X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

Josh Constantinou's Bold Predictions For The 2022 Fantasy Football Season

Gabriel Davis - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Josh Constantinou states 4 bold predictions he has for 2022 fantasy football.

The 2022 season is nearly upon us, which makes this the opportune time for the bold prediction series at RotoBaller. There have already been several great articles in this series, all of which are worth reading. I am excited to be adding four of my own here for you.

The word bold is defined as being "courageous and daring." This means a bold prediction cannot merely be something unlikely to occur, it must exceed that threshold. At the same, if it is only possible as a result of injury or something outrageous occurring, then it has gone too far in the other direction. For example, predicting Jonathan Taylor finishes as the No. 1 overall running back again in 2022 would be an unlikely bet, but not a bold one. Whereas, predicting Taylor will lead all running backs in receptions has gone too far and is no longer evidence-based.

In search of the bowl of porridge that is "just right," I have included four bold predictions for 2022 below, with my last one as my boldest.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:

 

J.K. Dobbins Finishes As A Top-15 Running Back

Let me preface this by saying this is not a suggestion to draft Dobbins, nor is it a declaration that he will active and healthy for Week 1. This is simply about the totality of his season and overall finish.

Dobbins made an incredible impact on the Ravens' offense in his rookie season, climbing the depth chart to supplant Mark Ingram II and join Gus Edwards to form an impressive one-two punch. After Dobbins overtook Ingram in Week 7, joining Edwards as the co-leader in the backfield, he averaged 14 touches per game, 77 yards per game, and 0.8 touchdowns per game. To project that over a full season, he would have had 1,309 all-purpose yards (rushing + receiving) and 14 total touchdowns. 

Dobbins is currently recovering from an ACL injury that ended up sidelining him for much longer than originally anticipated. He started training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform List and wasn't removed until early in August. He appears questionable to play Week 1 and may have a reduced workload to begin the year. Obviously, these are all major concerns for his early season impact, which is primarily why this constitutes a bold prediction.

The flip side though, is that Edwards will start the regular season on the PUP list, guaranteeing he will miss the first four weeks, if not longer. Furthermore, Edwards is a 27-year-old running back attempting to return from a significant knee injury. It's probable that he misses more than four games, not to mention struggles to return to full health as quickly because of his age.

Additionally, the depth chart behind Edwards includes 29-year-old Mike Davis, Justice Hill, and recently signed Kenyan Drake, who was cut from the Raiders because they decided they would rather absorb his $8 million cap hit than keep him on the roster, not exactly a vote of confidence. Clearly, none of these options possess the talent and underlying metrics Dobbins does.

2020 Underlying Metrics

Metric Total NFL Finish
Yards Per Carry 6.0 1st
True Yards Per Carry 5.4 1st
Yards Per Touch 6.1 3rd
Breakaway Runs 11 4th
Juke Rate 30.9% 5th
Expected Points Added +24.9 5th

It is not the early part of the year where you should expect Dobbins to make his mark, but rather from about Week 5 onward when he's back to full health and leading this rush-heavy offense.

The two knocks on Dobbins are generally that he does not receive enough passing work and is always in a committee. While the first point may remain true, he'll only need about a 12-15% target share to produce a big year, which is not asking a lot from an offense that currently contains only two legitimate receiving options in Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman.

The second point will continue to exist to some degree in the sense that he will share the backfield, but none of the current options outside of Edwards, pose a real threat to take away significant work.

Each year, there are multiple running backs that finish in the top-15 with less than 50 receptions, even in full-PPR. This is usually driven by high touchdown totals, which will be the path for Dobbins. If we take the pace referenced above and apply it to the final 13 games (Week 5 onward), he would have 182 touches for 1,001 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns. Add in a minimal amount of production over the first four weeks and finishing with 200-plus touches for 1,100-plus yards and 12-plus touchdowns is a possible outcome for Dobbins.

 

Russell Wilson Finishes As A Top-Three Quarterback

Wilson essentially forced his way out of Seattle because they refused to "let Russ cook". He has been a perennial top-12 quarterback throughout his career, including top-nine finishes in each of the past five seasons, except for last year when he missed time due to injury.

Fantasy Finish Past Five Years

Year Games Played Finish
2021 14* QB16
2020 16 QB6
2019 16 QB4
2018 16 QB9
2017 16 QB1

Wilson finds himself surrounded by an all-star cast at each of the three key offensive skill positions. At wide receiver, he has Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, and K.J. Hamler, at tight end, Albert Okwuegbunam and Greg Dulcich, and at running back, Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon.

The primary reason he is not viewed as one of the elite fantasy football quarterbacks is his age and the decrease in his rushing production. Typically, it is the dual-threat quarterbacks who finish inside the top-three, which is what makes this particular claim bold.

Despite this steady decline, he still finished with 43 carries for 184 yards and two touchdowns in 14 games last year.  Thus, projecting him to rush the ball about 55-60 times for 240 yards and three touchdowns seems reasonable. This creates a solid baseline of fantasy points before factoring in his passing work.

In 2021, which was his last full season, Wilson threw for 4,212 passing yards and 40 passing touchdowns. This was in large part thanks to the tandem of D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, who will now be replaced by Sutton and Jeudy, along with the additional weapons referenced above.

Furthermore, there has been at least one non-mobile quarterback to crack the top-three each of the past five seasons, including Tom Brady in 2021, Aaron Rodgers in 2020, Jameis Winston in 2019, Ben Roethlisberger in 2018, and Brady again in 2017. The commonality among these individuals is their high passing yards and passing touchdown totals.

Russ will be sizzling in his new kitchen over in Denver with his mile-high production leading him to a top-three finish.

 

Drake London Finishes As A Top-24 Receiver

London was the first receiver off the board among an extraordinarily talented class, selected eighth overall by the Falcons. While the Falcons are not projected to be a winning team, their negative game script will create additional passing volume. Given that he is currently being drafted as the WR40, finishing inside the top-24 would be surprising, which is the reason why this prediction is bold.

What immediately stands out about London's opportunity is his rank in the depth chart. Although it was not a difficult climb, he still conquered all of the subpar receivers around him to establish himself as their No. 1 option. Additionally, outside of sophomore tight Kyle Pitts and 31-year-old Cordarrelle Patterson out of the backfield, this receiving corps is extremely unproven.

London was well on his way to a massive Junior year at USC before suffering a season-ending injury, totaling 88 receptions for 1,084 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns in only eight games. Combine this production with his talent, size, and athleticism, and he becomes a nightmare for defenders.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) provides positional grades that are recognized as a reliable measure of talent. London finished with a grade of 91.3, tying him with Wan'Dale Robinson for third overall among all college wide receivers in 2021. Two areas he was particularly impactful were contested catches, where he led all receivers with 17, and missed tackles forced, where he finished eighth overall with 22, both of which were despite missing time. These pair well with his 6'4", 219-pound frame, making him a big target and huge red zone threat. 

Pitts finished his rookie campaign with 110 targets and 1,026 receiving yards. He figures to see a slight increase without Ridley or Gage present, so around 150 targets and 1100-1300 yards seems fair. Even if Pitts were to receive 150 targets and 1,300 yards, that still leaves plenty of opportunity for London to see north of 100 targets and push for 1,000 receiving yards himself.

Mariota averaged 1.3 passing touchdowns per game as a starter, which would project as 22 over a full season. Although this is not enough to get too excited, it would still allow London to catch between five and seven touchdowns in his rookie year.

When you put this all together, it would be reasonable for London to finish in the WR20-24 range, with a similar final line as Tee Higgins, who was the WR22 (half-PPR) or WR24 (full-PPR) last year with 74 receptions for 1,091 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns.

 

Gabriel Davis Outscores Stefon Diggs In Half-PPR Scoring

I decided to make my boldest prediction my last one. The Davis hype train has been steadily gaining steam all offseason and is one that I've been aboard for over a year now. He tends to be a very polarizing player to discuss because his success has been limited to this point and he of course had the record-setting performance against the Chiefs in the playoffs. Don't worry, that is not the crux of my argument here.

In his first two years, Davis produced 70 receptions for 1,149 yards and 13 touchdowns, which is pretty incredible considering he was only a starter in 15 of the 30 games he played. He was very productive despite receiving minimal targets. During this time, he was buried in the depth chart as the fourth option but now finds himself as the clear No. 2. Thus, 100+ targets this year is a realistic projection, which would vastly outpace the 63 targets and 10.9% target share he received in 2021. 

What stands out most is the touchdown total, averaging 6.5 touchdowns per season in spite of his reduced playing time. This was further evidenced by the stretch he put together at the end of the last season into the playoffs. Including the playoffs, he produced 11 total receiving touchdowns last year, tying him with Dawson Knox for the team lead, giving him one more than Diggs.

All this supports the argument for Davis to have a productive season as a top-24 wide receiver with top-15 upside; however, to be bold, the argument needs to go further. Enter the claim that Davis will outscore Diggs in fantasy. This is the only time I've elected to specify the scoring format, mainly because in full-PPR this would be extremely unlikely, bordering on unrealistic.

Diggs had another impressive year of production in 2021, finishing with a stat line of 103/1225/10 (receptions/yards/touchdowns), totaling 234 fantasy points as a top-10 receiver yet again. His receptions and receiving yards were down from 2020 but his touchdowns were up by two. If we adjust his final numbers accordingly, increasing his receptions to 115 and his yards to 1325 while dropping his touchdowns back to eight, he would project to have 237.5 fantasy points, which seems fair. Now onto Davis.

The Bills finished with 641 passing attempts in 2021 and are expected to be around that 650 mark again in 2022. Diggs had a 26% target share last year, so let's assign Davis a 20% target share as the No. 2  option. This would equate to 130 targets, which factoring in his career catch percentage of 56%, would result in 73 receptions.

Similarly, using his career yards per reception of 16.4 would equal 1,197 yards. It's possible that his catch percentage could improve with a greater variety of targets while his yards per reception could decrease with more volume but for now, we'll leave these as is.

This would provide a baseline of 36.5 fantasy points from his receptions and 119.7 fantasy points from his yards, totaling 156.2 points. This means Davis would require 81.3 points to catch Diggs, also known as 14 touchdowns.

While I actually believe Davis could make up some ground with additional receptions or yards, producing 14 touchdowns is very difficult but not impossible in an offense led by Josh Allen. Diggs may also see a dip in production, reducing the amount Davis needs. In either case, it will require a career year for Davis, which is within the realm of possibility.



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!

More Fantasy Football Analysis




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

TreVeyon Henderson

Signs Rookie Contract
Christian Watson

Goes on PUP List
Austin Riley

Hopes to be Activated Next Week
Ketel Marte

Lands on Restricted List After Burglary
Ricky Pearsall

Heads to PUP List
Brandon Aiyuk

Placed on PUP List
Luther Burden III

Signs Rookie Deal
Washington Nationals

Eli Willits Expected to Sign Contract on Saturday
Grayson Rodriguez

Being Shut Down Again - Will We See Him Again This Year?
Ezequiel Tovar

Activated and Back in Lineup on Friday
Max Fried

"Hopeful" to Pitch Next Week - Looks Like He'll Avoid IL Stint
Steven Kwan

Receives Injection in Wrist, Considered Day-to-Day
CJ Abrams

Back to Start Second Half
Alec Bohm

Back From Rib Injury on Friday
Trey Hendrickson

Holdout to Spill into Regular Season?
Jalen McMillan

Bucs Offensive Coordinator Not Forgetting About Jalen McMillan
Levi Onwuzurike

to Miss at Least Four Games
Nick Emmanwori

Seahawks, Nick Emmanwori Reach Agreement on Rookie Deal
Max Holloway

Set For Main Event
Brandon Lowe

Back From 10-Day Injured List
Dustin Poirier

Set For His Final UFC Fight
Roman Kopylov

Set For Co-Main Event
Paulo Costa

Returns At UFC 318
Luis L. Ortiz

to Remain on Leave for Another Month - Will he Pitch Again?
Daniel Rodriguez

Looks For Third Win In A Row
Kevin Holland

Set For His Fourth Fight This Year
Dan Ige

Looks To Win Back-To-Back Fights
MMA

Patricio Freire Set For His Second UFC Fight
Daniel Zellhuber

Set To Open Up UFC 318 Main Card
Michael Johnson

Looks For Third Consecutive Win
Elijah Arroyo

Signs Rookie Deal
Jaydon Blue

Described as "Borderline Lazy"
T.J. Sanders

Bills Sign T.J. Sanders to Rookie Deal
Christian Wilkins

Raiders Put Christian Wilkins on PUP List
Jabari Small

Lions Add Jabari Small to Backfield
Quinshon Judkins

Remains Unsigned, Won't Report With Rest of Rookies
Mason Taylor

Agrees to Rookie Contract with Jets
Hendon Hooker

Leading Lions QB2 Battle Entering Training Camp
Ozzy Trapilo

Agrees to Rookie Contract with Bears
Tate Ratledge

Agrees to Rookie Contract with Lions
Jack Bech

Signs Rookie Contract with Raiders
Yegor Chinakhov

Requests Trade
Dakota Joshua

Maple Leafs Acquire Dakota Joshua
Lukas Dostal

Signs Five-Year Extension with Ducks
Shemar Stewart

Not Practicing With College Team
Eugenio Suárez

Eugenio Suarez Expected Back Friday
Damian Lillard

Returning to Portland
Paul Skenes

Pirates Could Preserve Paul Skenes in Second Half
Brooks Barnhizer

Grabs 19 Points, Nine Boards in Summer League Win
Jeremiah Fears

Scores 22 Points in Summer League Loss to Thunder
Isaiah Collier

Collects 17 Points In Summer League Win
Caleb Houstan

Joins Hawks
AJ Johnson

Erupts for 25 Points in Summer League Loss
Washington Wizards

Leaky Black Logs Double-Double in Loss to Jazz
Connor Norby

Undergoes Surgery, Expected to Miss 6-8 Weeks
Trey Alexander

Tallies 25 Points in Losing Effort
Johni Broome

Records Second Consecutive Double-Double
Jahmir Young

Has Historic Summer League Outing
Rob Dillingham

Plays Big Role in Wednesday's Win
Tyrese Proctor

Erupts for 35 Points Against Kings
Cody Williams

Leads Jazz to Victory Against Wizards
LeBron James

Mavs Not Interested in "Gutting its Roster" For LeBron James
Josh Hart

Undergoes a Procedure on Right Finger
Jake Burger

Goes on 10-Day Injured List With Quad Strain
Sal Frelick

Dealing With Grade 1 Hamstring Strain, TBD for Start of Second Half
Chris Sale

Plays Catch
Los Angeles Clippers

Bradley Beal Heading to Los Angeles to Join Clippers After Contract Buyout
Rayan Rupert

Scores 24 Points in Summer League Win
Derik Queen

Collects Third Consecutive Double-Double in Summer League Loss
GG Jackson II

Records 13 Points in Summer League Action on Tuesday
Johni Broome

Logs Double-Double Against Wizards
DaRon Holmes II

Records Double-Double in Summer League Loss to Raptors
Kyle Schwarber

Named All-Star Game MVP
Harris English

Takes Stellar 2025 Performance to The Open Championship
Aldrich Potgieter

Seeks Better Result in Northern Ireland
Cameron Young

Likely to Hang Around at The Open Championship
Cameron Smith

Just Trying to Make the Cut at Royal Portrush
Jordan Spieth

Is Jordan Spieth Still a Natural for Links Style Golf?
Patrick Reed

a Viable Option at The Open Championship
PGA

Sungjae Im Wants to Rebound from Last Experience at Royal Portrush
Xander Schauffele

Looks to Defend His Claret Jug at Royal Portrush
Tony Finau

Trying to Turn Tide at Royal Portrush
Daniel Brown

Seeks a Rebound at The Open Championship
Rory McIlroy

Will be the Most Watched Player This Week at Royal Portrush
Daniel Berger

Trending Poorly as The Open Championship Looms
Clayton Kershaw

Retires Both Batters In ASG Appearance
Eugenio Suárez

Eugenio Suarez Hit In Pinky In All-Star Game, X-Rays Negative
MLB

NL All-Stars Win On Tie-Breaker Home Run Swing-Off
Robert MacIntyre

Hoping to Bounce Back at Open Championship
Shane Lowry

Hopes to Repeat at Royal Portrush
Brian Harman

Hopes to Rekindle Some Magic at the 153rd Open
UTA

Michael Carcone Returns to Utah on One-Year Contract
Bowen Byram

Signs Two-Year Deal with Sabres
Morgan Barron

Jets Re-Sign Morgan Barron for Two Years
PGA

Chris Gotterup Punches Ticket to Royal Portrush With Win at Scottish Open
Bryson DeChambeau

Hopes to Reverse Links Golf Struggle at the 153rd Open
Keegan Bradley

Needs to Find The Weekend at Royal Portrush for Ryder Cup Hopes
Justin Thomas

Finishes Tied For 22nd at Genesis Scottish Open
Scottie Scheffler

Finishes Tied For Eighth at Genesis Scottish Open
Jon Rahm

Finishes in Second at LIV Andalucia
Tallison Teixeira

Suffers First-Round TKO
Derrick Lewis

Scores First-Round TKO
Stephen Thompson

Loses Controversial Split Decision
Gabriel Bonfim

Wins Controversial Split Decision
Calvin Kattar

Gets Outclassed At UFC Nashville
Steve Garcia

Extends His Win Streak
Nate Landwehr

Gets Knocked Out
Morgan Charrière

Morgan Charriere Scores Third-Round Knockout
Austen Lane

Suffers Submission Loss
Vitor Petrino

Scores First-Round Submission In Heavyweight Debut
Tuco Tokkos

Earns His First UFC Win
Chase Elliott

Charges to A Finish of Third At Sonoma
Chase Briscoe

Finishes Second With his First Career Road-Course Top-Five at Sonoma
Christopher Bell

Rollercoaster Day Ends With Top-5 Finish at Sonoma
William Byron

Maintains the Regular-Season Points Lead
Kyle Busch

Earns A Hard-Fought Top-10 Finish At Sonoma
Alex Ovechkin

Not Thinking About Retirement
PIT

Penguins Acquire Arturs Silovs
NHL

Nikolai Kovalenko Returns to Russia
Tyler Reddick

Evades Near Upset to Remain Alive in In-Season Challenge
Ty Gibbs

One of Three Tylers to Make In-Season Challenge Semifinals
Kyle Larson

Curiously Mediocre at Sonoma Before Late-Race Crash
NASCAR

John H. Nemechek Edges Out Teammate to Make In-Season Challenge Semifinal
Alex Bowman

Ty Dillon Bumps Alex Bowman to Advance to In-Season Challenge Semifinal
Shane Van Gisbergen

Can Anyone Beat Shane van Gisbergen at Sonoma?
Tyler Reddick

Better at Sonoma Than Record Shows
Chase Elliott

a Prime DFS Option at Sonoma
Michael McDowell

Struggling a Bit at Sonoma
NASCAR

Christopher Bell Has Never Finished Better Than Ninth at Sonoma
Ryan Blaney

Has Top-10 Upside at Sonoma
NASCAR

Sunday at Sonoma Will Likely Be a Long Race for Bubba Wallace
Kyle Larson

Is A Likely Top-Five Contender for Sonoma
Ryan Preece

Points Position Could Affect Race at Sonoma
Todd Gilliland

Struggling to Find Speed at Sonoma
Ty Gibbs

May be an Underrated Favorite to Compete for the Win at Sonoma
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF