The Worst Possible Fantasy Football Draft from 2022

Tuesday, we took a look at the best possible fantasy football draft for 2022. That team would have run the table.

The team we’re looking at today? The complete opposite. Have a look at the worst possible squad you could have drafted in 2022:

Worst Pick in Round 1: Jonathan Taylor, RB

Najee Harris was technically worse, but he had a much lower opportunity cost. Most people spent the first overall pick on Jonathan Taylor. With Christian McCaffrey, Austin Ekeler and Justin Jefferson all going off in 2022, most people want that pick back. Taylor had as many games as an RB3 or worse (4) as he did as an RB1.

Worst Pick in Round 2: D’Andre Swift, RB

D’Andre Swift provided some ceiling games — including over 20 points three times — but nothing like the rest of the players who went in Round 2. Swift also went six straight healthy games without posting over 15 fantasy points, and he closed the year with only two RB1 finishes over his final 12 games.

Worst Pick in Round 3: Kyle Pitts, TE

Kyle Pitts was the pits. Even before getting hurt, he was one of the biggest fantasy busts of 2022. Pitts topped 15 fantasy points just once. He scored fewer than 5 fantasy points in six of his 10 games. Just brutal in every single aspect. Pitts remains uber-talented, so look for him to be on the “breakout” lists for 2023, but it’s hard to trust him in this offense.

Worst Pick in Round 4: Diontae Johnson, WR

Nobody did less with more than Diontae Johnson. He posted one game as a top-12 fantasy WR (20 points in Week 15), one game as a fantasy WR2 (16.4 points in Week 3), and 15 games as a WR3 or worse. This was miserable.

Worst Pick in Round 5: Courtland Sutton, WR

Courtland Sutton was among the many victims of Broncos hype for 2022. A popular WR target if you drafted RBs/TEs early, Sutton managed exactly zero games as a top-12 fantasy WR. Even worse, he teased us with fantasy WR2 finishes in three of his first four games — a feat he never managed again after Week 4.

Worst Pick in Round 6: Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB

We knew CEH was a risk leading into the year, but still, the starting RB on a Patrick Mahomes-led team is supposed to be good for fantasy. And … they are, unless they are named Clyde Edwards-Helaire. He started the season hot, scoring over 20 fantasy points in two of his first four and finishing as a fantasy RB1 in three of his first four. Then he failed to score over 10 points again, got hurt, and fell completely out of favor. His last relevant fantasy performance was in Week 4.

Worst Pick in Round 7: Aaron Rodgers, QB

For all the hate that Russell Wilson received in 2022, Aaron Rodgers was actually even worse. Both QBs were drafted in Round 7, but you were better off with Wilson, who actually did provide a few ceiling games. Rodgers was a complete flop from start to finish, finishing as a net positive for your fantasy team just once on the year — and it was only worth 0.02 fantasy wins added, which hardly moves the needle.

Worst Pick in Round 8: Elijah Moore, WR

The Jets offense had breakout players despite the bad QB play. Breece Hall was the favorite for Rookie of the Year, and Garrett Wilson made an immediate impact. Elijah Moore, on the other hand, regressed from Year 1 and also fell out of favor with the coaching staff. Even when he returned to a regular workload of snap, he never produced.

After Round 8, it was pretty rough out in the drafting streets in 2022. Most of the picks were bad (read: players who didn’t help you win in fantasy). At this stage of the draft, you’re just looking for the diamonds in the rough.