Fantasy Football Rankings 2022: Breakouts from top model that nailed Jaylen Waddle’s big year

D’Onta Foreman had all but disappeared from the Fantasy football rankings after the former University of Texas star had just 29 total carries for two teams between 2018 and 2020. However, he helped owners make their playoff pushes last year after an injury to Derrick Henry that caused him to miss the final nine games of the regular season. Foreman turned into one of the late-season Fantasy football breakouts with three 100-yard performances and touchdowns in two other games.

Coming away with a player like Foreman on the Fantasy football waiver wire can make the difference between success and failure, but successful 2022 Fantasy football draft prep will limit how much you need to lean on them. Foreman also had three games with fewer than 10 carries and 30 rushing yards, so identifying players with consistent opportunities in your 2022 Fantasy football rankings is critical. Before putting together your 2022 Fantasy football draft strategy, be sure to check out the 2022 Fantasy football cheat sheets from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

Last year, SportsLine’s model accurately predicted that Dolphins rookie wide receiver Jaylen Waddle was being dramatically undervalued. He was being drafted around the same time as receivers such as Corey Davis, Tyler Boyd and Will Fuller, but the model predicted that Waddle would outproduce all of them and be a key breakout for Fantasy football lineups. The result: Waddle put together a strong 104-1015-6 receiving line and was a top-20 Fantasy receiver. 

The same model has a proven track record providing Fantasy football tips, also identifying A.J. Brown as a sleeper in 2020 and players like Julio Jones and JuJu Smith-Schuster as Fantasy football busts last season. Additionally, it’s called past Fantasy football sleepers like Derrick Henry in 2019, Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara in 2018, and Davante Adams in 2017. Anybody who banked on players like those made a run at their league title.

The model is powered by the same people who generated projections for all three major Fantasy sites, and it beat human experts last season when there was a big difference in ranking. The projections update multiple times daily, so you’re always getting the best Fantasy football advice.

Now, SportsLine has simulated the entire NFL season 10,000 times and released its latest Fantasy football rankings 2022, along with plenty of sleepers, breakouts and busts. Head to SportsLine now to see them. 

Top 2022 Fantasy football breakouts

One of the 2022 Fantasy football breakouts the model is predicting: Steelers wide receiver George Pickens. The former five-star recruit out of Alabama chose Georgia over offers from several SEC teams and had a stellar freshman season with 49 catches for 727 yards and eight touchdowns before the rest of his collegiate career was derailed.

His 2020 season was cut to just eight games because of COVID-19, but he still produced 36 receptions for 513 yards and six touchdowns. Then, he missed most of the 2021 season after tearing his ACL during spring ball. However, the Steelers still saw fit to spend a second-round pick on his upside, and he’ll have a strong chance to be in the mix as Pittsburgh’s No. 3 receiver behind Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson. That’s a why the model ranks him ahead of established veterans like Corey Davis and Sammy Watkins.

Another breakout that SportsLine’s Fantasy football rankings 2022 have identified: Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III. Seattle took the former Michigan State running back with its second pick of the second round, and he joins a backfield that no longer includes former starter Chris Carson.

Now, Walker and former first round pick Rashaad Penny will compete for the lead spot. Penny had the best season of his career last year after Carson’s injury, but was otherwise injured or ineffective for his first three seasons. Penny will likely get the first stab at starting in 2022, but with quarterback Russell Wilson off to Denver, defenses are sure to stack the box and wear him down in a hurry. The model predicts that Walker’s upside, particularly in the second half of the season, will put him in the same tier of other useful Fantasy RB options like A.J. Dillon, James Robinson, and Melvin Gordon.

How to find proven 2022 Fantasy football rankings

SportsLine is also extremely high on a surprising quarterback you aren’t even thinking about being taken in the middle rounds of 2022 Fantasy football drafts. This quarterback is listed as a shocking top-five option ahead of superstars like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. You can only see who it is, and the 2022 Fantasy football rankings for every player, at SportsLine.

So which 2022 Fantasy Football breakouts should you be targeting? And which QB shocks the NFL with a top-five performance? Visit SportsLine now to get 2022 Fantasy Football cheat sheets for every single position, all from the model that called Jaylen Waddle’s huge season, and find out.