Fantasy Football 2022: How to draft with the 10th pick in a 12-MAN PPR LEAGUE

Sep 6

With opening night right around the corner, millions of Americans have already drafted their fantasy football teams, but for the select few (such as myself) who wait until the very last minute to draft, here is a guide on how to draft in a 12-Man PPR league with the 10th overall pick.

With the 10th pick in a snake format, the selections will be: 10, 15, 34, 39, 58, 63, 82, 87, 106, 111, 130, 135, 154, 159, 178, and 183. Here are the players you should target at each selection to help build the perfect fantasy team:

Pick 10: Dalvin Cook

If Dalvin Cook is available at pick 10, this pick is a no-brainer. The Vikings offense is going to be firing on all cylinders this season, as new head coach Kevin O’Connell is going to completely reshape what the foundation of the Viking offense represents. Expect to see a much more fast-paced offense from the Vikings as opposed to what we saw under former coach Mike Zimmer. Although Cook has had a history of missing a few games each season, you can still expect him to have a very high workload in Minnesota. Cook’s ADP according to ESPN is 9.8, so it is going to be a coin toss on whether or not he is available at pick 10. If he is off the board, the next players I would target would be Alvin Kamara, and Davante Adams, in that order.

Pick 15: CeeDee Lamb

With Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson departing the Cowboys, Lamb is shaping up to be the number one prime target for Dak Prescott in Dallas. In 2021, the Cowboys were second in the NFL in passing yards, and there is no reason to believe they will shift away from incorporating a pass-heavy offense. I believe Lamb has the ceiling of being a potential Top 5 WR this season in fantasy, making him a great pick at 15. With an Average Draft Position of 20.9, Lamb should be on the board at 15. If he is not, I would target Tyreek Hill at wide receiver. If you already drafted a wide receiver in round one, I would go running back with this selection and target Joe Mixon, De’Andre Swift, and Saquon Barkley, in that order.

Pick 34: Kyle Pitts

After his rookie season, Kyle Pitts might be ready to take the leap from being a great fantasy tight end to an elite one. Pitts finished last season with only one touchdown. That was fluke, and will not repeat itself this upcoming season. There are several factors that jump out to me that make me excited about Pitts. Hayden Hurst is no longer on the Falcons, which will increase red-zone targets for Pitts, as Hurst had three times the touchdowns last season as Pitts. Atlanta also has a new quarterback in Marcus Mariota, and star wide receiver Calvin Ridley will be suspended for the entire season. Pitts is going to be the man in Atlanta, and I think he could finish as TE2 right behind Travis Kelce.

Pick 39: Mike Williams

In a pass-heavy offense with Justin Herbert, I expect Mike Williams to have a very productive season, similar to what we saw from him last year. Williams had a cold stretch in the middle of last season, but he has a bunch of upside in the high-powered Chargers offense. I fully expect the Chargers to be in a lot of shootouts this season, with a brutal schedule of two games against the Chiefs, Broncos, and Raiders, along with playing all four teams in the very tough NFC West. Williams’ ADP is 44.5, but if he is off the board, I would target Courtland Sutton, who should thrive with Russell Wilson at quarterback in Denver.

Pick 58: Kyler Murray

I am super high on Kyler Murray, and if he is available at 58, it would be a great selection. He fizzled out last season after injuring his ankle against the Packers, but with the addition of Hollywood Brown, along with DeAndre Hopkins (Week 7 onward), Zach Ertz, A.J. Green, etc, Arizona will have one of the best offenses in the NFL. James Conner rushing for 16 touchdowns last season shouldn’t repeat itself. I fully expect Murray’s touchdown rate to increase this season, along with his passing yards. Arizona found itself running the ball a lot last season during their 7-0 start because most of their games were decided by the middle of the third quarter. I’m not expecting that to be as frequent this season, as they have one of the hardest schedules in the NFL. The Cardinals also lost a few key defensive players, which his will correlate to higher scoring games, benefiting Kyler Murray’s stats. If Murray is unavailable at 58, I would wait to draft a quarterback until rounds seven or eight, such as Joe Burrow or Russell Wilson. In the case Murray is unavailable, I would target Jerry Jeudy, Amon-Ra St. Brown, or JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Pick 63: Dameon Pierce

It may seem risky waiting until the sixth round to draft your second starting running back, but for the right value, it could pan out very well. I think Pierce has the upside and ceiling that makes taking this risk worth it. Houston is going to have a very lackluster offense, giving the rookie a ton of opportunities to shine and showcase his skills. The Texans also recently cut second string running back Marlon Mack, meaning Pierce has the potential to be a three-down back. Although his ADP is hovering around 82, I think Pierce is worth this pick at 63, because if you wait until pick 82 or 87, there is a good chance he will already be gone by then, which would be a disaster. The running backs that are left at that point will be players who have very low volume and not a lot of upside. Pierce has tremendous value at this point in the draft, and if you load up on receivers and a tight end in the first few rounds, Pierce is a phenomenal pick as your running back two in the sixth round.

Pick 82: Adam Thielen

Many fantasy experts and writers believe Thielen’s days of productive fantasy football stats are over, but I do not believe that one bit. Up until he got hurt last season in Week 13, Thielen was WR7 in fantasy. No, that is not a typo. He was WR7. Why so many people are starting to call him off is beyond me. I do not believe he will finish the season as a Top 10 WR, but I fully expect him to finish between 15-20, making him an absolute steal in the seventh round. Under O’Connell’s revamped, fast-paced offense, Adam Thielen will be an extreme asset in fantasy football.

Pick 87: Deandre Hopkins

Hopkins will miss the first six games of the season, but once he returns, I believe he will be a Top 10 WR in fantasy, making him extremely valuable for the second half of the season and in the fantasy playoffs. What makes this pick amazing with the picks we have already made is that neither Lamb, Williams, or Thielen have their bye week in the first six weeks of the season, and none of them share the same bye week. This secures a WR/WR/FLEX combination of Lamb, Williams, Thielen, or Hopkins will be available to you all season long. Many people will shy away from drafting him due to his suspension, but if you want to plan for a potential playoff run in your league, Hopkins is a great pick in the eighth round.

Rounds 9-12:

Now that the foundation of your team has been built, it is time to draft your back-ups. In these specific rounds, I would target two receivers, your back-up quarterback, and your back-up tight end. The two receivers I would aim for in rounds 9/10 are Allen Lazard and Brandon Aiyuk. After the departure of Davante Adams, Lazard is primed to be Aaron Rodgers’ top target in Green Bay. I am not expecting elite numbers from Lazard, but it wouldn’t shock me at all if he ends up as a low-tier WR2 in fantasy leagues, making him a very valuable selection in the ninth round. Aiyuk is being extremely undervalued as well. After his abysmal start to the season last year, he finished as WR16 from Week 8 until the end of the season. With a new quarterback in Trey Lance (reports out of training camp insist the chemistry between the two of them has been amazing), Aiyuk has a lot of upside that shouldn’t be ignored. As far as a back-up quarterback goes, Kirk Cousins is the best option in Round 11. I cannot stress enough how I excited I am to watch the new Vikings offense under Kevin O’Connell’s system, and I believe Cousins could finish the season as Top 10 Fantasy quarterback. A back-up tight end may be the least important spot on your roster, but someone I would try to target in Round 12 would be David Njoku.

Rounds 13-16:

The final rounds in the draft are where you will draft your defense and kicker, but more importantly, it is where you should also draft the two backs who are back-ups to your starting fantasy running backs IN REAL LIFE. This is a strategy I started doing last season and I absolutely loved it. Running back is one of the most injury-prone positions in the NFL, and there is no worse feeling then losing one of your starting backs in fantasy for weeks and not having a viable Plan B. If you draft the back-ups to your starting running backs, then you will never have to worry about this. The insurance they will provide for you is amazing, and this strategy also allows for you to focus on drafting receivers in rounds nine through 12 who could potentially pan out as Top 20 receivers. In this instance, the two backs we would draft would be Alexander Mattison (Cook’s back-up) and Rex Burkhead (Pierce’s back-up). As far as defense and kickers go, they are all relatively the same. The two I am targeting are the Cowboys D/ST and Evan McPherson. The priority in these rounds however should be drafting the back-up running backs, followed by a defense and a kicker.

Summary: With excellent drafting and a little bit of fortune, a perfect team with the 10th selection could look something like this: