Fantasy Football

Drake London is a large target with 95th-percentile arm length, benefitting him for contested targets. He also boasts an 18.1 (99th-percentile among qualified wide receivers) Breakout Age and 34.9 (69th-percentile) College Dominator Rating, a similar mix of Breakout Age and College Dominator Rating to Donte Moncrief, Sammy Watkins, and DeAndre Hopkins. Atlanta’s QB situation will be the primary thing to hold him back.

The Titans swapped out A.J. Brown for Treylon Burks during the draft, adding the Arkansas product to a team expected to contend. The Titans are looking for a new physical WR1, and with Robert Woods getting older, Burks is next up. With Derrick Henry in the backfield, Burks may not see as much pass volume as guys like Drake London or Jameson Williams. Still, he has a physical profile and clear path to being the WR1 on his own team, giving him a strong case to be the rookie WR1.

We only have one season’s worth of decision making from which to draw conclusions about the way that Staley and offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi want to run this team. But with Justin Herbert at quarterback, it seems reasonable that they would continue to be a pass-heavy team going forward. This is a team with both the propensity and the personnel to air it out.

Austin Ekeler has not needed an incredible share of opportunity in this backfield to be an effective fantasy contributor. We should expect him to be productive once again in 2022. Outside of Isaiah Spiller, nobody else on this team should have much fantasy value. He’s just inside my top-10 rookie running backs. Mostly on the strength of the quality offensive situation he landed in. Leddie Brown is vaguely interesting as a very deep dart throw.

Are we sure the shiny new rookies Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave will outscore Russell Gage? Sure, fans of PlayerProfiler know we love to lean into the uncertainty and chase ceiling outcomes. But there is no Ja’Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson in this 2022 receiver class. Let’s embrace certainty here and take the guy catching passes from the GOAT.

It’s prudent to dive into the numbers and key metrics to project a player’s prospects in fantasy. But if you want to keep it simple, Russell Gage is locked into no worse than the No. 3 spot in Tom Brady’s pecking order. This isn’t just “another Brady receiver” with far too much preseason hype that we’ve all been burned by. Gage is being drafted at his floor, and early on in the year, WR1 spike weeks aren’t out of reach. His ADP may correct itself down the line. For now, let your fellow drafters take Chase Claypool, Christian Watson, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Push the button and cash in on Gage.

Take the guesswork out of fantasy football dynasty and devy league rookie drafts by putting contextual & predictive wide receiver prospect data points at your fingertips. Compare prospects, identify likely breakouts, and most importantly, avoid busts in your rookie drafts.

Mine value like never before by easily toggling through Breakout Finder’s comprehensive wide receiver database featuring a robust index of advanced stats on players of the past, present, and future from Calvin Johnson to Chris Godwin to Denzel Mims.

Every process is different. And there is likely no perfect one. But the existence of a repeatable process by which you make decisions helps you avoid bias. It lets you organize data or film in a way that fits within your broader strategy for Dynasty Rookie Drafts.

However you evaluate prospects, keep in mind their current and potential market values, draft archetypes of player who can maximize fantasy ceilings, and always make market-efficient choices.

Sometimes we need law and order to be restored. Workhorse backs with size, speed, athleticism and pass-catching ability are to be unleashed as league-winners. Undersized, slow satellite backs are to be left on the benches of fantasy and NFL teams respectively. Michael Carter had moments last year, but those drafting a day three change-of-pace back as their RB2 were whistling past the graveyard.

Rashaad Penny was an efficiency monster in 2021, and is first-hand evidence of Seattle’s ambivalent approach to draft capital. I expect Kenneth Walker to take over lead back duties as the modal outcome, but a messy committee or even Penny remaining lead back is within his range of outcomes. The question marks in Walker’s profile, along with the rest of the class and their limited draft capital, make me cautious of all running backs beyond Breece Hall.

You’ll likely find yourself on the clock in the third, fourth, and sometimes fifth round of your rookie draft with very few attractive options. Whether it’s bad draft capital, poor athleticism, or uninspiring production, the players here have more red flags than Ron Swanson’s ex-wives. But that doesn’t make the selection pointless. On the contrary, navigating these later rounds (the RB rounds) properly can give you a significant edge over your leaguemates.

Forget trying to find the next Darnell Mooney needle in a haystack of future supermarket employees. Instead, once Round 3 rolls around, just toggle off the other positions and queue up any RB capable of latching onto an NFL depth chart. Remember, your odds of finding the next WR1 or RB1 at the 3.09, 4.05, or 5.11 are exceptionally low, and that’s okay. If you can squeeze three or four games of RB2 production out of a pick that late, you’re doing just fine.

The Davante Adams trade rightfully triggered a tsunami of fantasy takes and analysis. Much discussion was centered around Derek Carr and his inability to support Adams at the production-clip we’ve become accustomed to. There was little focus on the fact that Lazard is the heir to the Adams role in the Green Bay offense. You may ask, “What makes you so sure Lazard will be Green Bay’s No. 1 receiving option in 2022?” The addition of Sammy Watkins and lingering likelihood of another WR add via the draft make this a valid question. The simple answer: history, plus the fact that he fits the GB WR1 prototype.

The pre-requisites to become Aaron Rodgers’ top target are straightforward: alpha size, plus-athleticism, and proven NFL-level dependability. Barring a big-time trade for a veteran, the only player that will meet these criteria on the Packers roster in 2022 will be Allen Lazard. The glaring dissimilarity between Jordy Nelson/Davante Adams and Lazard is draft capital. Both were selected in the second round while Lazard went undrafted. Lazard’s closest comp., Marques Colston, proves it’s possible to overcome low draft capital with a similar profile and skillset.

If you couldn’t get enough of the PlayerProfiler vs. RosterWatch rivalry, we’re back with the second installment in the Summer of Collaboration series of fantasy football mock drafts with RosterWatch. Did the Underworld successfully defend the mock drafting crown? Did anyone plant any outrageous flags? Who actually wins in a mock draft of any sort? If there is a way to win, you can bet that the six mock drafters on the Underworld side of the ledger will ride PlayerProfiler’s advanced stats, metrics, and analytics all the way to a successful defense of the mock drafting heavyweight championship of the world.

The running back “dead zone” is dead. Dead zone running backs have traditionally been those backs drafted in rounds three through six of fantasy drafts the past two seasons. But a shift is about to take place. The RB Dead Zone will be the fertile ground out of which multiple RB1s will be harvested in fantasy leagues in 2022. Start adjusting your draft plans now.

If you are really concerned about missing out on a first-round running back, keep in mind Leonard Fournette, Tony Pollard and A.J. Dillon will also still be available after round 6 (past the dead zone). There are plenty of upside RB’s available in rounds 3-8 in 2022, leaving you tons of flexibility to not take running backs in rounds 1-2. The RB dead zone is the place to be in 2022! IT’S ALIIIIIIVE!!!