point differential between the TE7 (Cole Kmet) and the TE15 (Gerald Everett).

98. Sam Darnold only finished with 16.10 fewer fantasy points than Zach Wilson on the season despite playing in three fewer games. Again, I hate being a Jet fan.

99. Dak Prescott threw a league-high 15 interceptions in 2022. He was only active for a total of 12 games and finished as the QB18.

100. Skylar Thompson had negative fantasy points in back-to-back games in Weeks 12 and 13.