The 2022 fantasy football season is upon us — which means it's time to seriously begin preparing for drafts of all shapes and sizes. As always, it’s important to determine not just who the best players are, but also who will get the most opportunities.
Positional scarcity also affects when players will come off the board in fantasy drafts. in 2022, the tight end position is shaping up to be the most scarce for a second straight season, as there are only a few reliable, high-upside options — and their average draft position (ADP) is rising. On the other hand, quality wide receivers can be found up and down the draft board.
Utilizing tiers is the best way to ensure that fantasy managers are finding value with each pick, especially throughout the early rounds of PPR fantasy drafts. I'll explain how and why to target certain position groups in each tier along with backup plans for those who choose to go another direction.
The following are my top 300 players in PPR drafts broken into tiers, which is based on 12-team leagues.
Last Updated: July 26, 2022
Tier 1
| Rank | Pos | Name | Team | Position Rank |
| 1 | RB | Jonathan Taylor | Colts | RB1 |
| 2 | WR | Cooper Kupp | Rams | WR1 |
| 3 | WR | Justin Jefferson | Vikings | WR2 |
Jonathan Taylor is 2022's consensus top player in most formats. He was unique in 2021 for both how he was used and how impactful his carries were. He scored 30 more fantasy points than any other running back in PPR despite not ranking inside the top 20 in targets. He receives an upgrade at quarterback in Matt Ryan, which should help him maintain a high number of red0zone opportunities. He also didn’t receive any significant competition this offseason, so injury is the only thing that could slow Taylor down this season.
Cooper Kupp and Justin Jefferson stand out among all of the wide receivers. Kupp had the best fantasy season ever by a wide receiver, beating out Randy Moss and Jerry Rice, while Jefferson has the most receiving yards and receptions by a player over their first two seasons, beating out Odell Beckham Jr., Moss and Rice.
Both receivers are ahead of the rest of the running backs, as there is one reason or another to be concerned about each one of them. There are enough running backs available at the end of the second round and the start of the third to pick a wide receiver here before securing back-to-back running backs in subsequent rounds.
Tier 2
| Rank | Pos | Name | Team | Position Rank |
| 4 | RB | Christian McCaffrey | Panthers | RB2 |
| 5 | RB | Austin Ekeler | Chargers | RB3 |
| 6 | RB | Najee Harris | Steelers | RB4 |
| 7 | RB | Derrick Henry | Titans | RB5 |
| 8 | RB | Dalvin Cook | Vikings | RB6 |
| 9 | WR | Stefon Diggs | Bills | WR3 |
| 10 | WR | Ja'Marr Chase | Bengals | WR4 |
This tier begins with five running backs, four of which have been fantasy's most dependable backs over the last few seasons whenever they’ve been healthy.
Christian McCaffrey leads the tier, as he’s been the most dominant fantasy back when healthy thanks to his workload both on the ground and as a receiver. He is just as likely as any other back to get injured on any given play, but there is a concern if he receives less work than in the past. Carolina drafted Chuba Hubbard a season ago and gave D’Onta Foreman a $2 million contract this spring. Both players could prevent McCaffrey from receiving the same number of carries as he used to.
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