2022 FGT Fantasy Football Mock Draft – Rounds 1 & 2

By the Football Garbage Time Staff

As I mention every year, we here at Football Garbage Time are all about helping out our readers.  And the 2022 season is just around the corner in September, so we all know what that means…the FANTASY FOOTBALL season is ALSO around the corner in September!

So as everyone gets ready to root for their favorite NFL team and commit entire Sunday afternoons to eating tons of junk food and yelling at the TV screen when refs inevitably make yet another bad call on the field, some of us, including you I suspect, will be furiously tinkering with our fantasy football lineups and eventually wondering why the fantasy gods hate us when we end up losing by 0.01 fantasy points because Aaron Rodgers took one too many knees at the end of the game.  Phew, that was a ridiculously long sentence.

Say what you will about whether Fantasy Football is “good” for the NFL or not.  One thing we all agree on here is that playing Fantasy Football is a lot of fun…but much more so if you’re winning.

So, as we do every year, we’re conducting a live Mock Fantasy Football Draft on Twitter (just check out #FGTMockDraft) for a mock PPR standard scoring Yahoo 10-team league (1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 TE, 1 Non-QB FLEX, 1 K & 1 DEF) so that all of you can get some insight as to who we like for the upcoming 2022 season, and hopefully help all of you with your drafts.

This year, ten different writers & podcasters from five different sites participated, including:

Each one is taking part in a mock draft live over several weeks on Twitter, so follow along on Twitter by searching for #FGTMockDraft!  What trends and surprises did we see?

Below are the results of the first two rounds along with some comments from those who made the picks.  We also include the Average Draft Position (ADP) as of July 16, 2022 as per Fantasy Pros so you can see how we differ from how they’re currently being drafted in PPR leagues.

Don’t forget to also check out our Rounds 3 & 4 Picks and our Rounds 5 & 6 Picks!

Don’t agree?  Well, it’s a free country, so sound off in the comments!

– Ha Kung Wong, Editor-In-Chief

Joanne Kong

1st Round – Pick 1 – Jonathan Taylor (RB) [Current ADP: 1.0]

2nd Round – Pick 20 – Davante Adams (WR) [Current ADP: 10.6]

This is what Joanne had to say about her picks:

Jonathan Taylor was the top RB scorer in fantasy in 2021 with 373.1 fantasy points, 18 rushing touchdowns and 2 receiving touchdowns, and the fifth top scorer in the league. There’s no guarantee that he’ll replicate the previous season, but there’s no reason he couldn’t.

Jonathan Taylor Stats
Game Rush Rush Rush Rush Rush Rece Rece Rece Rece Rece
Year G Rush Yds TD Y/A Y/G Tgt Rec Yds TD Y/G Fmb
2020 15 232 1169 11 5.0 77.9 39 36 299 1 19.9 1
2021*+ 17 332 1811 18 5.5 106.5 51 40 360 2 21.2 4
Care 32 564 2980 29 5.3 93.1 90 76 659 3 20.6 5

Davante Adams is no longer in Green Bay. He’s said good-bye to the “cheese-heads” and hello to the “silver-and-black.” Davante Adams was the 2nd highest wide receiver scorer in 2021 with 344.3 fantasy points and 11 touchdowns. Whether he will be able to replicate his performance with Derek Carr behind center is the question. There’s no doubt that Adams is a playmaker on the field, and although Carr is not Aaron Rodgers, he did throw for 4804 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. Those numbers could change for the better with Adams downfield.

Scott King

1st Round – Pick 2 – Derrick Henry (RB) [Current ADP: 5.0]

2nd Round – Pick 19 – Cam Akers (RB) [Current ADP: 32.0]

This is what Scott had to say about his picks:

Running backs dominate early in the draft again this year. The days of RBs going late are over. I went back to king Henry with the second overall pick. He was hurt last year but took a ton of time to recover and had a short playoff run. Went with another injured player in the 2nd round with Akers. He contributed in the playoffs and will have a comeback player of the year type season with Matthew Stafford.

Dan Thury

1st Round – Pick 3 – Christian McCaffrey (RB) [Current ADP: 2.6]

2nd Round – Pick 18 – Ceedee Lamb (WR) [Current ADP: 18.4]

Dave Earl

1st Round – Pick 4 – Ja’Marr Chase (WR) [Current ADP: 8.6]

2nd Round – Pick 17 – Alvin Kamara (RB) [Current ADP: 18.0]

This is what Dave had to say about his picks:

Normal redraft years it’s an RB this early as the WR depth is fantastic but having Jonathan Taylor off the board and too many question marks from the remaining top RBs, whether is health or their respective teams, Ja’Marr Chase was just too obvious. His familiarity with Joe Burrow, the talent in that Bengals offense, and his just overall elite level talent, Chase is just too good to pass up on. Justin Jefferson was in serious consideration here too.

I had my second pick prepared in advanced and pounced the moment he was there at pick 2.07. Sure, he faces a potential suspension but there’s growing sentiment that won’t take effect until 2023 season as no conviction has yet been made. A potential top 5 RB here is worth the role of the dice.

Ryan Whitfield

1st Round – Pick 5 – Dalvin Cook (RB) [Current ADP: 8.0]

2nd Round – Pick 16 – Stefon Diggs (WR) [Current ADP: 12.2]

FXP Jr.

1st Round – Pick 6 – Josh Allen (QB) [Current ADP: 23.8]

2nd Round – Pick 15 – D’Andre Swift (RB) [Current ADP: 13.4]

This is what FXP Jr. had to say about his picks:

QBs are the highest point scoring player and most effective in fantasy. Running Backs are the usual first round pick but when a player like Josh Allen is available you can’t pass up on that. He and the Bills always have a good year and Allen is young and still developing. D’Andre swift is a solid running back on the lions and will score a lot of garbage time points. Last season he had 62 receptions which was fourth for all running backs and he only played 13 games.

Will Gentile

1st Round – Pick 7 – Cooper Kupp (WR) [Current ADP: 4.0]

2nd Round – Pick 14 – Javonte Williams (RB) [Current ADP: 19.8]

This is what Will had to say about his picks:

This is a tough RB class if you are not in the top of the draft. Cooper Kupp was an easy safe pick. I forced an RB with Javonte Williams and perhaps should have gone WR or TE instead.

Wole Akinso

1st Round – Pick 8 – Nick Chubb (RB) [Current ADP: 18.2]

2nd Round – Pick 13 – Joe Mixon (RB) [Current ADP: 11.8]

Ha Kung Wong

1st Round – Pick 9 – Austin Ekeler (RB) [Current ADP: 3.2]

2nd Round – Pick 12 – Travis Kelce (TE) [Current ADP: 14.6]

This is what Ha Kung had to say about his picks:

I have to say, I was surprised to see Austin Ekeler slip to me.  I understand that the PPR format encourages early selection of Cooper Kupp and Ja’Marr Chase, but Ekeler had a 13.9% target share and 70 receptions for 647 receiving yards last year to go along with his 911 yards on the ground.  Couple that with 20 total TDs and Ekeler was the second most impactful fantasy player last season.  The work in the passing game gives him a terrific floor in PPR leagues, and I don’t see his usage going down in LA.  He should be a sure thing in the Chargers high powered offense.

Say what you will about Travis Kelce’s age and the fact that he was “only” the second most productive TE in the league last year, the fact of the matter is that he still had 92 receptions for 1125 receiving yards and enters this season with no Tyreek Hill.  His 20% target share was second best among TEs in 2021 and that only looks to grow.  Plus, he’s essentially by default going to be Patrick Mahomes‘ favorite target with essentially the entire WR core replaced, and that’s never a bad thing.  Get the positional advantage taking Kelce in the second round and laugh your way to league championship.

Adam Aniba

1st Round – Pick 10 – Najee Harris (RB) [Current ADP: 6.8]

2nd Round – Pick 11 – Justin Jefferson (WR) [Current ADP: 6.0]

This is what Adam had to say about his picks:

Najee Harris managed a league-leading 381 touches last year for a ridiculous 1,667 total yards. That’s a lot for a rookie. With a new QB under center this season, whoever that might be, the one thing the Steelers will focus on is continuing to lean on Harris. Plus, it doesn’t even matter if the Steelers find themselves in a negative game script behind subpar or inexperienced QBs, since Harris had 74 receptions for 467 receiving yards last year as well, so he’ll be involved no matter what the score. Roll tide.

I drafted Justin Jefferson last year in round two and did so again this year, and I continue to think it’s a steal. The Minnesota WR set the rookie record with 1400 yards in ‘21 and followed that up with a whopping 1616 yards. Add in 10 TDs and the league’s third-highest target share (27%) and this becomes a no-brainer. Look for Jefferson along with his Vikings teammate Dalvin Cook, to be big time earners for their fantasy owners.

Check back soon for our Round 3 and 4 draft picks!

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