The NFL draft has come and gone. Which rookie is deserving of a top-five pick in rookie drafts?
Less than a week after the NFL draft came to an end, 2022 rookie drafts have begun. With a few surprises — landing spots and some players falling during the draft — the real fun in dynasty has begun.
Having a top-five pick in rookie drafts can turn a team around with a league winner. Is Breece Hall, Drake London, or even Kenny Pickett going to be that X factor? Here are my top five picks for 2022 rookie drafts.
5. Treylon Burks
One of the most shocking and exciting trades from draft weekend was with the Tennesee Titans. The Titans shipped A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles and selected, what consensus says is a clone of Brown, Treylon Burks.
Burks, coming out of Arkansas, set a school record for the most 100-yard receiving games in his final season. Now, he is coming into a situation where he can instantly produce decent numbers. The Titans' top three receivers not named Burks include Robert Woods (ACL injury, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, and Cody Hollister.
Titans literally got: Malik Willis, Treylon Burks, CHIG and Kyle Phillips in the 2022 draft.
Man. Read that again. This is incredible.
— Josip ⚔️🇭🇷 (@josip_salov) April 30, 2022
It is safe to say the Titans will rely on Derrick Henry more than ever in 2022 and Burks is already the most talented wideout on the roster before even stepping onto the field.
With that being said, Burks is at number five simply for the fact of what was just stated. Derrick Henry will see over 300 carries this season leaving not so many attempts for the ball to go around for the receivers. Even with that, Burks has the chance to solidify himself in just his rookie season as a legit fantasy weapon.
4. Kenny Pickett
They call him baby hands, but he might just end up being the new man in Pittsburgh. Kenny Pickett was selected 20th overall by the Steelers, meaning one thing. The Steelers believe in Pickett and there will be a battle to earn that starting spot in Week 1.
Although the Steelers acquired Mitch Trubisky this off-season, he is not a good quarterback. Trubisky is the type of QB that teams go after when their franchise quarterback calls it a career. That is exactly what happened with the Steelers.
Pickett was a five-year player at Pittsburgh and went into the hyperbolic chamber before his final season. Then he exploded in his final season putting up 42 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. To put things in perspective, Pickett had 39 touchdowns combined in his four seasons.
https://twitter.com/LuckIsMadeFF/status/1520923941795151872
Spending a first-round pick on a quarterback means one thing — that team does not believe the quarterbacks on their roster are worth being the "franchise quarterback."
Steelers training camp should be fun and Pickett is worth a top-five pick, especially to managers in dire need of an upgrade at the position.
3. Kenneth Walker III
A running back that does not catch out of the backfield is a sin in the fantasy community. That does not phase me at all, though. Kenneth Walker III was selected in the second round of the NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks.
Most analysts agree that Seattle is going to be bad this season. That does not mean that Walker cannot produce numbers, because neither Chris Carson nor Rashaad Penny can stay healthy.
Drew Lock is the starting quarterback for the Seahawks, which is almost like not having a quarterback. Carson is still dealing with a neck injury and, although Penny came alive at the end of the fantasy season, he cannot be trusted when since has never played more than 10 games in a season.
What the consensus fails to realize is that Walker can learn how to catch out of the backfield and become involved in the passing game. People act like he will not be catching passes because he did not catch them in college and that is blasphemy.
In high school, Walker managed to have 64 receptions and over 1,000 yards before heading off to Wake Forest. It can happen and, even if it doesn't, someone who is being compared to LaDainian Tomlinson (by the good people at playerprofiler.com) means something special is brewing.
2. Drake London
In the past decade, the Atlanta Falcons have made some great selections at the wide receiver position. Roddy White, Julio Jones, and Calvin Ridley are three receivers who all have been able to produce at an elite level.
Jones, being the best in Falcons' history, gives hope that, even though he is not as fast, a big body guy like Drake London can continue the tradition of elite receivers in Atlanta. London has come into a situation where he is the WR1 already and the second option behind Kyle Pitts, which is set to be a very odd offense in 2022.
Kyle Pitts: 2nd most contested catches among Tight Ends last season (15)
Drake London: Led College Football in contested catches last season (17)@AtlantaFalcons 💪 pic.twitter.com/j2w43c00Db— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 2, 2022
Two things are for sure though. Kyle Pitts might see over 130 targets with a chance at the TE1 crown in just his second season and, for Drake London, this rookie has the chance to make a serious impact for a team with no identity at the receiver position.
London, at 6'4" and 220 lbs, has a shot to become the next great red zone threat similar to that guy in Tampa Bay named Mike Evans.
1. Breece Hall
Breece Hall is being compared to Jonathan Taylor — and for good reason. He is the next running back that will explode onto the scene in 2022. The New York Jets have revamped the entire offense for Zack Wilson.
It is wheels up this season for this offense and it has real potential to be lethal. The time is now for Wilson to show why the Jets selected him second overall in the 2021 NFL draft.
The Jets needed another piece to pair with Michael Carter; someone who will probably take over the backfield before week four. Breece Hall is that good, posting over 3,900 rushing yards with 56 total touchdowns in three years at Iowa State.
Hall was the consensus 1.01 in all rookie drafts months before the NFL draft and nothing has changed since that.
It's been 856 days since Breece Hall played a football game where he didn't score a TD. (Dec. 28, 2019)
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) May 2, 2022
No matter where Breece Hall landed, he was going to be the fantasy 1.01. The nice thing about this landing spot is that the Jets have a young offense and the only way to go is to the MOOON in 2022.
Breece Hall is the overall number one pick in rookie drafts and would not be surprised if he was selected as a top 12 RB in redraft leagues this year.
Thank you for checking out my top five picks in 2022 rookie drafts! You can read all of my articles on my IDP Guys’ author page. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @NBF_Clo and @IDPGuys (we have offense too) and please check out our website at idpguys.org.
