Early 2022 Fantasy Football Best Ball Rankings and Analysis by The King

Scott Engel's early 2022 fantasy football best ball rankings. He provides analysis on NFL players to target and avoid for fantasy football best ball drafts.

Fantasy football players are already participating in fantasy football best ball drafts. If you are feeling confident about your early projections for the 2022 season, drafting a best ball team is a great way to start getting involved well ahead of the start of the upcoming season.

Not only can you prove that the evaluations made well before the preseason were better than most others, it’s also a great way to start practicing for those summer drafts.

Our first edition of the 2022 best ball fantasy football rankings. Rankings are based on PPR scoring. The fantasy football rankings widget follows our in-depth analysis at every position.

Editor's Note: Stay on top of your draft prep with RotoBaller’s fantasy football rankings, featuring expert analysis, ADPs, and draft insights for both PPR and non-PPR leagues.

Running Back Fantasy Football Best Ball Rankings

Christian McCaffrey will be a great best ball option in the games that he plays, but if he misses several outings again he will still negatively affect your team, so do not take him in the top-five overall. … A more wide-open Cleveland offense may not necessarily be a bad thing for Nick Chubb. He can see more open running room and flourish with RPO looks added to the offense. Plus, he can finish off scoring drives in a more potent attack. Chubb still has a lot of statistical promise for best ball purposes. … This appears to be a pivotal season for Saquon Barkley, and the upside is still there. … Javonte Williams is simply a better pick in best ball formats. With Melvin Gordon returning, he will be statistically unpredictable, but Williams can still provide some impressive outings. …. Elijah Mitchell should share more carries this year, but he has the weekly promise to be a best ball booster. … The Seattle running backs are tantalizing best ball selections. When both are healthy, either one of them could deliver a superb outing in any given week. If Rashaad Penny misses any time, Kenneth Walker III is very capable of putting up RB1 numbers. We all saw what Penny did late last season, too, as he showed what he was capable of when getting a significant workload. He was also a more physical runner because Adrian Peterson coached him up on how to power for more yardage.

Breece Hall is the most versatile of the rookie RBs, and you may worry less about Michael Carter cutting into his weekly workload in a best ball format. … Travis Etienne is more suited for a best ball format, as you can enjoy his better outings when they come, even if consistency is an issue in his first true pro season. …  If you can somehow draft both Kansas City running backs, you will benefit from whoever performs better in any given week. … The Miami backfield is crowded, but Chase Edmonds has the best upside. … Dameon Pierce can eventually emerge as a viable producer even if he starts slowly, but Marlon Mack may be primed to show he can regain his better form. Both of the Houston RBs can be best ball value plays. … James Cook is a pass-catching back in a pass-first offense, so he is going to deliver some quality outings.

Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Best Ball Rankings

Davante Adams gets a QB downgrade, but not to a terrible one, so he should still be a top-five fantasy WR in all formats. … Tyreek Hill will obviously have less big games without Patrick Mahomes, but he creates a lot of his big-play ability on his own. Hill is still a fantasy WR1 type for some top-level games in best ball leagues. … CeeDee Lamb is now a pure No. 1 WR for Dallas, and it is possible I could be underrating him slightly in this format. … Like Hill, Jaylen Waddle creates a lot of his own exciting opportunities. Once Tua Tagovailoa gets the ball to either one of his top two WRs, each one can do much to elevate their weekly outlooks. … Amari Cooper has some serious best ball promise as the top WR for Deshaun Watson. … Consistency may be an issue for DK Metcalf this season, but he will be less of a concern in that regard in best ball formats. … JuJu Smith-Schuster is going to have a lot higher ceiling than many expect when working with Mahomes. He has to prove himself on a one-year deal, and we have already seen Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Mecole Hardman not meet expectations when playing with top QBs. … Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy have an equal amount of appeal working with Russell Wilson. They are both good value targets in all formats. … Gabriel Davis will be a fantasy WR2 in every type of league this year, but he really has an arrow pointing up in best ball play. He’s a budding big-play artist in a big-play offense.

I would rather have Marquise Brown in a best ball format. He is somewhat overrated and never made the most of his opportunity to be the consistent playmaker that was needed in Baltimore. He’ll have some good games pairing with Kyler Murray, but won’t be reliable. … If the Packers are showing confidence in Allen Lazard by not making any major moves to knock him down on the depth chart, then we should consider that he may be ready to exceed lukewarm expectations. … We could see Elijah Moore start to emerge as more of an offensive sparkplug this season. … Alec Pierce might be very busy as a rookie and has the look of a possible value play in all formats. … Jalen Tolbert is another interesting rookie with some best ball promise. … Kadarius Toney is reminiscent of Percy Harvin. You hope he stays healthy enough to tap into his exciting abilities more often. He’s the potentially explosive type of guy who stirs intrigue in best ball leagues.

Quarterbacks and Tight Ends Best Ball Rankings

Jalen Hurts is a QB that I want in best ball leagues this season. The rushing production and three legit pass-catchers give him a high possible weekly ceiling. … Russell Wilson has historically been more efficient than reliant on passing volume, but if the Broncos let him “cook,” he could be a very good best ball QB in 2022. … Aaron Rodgers has no Davante Adams, but he is still Aaron Rodgers. … Trey Lance is more of a best ball QB2 with something to prove, but there is obviously a lot of upside. … Tagovailoa will rely a lot on his top playmakers to boost his production, so he can be effective at times for best ball purposes. … The Jets are surrounding Zach Wilson with some talent, so he could deliver a few quality best ball outings. … Cole Kmet can play a large role in a Chicago offense that lacks apparent dependable targets. He is a value target in all formats. … Austin Hooper is a sneaky play as a possibly consistent chain-mover for the Titans. He should have at least a handful of good games for best ball purposes. … Irv Smith Jr. will be a TE to watch for re-emergence and some quality best ball output. … There are a few possible value TEs to eye for best ball promise, and David Njoku is another to consider as he works with Deshaun Watson.

Scott Engel's Fantasy Football Best Ball Rankings

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