2022 Fantasy Football Awards

The 2022 fantasy football season has reached its end, and it’s time to celebrate the winners (and highlight some losers) with the fantasy awards for the 2022 season.

2022 Fantasy MVP: Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers

Austin Ekeler finished Weeks 1-17 with 2.29 fantasy wins added, edging out Justin Jefferson for the crown of best fantasy player of 2022. Ekeler did not top the fabled 1,000 rushing + 1,000 receiving mark, but he was still a TD machine (both on the ground and through the air) and reception monster. He finished the season with 915 rushing yards, 722 receiving yards, 107 receptions, and 18 total TDs.

Best Fantasy QB of 2022: Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

Crown the man. Josh Allen has completed the three-peat as fantasy’s best QB, which is remarkable given the competition. His stats were nearly identical to 2021 despite 2022 marking lows leaguewide offensively. Allen threw for 35 TDs and ran for 762 yards and 7 TDs to seal the deal. He had three games with 4 TDs, he topped 400 passing yards twice, and he scored at least two total TDs in all but two games.

Best Fantasy RB of 2022: Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers

See above. It’s worth noting that Ekeler cleared Christian McCaffrey by just a little. If you remove CMC’s first game with the 49ers (two days after joining the team), CMC actually topped Ekeler in fantasy PPG. But Ekeler takes the crown.

Best Fantasy WR of 2022: Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings

Halfway through the year, Cooper Kupp looked like he was going to be the fantasy MVP again (he led in Fantasy Wins Added before his injury), but Justin Jefferson took up the mantle. His 1-catch, 15-yard game in Week 17 was brutal, but Jefferson did just cap a 128-catch, 1,800-yard season. Jefferson had just two TDs through seven games (both of which came in Week 1), but he scored six times in November and December to bring fantasy teams home. 

Best Fantasy TE of 2022: Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

Sheesh. No Tyreek Hill was no problem for Travis Kelce, who finished 2022 with 110 catches, 1,338 yards and 12 TDs — including a 4-TD game and a 3-TD game. Travis Kelce added 1.92 fantasy wins in PPR leagues — fourth among all players. The next-best TE was T.J. Hockenson, who added 0.71 fantasy wins — meaning Kelce was nearly 3x more valuable than the No. 2 TE. Unreal.

Best Fantasy Draft Value of 2022: Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders

Here’s a toss-up between Josh Jacobs and Jalen Hurts, both of whom shattered expectations. But Hurts at least had known upside. Jacobs, on the other hand, was largely written off. Remember the panic after the Hall of Fame game, when Jacobs played significant snaps? Instead, he finished as the No. 3 RB and the league-leader in rushing yards. Kudos to Jacobs for the resurgence — and on a losing team, no less.

Best Fantasy Waiver Pickup of 2022: Justin Fields, Chicago Bears

Justin Fields was either underfed or a last-round flier many dropped early in the year. But by the midway point of the season, he was a top-five fantasy QB thanks to his rushing ability. Fields topped 1,000 rushing yards and would have had even more if it weren’t for some injuries.

Best Fantasy Rookie of 2022: Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints

There was no Ja’Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson-like rookie this year, but Chris Olave was a model of consistency for fantasy purposes as a rookie, showing up with a 72-1,042-4 line and earning his spot in fantasy lineups everywhere every week. Breece Hall gets an honorable mention here, as he finished the year as the No. 15 RB in fantasy wins added despite playing just half the year.

Breakout Fantasy Player of 2022: Justin Fields, Chicago Bears

There’s actually a lot of ways we could go with this category. Perhaps it was CeeDee Lamb, who had a great year overall but was putting up Jefferson-like stats over the second half of the year. Perhaps it was Jacobs, who went from joke to top-five in one year. But Justin Fields was the real breakout star this year. He started the year with four straight games as the QB24 or worse. Then he finished top 10 in nine straight contests, including a run of four straight in the top five and back-to-back weeks as the overall QB1. 

Career Revival Player of 2022: Saquon Barkley, New York Giants

Shout out to Josh Jacobs in this section, but I’m going with Saquon Barkley, who was being drafted in the third round over the summer. Barkley then ran for 1,312 yards and 10 TDs while adding 57 catches for 338 yards through the air. Even better: The Giants took a big leap as a team and even made the playoffs, and while Daniel Jones is still a bit of a mystery box at QB, Barkley no longer held back by a miserable team. Barkley finished 2022 with 1.30 fantasy wins added, fifth among RBs and well ahead of the player in sixth (0.95 wins added, Tony Pollard).

Fastest Dynasty Riser of 2022: Tony Pollard, Dallas Cowboys

Speaking of Tony Pollard, his dynasty value went from “possible Ezekiel Elliott insurance” to “the future — and present — of the Dallas backfield” over the course of the season. The sixth-most valuable RB of 2022, Pollard ran for over 1,000 yards, caught 39 balls for 371 yards, and scored 12 total TDs — all while being in a full-on committee and getting almost none of the goal-line work.

Biggest Bust of 2022: Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons

There are a lot of ways we could have gone with this. Justin Herbert, D’Andre Swift, Cam Akers (until the end), Kyler Murray, Allen Robinson and others all come to mind. But Kyle Pitts really stings because he plays at a single-only position, and you had to spend a third-round pick to acquire him. He finished the year (shortened by injury) with 28 catches for 356 yards and 2 TDs. Pitts topped 50 yards just twice and had 3 or fewer receptions in all but two games. 

Best Game of 2022: Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Here were the top 10 single-week performances based on fantasy wins added:

While Mixon technically had a bigger week than Evans in terms of fantasy wins added, Evans delivered his death strike in Week 17, the fantasy championship game. Fantasy managers with Evans won 91% of their championship games solely because of him.

Some Other Random Awards for the 2022 Fantasy Season

• Most Frustrating Player of 2022: Leonard Fournette, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Great, Now What Do We Do in 2023 Drafts? Player of 2022: Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars
• What-Could-Have-Been Players of 2023: Breece Hall, New York Jets; Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams