Fantasy Football: 12 Winners and Losers in PPR Formats

Jul 25, 2022

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When it comes to PPR leagues in fantasy football, there are certain players who become more enticing in the format and others who fall down a few pegs based on their lack of volume through the air on a weekly basis.

This article will take a look at the players to target in full-PPR formats based on perceived workload, and will also go over those guys you want your league mates to worry about instead of you.

Note: PPR ADP courtesy of Fantasy Football Calculator

Winners

Aaron Jones, RB - Packers

Yes, Christian McCaffrey, Najee Harris, and Austin Ekeler are tops in PPR leagues, but you’re drafting them anyways. Aaron Jones is a player who rises significantly in formats with points for receptions as an elite pass-catching back.

Last season with target monster Davante Adams on the team, Jones still saw the eighth most balls thrown his way of all RBs on the season, the 11th most on a per-game basis. Now we’re looking at a primarily inexperienced, unproven, or inconsistent (looking at you Sammy Watkins) group of WRs in Green Bay with the health of TE Robert Tonyan still a question mark.

Aaron Rodgers is known to look for those he trusts in crucial situations, and Jones should be that guy in 2022. The Packers extended his contract with a four-year deal worth $48 million, indicating his importance as the featured guy in both the run and pass attack. 4for4’s John Paulsen has the 27-year-old projected for 72 catches this year, right behind McCaffrey.

Jones goes from a ranking of RB13 in standard leagues up to RB6 in both half-PPR and PPR leagues. As far as ADP goes, he’s still slightly undervalued, leaving boards at 2.04 as the RB10.

Keenan Allen, WR - Chargers

Allen has posted over 1,000 receiving yards in four of the last five seasons, with an average of 150 targets per year in that time frame. His 9.8 targets per game last season ranked sixth among all WRs, and that was with a breakout campaign from fellow Charger Mike Williams.

Attached to elite QB Justin Herbert in a high-scoring offense, Allen is set up for another stellar season as a fantasy WR1, as long as he remains healthy. His ADP right now in redraft PPR leagues is 3.03 as the 10th WR off the board. The LA wideout’s ranking in standard leagues is WR13, but the 30-year-old rises six whole positional spots to WR7 in PPR formats in leagues with additional scoring for receptions.

Brandin Cooks, WR - Texans

Houston is projected to be a bad football team; in fact, they are currently not favored to win one single game during the 2022 season and possess the lowest implied season total in the NFL. That may not be so peachy for Texans fans, but for fantasy purposes, that could mean gold for their main weapon, Brandin Cooks.

Cooks saw the 12th most targets among WRs last season in a very tumultuous season for the team, and with their QB Davis Mills established and chemistry built, Cooks could see incredible volume in an offense most likely playing from behind week in and week out. 4for4 projections have Cooks with the ninth-most receptions in 2022 (88) among wideouts, and he’s currently the 22nd WR leaving draft boards at pick 5.07.

The nine-year veteran is ranked as WR21 in standard fantasy leagues and spikes to WR16 in PPR formats, so there is still tremendous value at this point in the summer. Don’t be scared off by the offense with Cooks; take advantage of one of the best discounts at his position.

Zach Ertz, TE - Cardinals

It’s hard to find too much movement in the TE landscape, but Zach Ertz is a player who benefits from any type of points per reception scoring. The 31-year-old saw the third highest target total among TEs in 2021 and could even see an uptick in volume with the absence of Christian Kirk and DeAndre Hopkins sidelined for six weeks.

Marquise Brown was added to the roster this offseason, and he gets a bump in reception-scoring formats as well, going from WR25 in standard leagues to WR19 in PPR, as both guys should be heavily peppered with targets, at least to start 2022. Ertz should remain a prominent fixture, even when Nuk returns and jumps to TE8 in PPR formats, up from TE14 in standard scoring, which is a significant leap for the position.

Right now, Ertz’s ADP is 9.10 as the TE11 in PPR leagues, and he’s a safe choice with plenty of potential to outperform his spot for those waiting to grab TE until the double-digit rounds.

Chase Edmonds, RB - Dolphins

Now in Miami, Chase Edmonds got paid lead-back money and could be highly involved in the Dolphins' offense. There are plenty of talented pass catchers for Tua Tagovailoa to choose from, but Edmonds is known for his catching prowess and has a new head coach coming from a highly-involved backfield.

Edmonds is projected for the eighth-highest receptions among RBs by Paulsen (54) and moves up a whopping 11 positional rankings in PPR formats to RB22 from RB33 in standard scoring leagues. For now, until others catch on to Edmonds’ potential in Miami in 2022, the 26-year-old is being drafted as the RB35 with an ADP of 8.02 in PPR leagues.

James Cook, RB - Bills

The Bills would not have spent second-round capital on a running back if they don’t intend to feature him in their offense. GM Brandon Beane alluded to using Cook in a hybrid role, which is drool-worthy for managers in any points-per-reception format.

Brandon Beane said that they view James Cook as sort of a wide receiver. He mentions that the Bills didn't get JD McKissic and Cook is someone that could fill a similar role in the offense for the #Bills.

— Matt Parrino (@MattParrino) April 30, 2022

The Bills only targeted their backs at 15% and 14% in 2021 and 2020 respectively, which should be elevated this year with a true pass-catcher at the position. Out of 62 qualifying backs, Devin Singletary ranked 60th with Zack Moss 48th in receiving grade via PFF.

Ranked as RB47 in standard leagues and 10 spots higher in PPR formats (RB37), Cook projects as a fantasy asset with standalone value, considering the Bills actively pursued a back of his archetype. There is also the built-in upside if something were to happen to Singletary. Add in the Buffalo offense as a whole, and you have the perfect Zero-RB candidate, a guy who could certainly peak as the season chugs along, with a palatable price tag of RB24 with a ninth-round ADP.

Additional PPR Winners: Travis Etienne, RB- Jaguars (Standard Rank RB24, PPR RB17), Michael Pittman, WR - Colts (Standard Rank WR12, PPR WR8), J.D. McKissic, RB - Commanders (Standard Rank RB41, PPR RB35), Nyheim Hines, RB - Colts (Standard Rank RB57, PPR RB48), Cordarrelle Patterson, RB - Falcons (Standard Rank RB27, PPR RB21)

Losers

Nick Chubb, RB - Browns

In standard leagues, Chubb is 4for4’s eighth-ranked RB with 1,283 projected rushing yards and 5.5 touchdowns. However, in formats where you get points for catches, the Cleveland back falls down to RB15.

In the 28 contests from 2019-2021 that both he and Kareem Hunt were in the mix, Chubb only posted 37 total receptions, indicating his limited upside in PPR formats. Last year with Hunt sidelined for nine games, Chubb was only targeted 13 times in that time frame, which doesn’t bode well for leagues with extra scoring for caught passes. The 26-year-old is hyper-efficient on the ground and finds the end zone with frequency but should be valued a bit less in leagues that reward receptions. Chubb’s PPR ADP is currently 2.01 as RB8.

Deebo Samuel, WR - 49ers

The 26-year-old put up a WR2 performance in both total fantasy points and fantasy points per game in standard formats last season, and his numbers included more touchdowns on the ground (8) than in the air (6). We should expect more of the same from Deebo Samuel in 2022, except with a healthy George Kittle to share the target load and a rushing QB in Trey Lance to take some of the pressure off.

Samuel is the epitome of a dual-threat player, but his value does take a dip when it comes to leagues that reward points for receptions. He had 77 catches last season in 16 games and is projected to post 61 in 2022, which is the 42nd highest among wideouts. He’s among the elite tier in standard leagues with a current 4for4 ranking of WR4 but slides down to WR13 in PPR scoring. So far, drafters don’t seem to care about a possible regression in targets, as he’s being selected as WR7 with an ADP of 2.06 in PPR redraft leagues.

Damien Harris, WR - Patriots

4for4’s Pranav Rajaram gives us an entire article on the perceived value of Damien Harris for the 2022 season and highlights the RB's lack of pass-catching proficiency as an issue. Harris saw just 21 targets all of last season, which was 64th among RBs, and he boasted just a 5.2% target rate per snap which sat 121st at his position.

Harris was, however, very productive on the ground in 2021, rushing for 929 yards and an incredible 15 touchdowns, which was the second-highest ground scores only to Jonathan Taylor’s 18.

He is a member of the New England backfield which always provides a roulette-feel to it entering a football season, but Harris should be the lead back with James White (when healthy), Rhamondre Stevenson, and possibly rookie Pierre Strong Jr. spelling him for pass-catching downs. In standard leagues, Harris’ ground game and red zone prowess lead to an RB21 ranking, while in PPR formats, the fourth-year back drops seven positional spots to RB28. At the time of writing, we’re looking at an ADP of 5.05 for Harris as RB25 in PPR leagues.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR - Chiefs

He’s wearing a different jersey in Kansas City, but Marquez Valdes-Scantling should be used in a similar deep-threat role in 2022. MVS has averaged 17.5 yards per catch over the course of his four-year tenure in the NFL, and solid chemistry with Patrick Mahomes could make for a fruitful fantasy season in this Andy Reid offense.

The volume may be tough to count on, however, as the Chiefs have a myriad of bodies in town to attempt to replace Tyreek Hill, who was traded to the Dolphins earlier in the offseason. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman, and rookie Skyy Moore will all be competing for targets after Travis Kelce gets his share of that pie. MVS drops from WR40 in standard-scoring leagues all the way to WR51 in PPR formats and is currently boasting an ADP of 13.02 as WR57.

Ken Walker, RB - Seahawks

The Seattle backfield has been one of the more polarizing groups this offseason as drafters seem to be strongly divided between oft-injured veteran Rashaad Penny and rookie Ken Walker whose ADP have been fairly similar in best ball formats this summer, but now seems to be separating a bit by about a round.

The choice for redraft leagues with scoring for receptions is much clearer as Ken Walker is not known for pass-catching abilities; in fact, he’s projected for just 11 receptions in 2002, which sits 73rd among RBs in estimated catches. The Seahawks are a run-first, run-heavy, run-often offense but are still dealing with a question mark at the QB position. Both Penny and Walker are in play for all formats, but in a full-PPR league, Walker’s ranking falls from RB30 in standard to RB38.

Right now, Penny is leaving boards two full rounds ahead of Walker in PPR leagues at 6.07 as RB30, while Walker is being selected as RB36 with an ADP of 8.06.

Hunter Henry, TE - Patriots

Last year Hunter Henry was TE18 in total targets and TE22 in targets per game with just 4.4. He earned his keep in the end zone, where his nine touchdowns were part of a four-way tie at the top of his position. The Patriots' offense is not the easiest to figure out in your average season, but in this one, we’re dealing with some coaching changes and play-calling ambiguity.

When healthy and in the mix, Henry is a solid TE in a field with so much variance, but when it comes to leagues that reward receptions, the 27-year-old loses some value. He’s projected to catch the 16th most receptions in 2022 among TEs and is subsequently ranked as TE15 in PPR formats. In standard leagues, the NE TE jumps up to TE10. Henry’s ADP is currently 12.02 as the 13th TE being selected in PPR redraft leagues.

Additional PPR Losers: Gabriel Davis, WR- Bills (Standard Rank WR19, PPR WR27), Allen Robinson, WR- Rams (Standard Rank WR18, PPR WR22), Dawson Knox, TE - Bills (Standard Rank TE6, PPR TE13),