When you have a fantasy football roster that consists of players who are “must-starts” on a weekly basis, setting your rosters becomes that much easier. The goal for any fantasy owner is to draft a team full of “set-it and forget-it” players. While having depth on your bench is nice for bye-week purposes, having those undisputed weekly starters on your team can lead you to a fantasy championship.
Two players who have fallen into that “set-it and forget-it” mold throughout their careers are RBs James Conner and Josh Jacobs, but will that be the case again this year? Let’s break down which back is the better choice for fantasy owners looking to find a season-long RB2.
DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: Ultimate 2022 fantasy cheat sheet
James Conner fantasy outlook, projection 2022
Conner enters 2022 coming off his best season since ’18, finishing as the RB9 in PPR formats and RB5 in standard scoring leagues. His bounce-back year resulted in signing a three-year, $21 million extension ($13.5 million guaranteed) with the Cardinals, and Arizona let fellow RB Chase Edmonds walk.
Conner has a real chance to eclipse his numbers from a season ago now that there isn’t an RB on the roster who deserves a complementary workload. The Cardinals brought in Darrel Williams from Kansas City, but given the effectiveness of third-year back Eno Benjamin and rookie Keaontay Ingram, there’s a chance Williams gets cut when the Cardinals trim their roster to 53 players. Despite all this, Conner’s pegged as the No. 15 RB per FantasyPros ECR, which might be a bit low considering his ceiling and opportunity.
2022 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers | Top 200 | Superflex
Now that there’s not much competition for snaps, Conner can flash. In the six games without Edmonds last season, Conner saw an 81.5-percent snap rate that resulted in close to 17 carries and five receptions with a TD on a per-game basis. A similar stat line on a weekly basis would vault Conner into RB1 status.
Another important part of Conner’s fantasy appeal comes from what he does in the red zone. While some could say Conner is due for some TD regression given his 18-TD output last season, he ranked third in carries inside the 10-yard line (28) and second in carries inside the five-yard line (16). Conner also was beyond efficient in the passing game, hauling in 94.9 percent of his targets last season (37-of-39) for 375 yards. He also ranked first in yards per target among RBs with 30-plus targets.
2022 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers | Top 200 | Superflex
There’s always an injury concern when drafting Conner, but he was able to avoid a significant injury in ’21, missing only two weeks of the regular season with a right heel injury. Per DraftSharks injury predictor, Conner is labeled as a “high risk” player, projected to miss 2.5 games this season. Even if Conner were to miss time, he’s still a worthwhile draft pick at his ADP. Additionally, with WR DeAndre Hopkins suspended for the first six games, fantasy owners can expect an even higher workload from Conner.
Depending on how you go about your first two rounds if you have the chance to draft Conner as your RB2, go for it. You could even opt to take a top-tier WR and TE in the first two rounds, banking on Conner as your RB1 in both standard and PPR formats.
2022 FANTASY SLEEPERS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | One from each team
Josh Jacobs fantasy outlook, projection 2022
Since his arrival in 2019, Jacobs has been a consistent fantasy producer, finishing in the top 15 in fantasy points per game in PPR formats in each of his first three seasons.
Despite his reliable production out of the backfield, Las Vegas declined to pick up Jacob’s fifth-year option heading into the season, and ’22-23 might be the last time he suits up for the silver and black. New head coach Josh McDaniels comes in from New England, a place notoriously known for utilizing multiple RBs, which isn’t a great sign for Jacob’s fantasy prospects going forward.
2022 RANKINGS TIERS & DRAFT STRATEGY:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs
The Raiders are reportedly trending toward going with a RB by committee that features Jacobs, former Patriot Brandon Bolden, nine-year back Ameer Abdullah, and rookie Zamir White. A four-back committee throughout the season would crush Jacob’s hopes to finish as a top-15 RB and as a result, he’s someone you should really avoid drafting at his current ADP.
Jacob’s skill set isn’t the issue. After being primarily used as a rusher, he showcased his ability to aid as an underneath threat for Derek Carr, catching a career-best 54 receptions for 348 yards in ’21. Opportunity is everything in fantasy football, and without a clearly defined role as the every-down back, he’s going to have to be uber-efficient with limited touches to end up as a weekly starter.
2022 AUCTION VALUES (Standard & PPR):
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers | Overall
While these two were a solid comparison entering last season, given the varying trajectories of their team’s backfields, Conner has a massive edge in terms of his projected fantasy output at the season’s end. Jacobs could vault back up to a top 15 play if a fellow Raiders RB gets hurt or fails to produce at McDaniel’s liking, but having to rely on something in that realm doesn’t make it enticing enough to draft him in the same tier as Conner.
The pick is … Conner, by a landslide.
To get RotoBaller’s take on Conner vs. Jacobs — or any four players you might be considering in your draft — check out their exclusive “Who to Draft?” tool below:
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