Thursday, December 26, 2024

2022 Fantasy Football Draft Prep: Alvin Kamara, Saquon Barkley moving up in RB rankings

2022 Fantasy Football Draft Prep: Alvin Kamara, Saquon Barkley moving up in RB rankings

2022 Fantasy Football Draft Prep: Alvin Kamara, Saquon Barkley moving up in RB rankings

Chris Towers updates his rankings and tiers at the RB position

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At the top of my running back rankings for the 2022 Fantasy Football season, I made some small adjustments in recent days. The most significant of those is that Alvin Kamara is now a top-four back for me, up from No. 6 in my previous rankings. He jumped from the bottom of the second tier at the position to the top of that same tier, mostly because I just don’t have as many concerns about him as I do the other guys around him.

Dalvin Cook is an incredible talent, but he’s never played more than 14 games in a season and has dealt with a litany of shoulder injuries going back to college. There’s always something with him, and unlike Christian McCaffrey, Cook’s have been pretty significant injuries with several recurring issues. Najee Harris doesn’t have injury concerns, but I’m just not sure I trust Pittsburgh’s offense — there have been some pretty worrying reports out of training camp, and Harris feasted on dump-offs that may not be as plentiful this time around.

Kamara’s legal troubles still loom, but most expect them to be resolved in the offseason, which likely means whatever suspension he might be facing wouldn’t come until 2023, if it does at all. The Saints offense figures to be a lot better than they were a year ago, and Kamara should only benefit from that. He’s a top-four back for me.

The other big move I made this time around was to move Saquon Barkley into my top-10. The Giants have been funneling targets to their running backs in camp and in the preseason — Antonio Williams had seven from Daniel Jones in the most recent preseason game — and Barkley is one of the best pass-catchers at the position. He could be in line for a massive season if he stays healthy. 

  1. Christian McCaffrey
  2. Jonathan Taylor
  3. Austin Ekeler*
  4. Dalvin Cook
  5. Najee Harris
  6. Alvin Kamara*
  7. D’Andre Swift
  8. Derrick Henry
  9. Saquon Barkley*
  10. Joe Mixon
  11. Leonard Fournette
  12. Aaron Jones*
  13. David Montgomery
  14. James Conner*
  15. Javonte Williams
  16. Nick Chubb
  17. Ezekiel Elliott*
  18. J.K. Dobbins
  19. Travis Etienne
  20. Breece Hall*
  21. Cam Akers
  22. Miles Sanders
  23. Josh Jacobs
  24. AJ Dillon*
  25. Elijah Mitchell
  26. Kareem Hunt
  27. Devin Singletary
  28. Chase Edmonds
  29. Tony Pollard
  30. Rashaad Penny
  31. Damien Harris
  32. Clyde Edwards-Helaire*
  33. Antonio Gibson
  34. Rhamondre Stevenson
  35. James Robinson
  36. Kenneth Gainwell
  37. Cordarrelle Patterson
  38. Alexander Mattison
  39. Melvin Gordon*
  40. Dameon Pierce
  41. Brian Robinson
  42. Nyheim Hines
  43. J.D. McKissic
  44. James Cook
  45. Jamaal Williams
  46. Trey Sermon
  47. Kenneth Walker III
  48. Darrell Henderson
  49. Michael Carter

  50. Raheem Mostert
  51. Isaiah Pacheco
  52. Zamir White*
  53. Eno Benjamin
  54. D’Onta Foreman
  55. Joshua Kelly
  56. Isaiah Spiller
  57. Damien Williams
  58. Rex Burkhead
  59. Jeff Wilson
  60. Sony Michel*

*End of a tier

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