Crystal Ball: Travis Etienne, Najee Harris and Darnell Mooney Offer Fantasy Value

Michael Fabiano’s fantasy take on some of Conor Orr’s bold predictions for the 2022 NFL season.

If you’re into analyzing fantasy football, you’re in the predictions game. And unless you have a Gray’s Sports Almanac on hand, well, it can oftentimes be an arduous task. Still, it’s a labor of love and a heck of a lot of fun, even if you’re off the mark at times. That’s why you should check out my pal Conor Orr’s 100 Bold Predictions for the 2022 NFL season, which is available for your reading enjoyment right now at SI.com.

While looking through it, I found 20 predictions that would have a major impact on the world of fantasy football. Do I agree? Do I think Conor has gone all sixes and sevens?

Here’s a look at the predictions (right or wrong) fantasy fans should know for 2022!

Travis Etienne will gain more than 1,000 scrimmage yards.
Only 1,000? Let’s go for the gusto and predict over 1,500! I agree with Conor, as Etienne should enter the season as the Jaguars lead back while James Robinson recovers from an Achilles tendon ailment. Etienne is one of my top breakout candidates in 2022.

Najee Harris will lead the NFL in rushing.
Inject it into my veins! Harris was a star as a rookie, and the Steelers won’t take their foot off the gas in running him often in 2022. With either Mitchell Trubisky or rookie Kenny Pickett under center, I can easily see Harris leading the league in rushing yards.

Connor Orr and Michael Fabiano both like Darnell Mooney to have a breakout season. Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

Darnell Mooney will finish the season as a household name.
I like this prediction, too. Mooney, another of my breakout candidates, will remain the top option in the passing game for Justin Fields. The Bears did add some wideouts in the offseason, but none of them are serious impact makers. Mooney’s stock is rising.

Tom Brady will throw fewer than 35 touchdown passes.
Sorry Conor, but I can’t doubt the G.O.A.T. He’s had a combined 83 touchdown passes in the last two seasons in his age 43 and 44 campaigns! I could see this scenario becoming a little more real if Chris Godwin is on the PUP list to start the season.

CeeDee Lamb will be one of the three most productive receivers in the NFL (in terms of total receiving yards).
Giddy up! This prediction scratches my itches as not only a fantasy manager but a total Cowboys honk. With Amari Cooper in Cleveland and Michael Gallup (knee) likely to open the season on the sidelines, Lamb should bust out in the stat sheets in 2022.

Saquon Barkley will catch more than 60 balls.
I’d love to see this happen,, but Barkley hasn’t had more than 52 catches since his rookie season of 2018. What’s more, just four backs had more than 60 receptions last year. Barkley might get close, but this total is still above his catches ceiling for me.

Ezekiel Elliott won’t lead the Cowboys running backs in touches.
It seems that everyone wants to throw dirt on Elliott’s statistical grave. Good. Let him fall to me in the third or fourth round! Elliott was still damn good before he hurt his knee in 2021, and he’ll lead the Cowboys backs in touches again (sorry, Tony Pollard).

Kyle Pitts will come within 200 yards of breaking Travis Kelce’s single-season receiving yards for a tight end.
This is likely to happen, in fact. Pitts had over 1,000 yards as a rookie, and he’d need fewer than 200 more yards as a sophomore to get within 200 of Kelce’s 1,416 yards in 2020. Pitts is also on my list of the top breakout candidates in fantasy land this season.

Christian McCaffrey will be traded at some point in 2022.
Whoa! McCaffrey is a fantasy stud, but he’s played in just 10 games over the last two seasons due to injuries. Does this prediction mean he’ll be healthy and traded to a contender?  I’d settle for CMC to play in 14-plus games no matter the team!

Cooper Kupp will have just under 100 receptions.
Kupp is coming off the best fantasy campaign ever for a wideout, so regression is going to come. Just ask Jerry Rice, who saw a decline of 118.9 fantasy points after his historic 1995 season. Kupp will be great again, but he won’t be close to his 2021 totals.

Rob Gronkowski will have his best season since 2017 … and his final one.
Fantasy fans would love this prediction to come true, as Gronkowski posted over 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns in 2017. If Godwin were forced to miss time at the start of the season, I could definitely see Gronkowski thriving again (assuming he returns).

Tyreek Hill will have a career-low yards per reception.
I’ll go a step further. Hill will not only post career lows in yards per reception average, but he’ll also fail to catch 80 passes and will have his lowest yardage totals since 2017 (full season). I have Hill listed as one of my biggest fantasy disappointments in 2022.

Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports

The Ravens will have two 1,000-yard rushers.
I don’t see this coming to fruition for two Ravens running backs, but I could see it if we’re talking about Lamar Jackson and J.K. Dobbins. Conor also predicted that Lamar would set a career high in passing yards, so he could be on the verge of a huge season.

Brandon Aiyuk will make the Pro Bowl and have his first 1,000-yard season.
Aiyuk was considered a major disappointment for fantasy fans last season, as he put up a WR35 campaign. Still, he finished just 174 yards shy of 1,000 yards. In the current 17-game slate, 1,000 receiving yards is less of an accomplishment. Making the Pro Bowl is nice, but it’s not quite the feat it used to be in the past. Aiyuk is still a WR4 in fantasy.

Dalvin Cook won’t have the most rushing yards in his family in 2022.
I like this one, Conor. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but I like it. Little brother James Cook is now in the Bills backfield, which could be a three-headed committee. So, unless Dalvin gets hurt for an extended period, James won’t take out his big brother.

Davante Adams will post more than 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns.
This is actually a pretty good projection for Adams, but it wouldn’t be as good as he had been in his final three seasons in Green Bay (he had 1,553 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2021). I still have Adams ranked as a top-five wideout, but I think his ceiling is lower.

Christian Watson has at least five touchdown catches of 20 or more air yards.
Man, fantasy fans in seasonal and best-ball leagues would love this prediction to come true! It’ll be tough to accomplish, though, as just 20 rookie wideouts (out of over 200) have had five-plus touchdown catches of 20-plus yards over the last two decades.

Justin Herbert will lead the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns.
When you consider that Herbert was second in passing yards and third in touchdown passes at the quarterback position last season, well, this one is very possible (if not probable). I still have Josh Allen ranked atop the quarterbacks, but Herbert is my No. 2.

JuJu Smith-Schuster will have his best year since 2018.
I like Smith-Schuster as a No. 3 fantasy wideout based on his projected role in the Chiefs offense and catching passes from Patrick Mahomes. He won't have 111 catches like he did in 2018, but I could see him going for 70-80 catches for 900-plus yards.

David Njoku will post a career high in receptions.
Njoku just got paid and now he’ll get fed in the passing game. With Austin Hooper in Tennessee and a questionable core of wideouts beyond Amari Cooper, Njoku is in a great position to make this prediction come true. He'll be a nice late-round addition.

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Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on Sports Illustrated and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. Click here to read all his articles here on SI Fantasy. You can follow Michael on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for all of the late breaking fantasy news and the best analysis in the business!