It’s been more than a month since the end of the 2021 fantasy football season and already, much has changed. Fantasy player value changes with every news item, every rumor, every game, every play, and that includes in the playoffs.
While you never want to put too much stock in one game or a few games, the truth is the value of a player like Odell Beckham Jr is very different after he suffered a bad injury in the Super Bowl than it was, say, after the NFC championship.
Among the players whose stock rose for me since I published my way-too-early 2022 rankings: Joe Burrow, who seemed to take his game to another level; Derrick Henry, who looked healthy to me; as did Cam Akers and Darren Waller. Devin Singletary, Tee Higgins, Evan McPherson and, of course, Gabriel Davis are also among the players who saw their stock rise.
Meanwhile, do you have any confidence in the Chiefs’ run game? Kyler Murray looked bad in football and then he petulantly unfollowed everyone associated with the Cardinals on his social media and looked bad in real life. Playoff QBs Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger calling it quits after their playoff losses certainly effects the offensive fortunes of the Buccaneers and Steelers, respectively. And I don’t know about you, but the Saints without Sean Payton calling plays are less interesting to me, even before we try to figure out who their QB will be.
So my opinions on some players have changed after the playoffs, just like they will change and adjust a million times more between now and draft season in August. Free agency, the NFL draft, hearing from new coaches and staffs, players retiring, players coming back, news out of OTAs and training camps, a ton of stuff we haven’t even thought of before and, because this is the world we live in now, updates on the legal status of some players will also move player values up and down.
With so much unknown it’s a challenge, of course, to rank, so this is how I am doing this: I am ranking as the NFL is today. That is to say, as of this writing Aaron Rodgers is still on the Packers, Russell Wilson is still on the Seahawks and Tom Brady is still retired.
1. Jonathan Taylor, IND (RB1)
2. Christian McCaffrey, CAR (RB2)
3. Austin Ekeler, LAC (RB3)
4. Cooper Kupp, LAR (WR1)
5. Derrick Henry, TEN (RB4)
6. Davante Adams, GB (WR2)
7. Dalvin Cook, MIN (RB5)
8. Najee Harris, PIT (RB6)
9. Justin Jefferson, MIN (WR3)
10. Alvin Kamara, NO (RB7)
11. Ja’Marr Chase, CIN (WR4)
12. Joe Mixon, CIN (RB8)
13. Tyreek Hill, KC (WR5)
14. Stefon Diggs, BUF (WR6)
15. D’Andre Swift, DET (RB9)
16. Deebo Samuel, SF (WR7)
17. Javonte Williams, DEN (RB10)
18. Antonio Gibson, WAS (RB11)
19. Nick Chubb, CLE (RB12)
20. Mark Andrews, BAL (TE1)
21. Travis Kelce, KC (TE2)
22. A.J. Brown, TEN (WR8)
23. David Montgomery, CHI (RB13)
24. Cam Akers, LAR (RB14)
25. Diontae Johnson, PIT (WR9)
26. CeeDee Lamb, DAL (WR10)
27. DK Metcalf, SEA (WR11)
28. Ezekiel Elliott, DAL (RB15)
29. Josh Jacobs, LV (RB16)
30. Chris Godwin, TB (WR12)
31. Elijah Mitchell, SF (RB17)
32. Leonard Fournette, TB (RB18)
33. Jaylen Waddle, MIA (WR13)
34. Tee Higgins, CIN (WR14)
35. Mike Evans, TB (WR15)
36. Aaron Jones, GB (RB19)
37. Saquon Barkley, NYG (RB20)
38. Keenan Allen, LAC (WR16)
39. J.K. Dobbins, BAL (RB21)
40. Tyler Lockett, SEA (WR17)
41. Calvin Ridley, ATL (WR18)
42. DeAndre Hopkins, ARI (WR19)
43. George Kittle, SF (TE3)
44. Michael Carter, NYJ (RB22)
45. Kyle Pitts, ATL (TE4)
46. DJ Moore, CAR (WR20)
47. Terry McLaurin, WAS (WR21)
48. Marquise Brown, BAL (WR22)
49. Brandin Cooks, HOU (WR23)
50. Darren Waller, LV (TE5)
51. Josh Allen, BUF (QB1)
52. Patrick Mahomes, KC (QB2)
53. Travis Etienne Jr., JAC (RB23)
54. Amari Cooper, DAL (WR24)
55. Elijah Moore, NYJ (WR25)
56. Justin Herbert, LAC (QB3)
57. Aaron Rodgers, GB (QB4)
58. Amon-Ra St. Brown, DET (WR26)
59. Robert Woods, LAR (WR27)
60. Adam Thielen, MIN (WR28)
61. Kyler Murray, ARI (QB5)
62. DeVonta Smith, PHI (WR29)
63. Michael Thomas, NO (WR30)
64. Hunter Renfrow, LV (WR31)
65. Dak Prescott, DAL (QB6)
66. James Conner, ARI (RB24)
67. Damien Harris, NE (RB25)
68. T.J. Hockenson, DET (TE6)
69. Devin Singletary, BUF (RB26)
70. Lamar Jackson, BAL (QB7)
71. Miles Sanders, PHI (RB27)
72. Mike Williams, LAC (WR32)
73. Darnell Mooney, CHI (WR33)
74. Gabriel Davis, BUF (WR34)
75. AJ Dillon, GB (RB28)
76. Chase Edmonds, ARI (RB29)
77. Joe Burrow, CIN (QB8)
78. Chris Carson, SEA (RB30)
79. Dalton Schultz, DAL (TE7)
80. Jalen Hurts, PHI (QB9)
81. Michael Pittman Jr., IND (WR35)
82. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, KC (RB31)
83. Kareem Hunt, CLE (RB32)
84. James Robinson, JAC (RB33)
85. Melvin Gordon III, DEN (RB34)
86. Matthew Stafford, LAR (QB10)
87. Dallas Goedert, PHI (TE8)
88. Cordarrelle Patterson, ATL (RB35)
89. Jerry Jeudy, DEN (WR36)
90. Rashod Bateman, BAL (WR37)
91. Tony Pollard, DAL (RB36)
92. Rashaad Penny, SEA (RB37)
93. Rob Gronkowski, TB (TE9)
94. Brandon Aiyuk, SF (WR38)
95. JuJu Smith-Schuster, PIT (WR39)
96. Rhamondre Stevenson, NE (RB38)
97. Courtland Sutton, DEN (WR40)
98. Chase Claypool, PIT (WR41)
99. DeVante Parker, MIA (WR42)
100. Pat Freiermuth, PIT (TE10)
Source: www.espn.com