Looking back at the 2022 fantasy football rankings, it’s kinda wild how much we got wrong—and how much that year fundamentally changed how we draft today. Honestly, if you look at the consensus boards from August 2022, they look like a fever dream. Jonathan Taylor was the undisputed 1.01. People were still drafting Cooper Kupp in the top three because of his triple-crown season, and everyone thought the Denver Broncos’ offense was going to explode with Russell Wilson.
Spit-take.
It didn't happen. In fact, 2022 was arguably the year that the "Zero RB" and "Hero RB" strategies finally moved from niche Reddit threads into the mainstream. The volatility was just too high. When you look at those old rankings now, you see a graveyard of busted ADP (Average Draft Position) values, but you also see the blueprint for why elite quarterbacks like Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes started going in the first round shortly after.
Why the Top of the 2022 Fantasy Football Rankings Crumbled
Jonathan Taylor was the guy. If you had the first pick, you took him. No questions asked. He was coming off a 1,811-yard season with 18 touchdowns. But then the Colts' offensive line fell apart, Matt Ryan looked every bit of his age, and Taylor dealt with a nagging high-ankle sprain. He finished as the RB33 in half-PPR leagues. Total disaster for anyone who spent their 1.01 on him.
Then there was Najee Harris. He was ranked as a top-five back in almost every 2022 fantasy football rankings list because of his volume. People forgot that volume on a bad offense is just a slow march to a 3.8 yards-per-carry average.
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The real winners of the first round ended up being Christian McCaffrey—who people were terrified to draft because of his injury history—and Justin Jefferson. Jefferson was the WR2 or WR3 in most rankings behind Cooper Kupp and Ja'Marr Chase. By the end of the year, he was the WR1 and the clear-cut best player in fantasy. It’s funny how a single season can shift the entire philosophy of an industry. Before 2022, taking a wide receiver at 1.01 was considered "bold." After Jefferson’s 1,800-yard campaign, it became the standard.
The Rise of the "Elite QB" Tier
For years, the "Late Round QB" strategy was king. You’d wait until the 10th round, grab someone like Kirk Cousins, and call it a day. But the 2022 fantasy football rankings proved that the gap between the haves and the have-nots at quarterback was becoming a canyon.
Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Hurts didn't just win games; they broke the scoring system. Hurts, specifically, was a massive value. Most experts had him ranked as the QB6 to QB10 range. He finished as the QB1 in points per game. His rushing floor was so high that even if he had a bad throwing day, he was still giving you 20 points. This was the year we realized that a "rushing cheat code" at QB was no longer a luxury—it was a requirement if you wanted to win a championship.
Tight End Wasteland: Kelce vs. The World
If you didn't have Travis Kelce in 2022, you were basically playing with a handicap. Kelce’s rank was usually late first or early second round. Looking back, he should have been the 1.01. He finished with 100+ more points than the TE2 (T.J. Hockenson) in some formats. That kind of positional advantage is unheard of.
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The mid-tier tight ends were a mess. Kyle Pitts was ranked as a top-three tight end. People were drafting him in the third round. He finished with two touchdowns and 356 yards before getting hurt. It was a stark reminder that talent doesn't matter if the head coach—in this case, Arthur Smith—refuses to use the player in a way that makes sense for fantasy.
The Sleeper Hits Nobody Saw Coming
Every year has them, but 2022 felt different.
Take Josh Jacobs. In the preseason, he was playing in the Hall of Fame game, which is usually a "kiss of death" for veteran starters. His ADP plummeted. In many 2022 fantasy football rankings, he was buried in the RB20-RB24 range. He ended up leading the league in rushing.
- Jamaal Williams: Ranked as a "handicap" or "backup." He went on to score 17 touchdowns for the Lions.
- Geno Smith: He wasn't even ranked in the top 200 players. He finished as a top-10 fantasy QB.
- Garrett Wilson: The rookie started slow, but by the end of the year, he proved that elite talent can overcome mediocre quarterback play (sorry, Zach Wilson).
It’s these outliers that make fantasy football so frustratingly beautiful. You can do all the research in the world, look at every spreadsheet, and analyze every "expected points" metric, and then a guy like Jamaal Williams just decides to score every time the team gets inside the five-yard line.
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What 2022 Taught Us About Draft Strategy
The biggest takeaway from the 2022 fantasy football rankings was the death of the "RB-RB-RB" start. The "Dead Zone" running backs (rounds 3 through 6) were particularly lethal to fantasy rosters that year. Guys like Cam Akers, JK Dobbins, and Ezekiel Elliott were being drafted in that range and provided almost zero return on investment.
Instead, the "Wide Receiver Avalanche" started. Since 2022, we've seen receivers pushed higher and higher. If you look at a modern draft, the first round is usually 70% wideouts. That shift started because of how reliable the elite WRs were in 2022 compared to the volatile RB landscape.
Also, we learned that coaching changes matter more than we think. Brian Daboll going to the Giants turned Saquon Barkley back into a superstar. Kevin O'Connell going to the Vikings unlocked Justin Jefferson's ceiling. On the flip side, Nathaniel Hackett in Denver was a total anchor for everyone involved.
Actionable Insights for Your Next Draft
- Prioritize the "Legendary" Upside: In 2022, the players who won leagues were the ones with outlier seasons (Kelce, Jacobs, Hurts). Don't draft for a "safe floor" in the early rounds. Draft for the ceiling.
- Ignore the Name, Watch the Situation: Russell Wilson had the "name," but the situation in Denver was toxic. Geno Smith had no "name," but the Seahawks' offensive structure was actually great for fantasy.
- The Rookie Bump: Players like Breece Hall (before his injury) and Christian Watson showed that rookies usually provide their best value in the second half of the season. Don't panic and drop them in Week 3.
- Positional Scarcity is Real: If there is a player like Travis Kelce who produces at a level significantly higher than the rest of the position, he is worth a top-five pick, regardless of what the "standard" rankings say.
Understanding the 2022 fantasy football rankings isn't just about a trip down memory lane. It’s about recognizing the patterns of human error. We tend to overvalue what happened last year and undervalue the potential for change. We assume the stars will stay stars and the backups will stay backups. But in the NFL, the only constant is that everything we think we know in August will be proven wrong by November.
The best fantasy managers aren't the ones who have the "perfect" pre-season rankings. They’re the ones who recognize when the rankings are wrong and move quickly to fix their mistakes. Whether it's 2022 or 2026, that's the only real way to win a ring.
Keep your eye on the offensive line play and coaching tendencies more than the "star" power of the player. That's the secret sauce. If the line can't block, even Jonathan Taylor can't run. If the coach won't pass, even Kyle Pitts can't catch. Simple as that.