Fantasy Football 2022: Top-50 Player Rankings and 4-Round 12-Team Mock Draft

While the National Football League has been around far longer than the game of fantasy football, the latter has become a ubiquitous part of the game. This is especially true during training-camp season, which also happens to be the start of fantasy draft season.

Over the next several weeks, fans will follow their favorite teams through camp and the preseason. Fantasy managers will follow players, looking to see how position battles shake out, which rookies are rising and whether top fantasy performers make it to Week 1 healthy.

Just as we'll know more about teams after the preseason, we'll know a lot more about the fantasy landscape at month's end. For now, we can only make projections—which is exactly what we're here to do.

Below, you'll find our top-50 rankings for points-per-reception (PPR) season-long leagues. We'll also run through a four-round, 12-team mock draft and dissect the early selections.

1. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts

2. Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers

3. Dalvin Cook, RB, Minnesota Vikings

4. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers

5. Najee Harris, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

6. Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams

7. Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans

8. Davante Adams, Las Vegas Raiders

9. Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings

10. Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

11. Ja'Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

12. Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs

13. Deebo Samuel, WR, San Francisco 49ers

14. Stefon Diggs, WR, Buffalo Bills

15. D'Andre Swift, RB, Detroit Lions

16. Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants

17. CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys

18. Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers

19. Tyreek Hill, WR, Miami Dolphins

20. Leonard Fournette, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

21. Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

22. Mark Andrews, TE, Baltimore Ravens

23. Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints

24. Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

25. Javonte Williams, RB, Denver Broncos

26. Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns

27. Michael Pittman Jr., WR, Indianapolis Colts

28. Mike Williams, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

29. A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

30. Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

31. DJ Moore, WR, Carolina Panthers

32. James Conner, RB, Arizona Cardinals

33. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys

34. Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons

35. Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills

36. Jaylen Waddle, WR, Miami Dolphins

37. Diontae Johnson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

38. David Montgomery, RB, Chicago Bears

39. Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Commanders

40. Travis Etienne Jr., RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

41. George Kittle TE, San Francisco 49ers

42. Brandin Cooks, WR, Houston Texans

43. Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos

44. Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens

45. Melvin Gordon III, RB, Denver Broncos

46. DK Metcalf, WR, Seattle Seahawks

47. Darren Waller, TE, Las Vegas Raiders

48. Elijah Mitchell, RB, San Francisco 49ers

49. Amari Cooper, WR, Cleveland Browns

50. Miles Sanders, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

First Round

1.01 Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts

1.02 Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers

1.03 Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers

1.04 Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans

1.05 Najee Harris, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

1.06 Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Ras

1.07 Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings

1.08 Dalvin Cook, RB, Minnesota Vikings

1.09 Ja'Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

1.10 Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

1.11 Davante Adams, WR, Las Vegas Raiders

1.12 D'Andre Swift, Detroit Lions

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Second Round

2.01 Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs

2.02 Stefon Diggs, WR, Buffalo Bills

2.03 Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers

2.04 CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys

2.05 Javonte Williams, RB, Denver Broncos

2.06 Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns

2.07 Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants

2.08 Deebo Samuel, WR, San Francisco 49ers

2.09 Leonard Fournette, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2.10 Tyreek Hill, WR, Miami Dolphins

2.11 Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills

2.12 Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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Third Round

3.01 Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints

3.02 Mark Andrews, TE, Baltimore Ravens

3.03 Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

3.04 Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

3.05 A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

3.06 Cam Akers, RB, Los Angeles Rams

3.07 Antonio Gibson, RB, Washington Commanders

3.08 Michael Pittman Jr., WR, Indianapolis Colts

3.09 Diontae Johnson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

3.10 Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons

3.11 Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys

3.12. Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens

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Fourth Round

4.01 Travis Etienne Jr., RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

4.02 James Connor, RB, Arizona Cardinals

4.03 DJ Moore, WR, Carolina Panthers

4.04 David Montgomery, RB, Chicago Bears

4.05 Darren Waller, TE, Las Vegas Raiders

4.06 Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

4.07 Jaylen Waddle, WR, Miami Dolphins

4.08 DK Metcalf, WR, Seattle Seahawks

4.09 Mike Williams, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

4.10 Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Commanders

4.11 Josh Jacobs, RB, Las Vegas Raiders

4.12 Darnell Mooney, WR, Chicago Bears

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor will be a popular pick in fantasy drafts following a tremendous 2021 campaign. He led the league in carries (322), rushing yards (1,811) and rushing touchdowns (18).

Managers may be wary of a slight workload decrease with Matt Ryan coming to town, but Taylor is highly unlikely to bust.

Managers may also have concerns about Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey after two injury-plagued seasons. The good news is that he appears healthy and ready to resume a bell-cow role.

"I feel great," he told NFL Network. "You know, I think that's an easy way to put it. This is the best I've ever felt. Luckily, I didn't have any surgeries, no operations or anything like that. Just a bunch of annoying injuries that kept me off the field."

McCaffrey may go No. 1 in many fantasy drafts this year—and Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport recently made a case for why he should.

Austin Ekeler probably won't get many nods at No. 1, but the Los Angeles Chargers dual-threat running back is a solid choice for a top-five draft slot.

Bell-cow backs such as Derrick Henry, Najee Harris, Dalvin Cook and Joe Mixon will litter the first round in most season-long leagues. Henry, of course, is a high-volume runner, while Harris, Cook and Mixon all provide added PPR value.

High-volume No. 1 receivers like Cooper Kupp, who led the league in receptions and receiving yards last season, Justin Jefferson and Ja'Marr Chase are also relatively "safe" first-round targets.

Davante Adams, however, may get overlooked to a degree now that he's not with the Green Bay Packers. Having Aaron Rodgers at quarterback can boost a receiver's fantasy production, but managers shouldn't be too concerned with a drop-off.

Now with the Las Vegas Raiders, Adams has been reunited with his college quarterback, Derek Carr. The two should have little trouble rekindling their chemistry, and Adams should again be a fantasy star.

Detroit Lions running back D'Andre Swift is another potential back likely to crack the first round this year. While he didn't have overwhelming rushing numbers last season (617 yards, five touchdowns), he was PPR gold, finishing with 62 receptions, 452 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Like Ekeler, Swift appears poised to emerge as a PPR mainstay who regularly produces 60-plus receptions and 1,000-plus scrimmage yards. The question is whether he can be on the field for more than 13 games for the first time in his career.

Swift is far less valuable in standard-scoring formats.

While tight end Travis Kelce didn't make the first-round cut in this mock, he's another player to consider in the opening round. With Tyreek Hill out, the 32-year-old is now the Kansas City Chiefs' unquestioned top target.

There should be little risk in taking Kelce at the bottom of Round 1 and then coming back for a ball-carrier such as Swift or Aaron Jones in Round 2.