Good morning. The 2022 fantasy football season was like Antonio Brown - a mess. The season was filled with injuries and disappointments, while ending with madden simulations, week 18 finals and a lot of confusion. In our final newsletter of the year, we look back at the year that was 2022.

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Thanks for an epic 2022, we appreciate you joining us on this journey. It's our third year writing this newsletter. Since starting in Week 6 of 2020, we've doubled subscribers each year to over 10,000 this year. Seriously, thank you.

Jake, Eddie, Matt

2022 RECAP

STUDS

League Winners in the 2022 Season

It was a roller coaster season, with some players making (or breaking) your year. If you drafted these ADP beaters, you're a happy camper.

Amon-Ra St. Brown (Drafted: WR24, behind Allen Robinson and Gabe Davis): Despite injuries impacting two of his games, St. Brown averaged 17.1 ppg and finished as WR7. St. Brown is one of just five receivers in the 100-1,000 club this season (and the first Lion since Megatron in 2012). He's now going 12th overall in dynasty drafts. A bit higher than Allen Robinson...

Josh Jacobs (Drafted: RB24, behind AJ Dillon and Elijah Mitchell): Despite every fantasy analyst yelling at us to fade him, Jacobs went nuclear in 2022. He finished as RB3 while averaging 20.1 ppg. The 2023 free-agent had the best season for his career playing for his next contract. Still only 24, Jacobs is likely to find a new home and higher ADP in 2023.

Jalen Hurts (ADP: QB7): Hurts finished as QB1 in average ppg (26.4), which was helped by the 13 TDs he scored running and the 22 he threw for. He was a QB1 in 13-of-15 games and a top-five fantasy quarterback nine times. While Hurts might've been the fantasy football MVP for your team, Mahomes is likely to take the NFL award.

Rhamondre Stevenson (ADP: RB31, behind Chase Edmonds): The RB9 of the 2022 season, Stevenson gained a huge opportunity to seize the Pats lead RB role when Damien Harris went down early in the season. Proving that Bill Belichick can have an RB1, Rhamondre played every game while averaging 14.7 ppg. Damien Harris will be an unrestricted free agent, so Stevenson could be in line for a massive role as New England's lead back in 2023.

Justin Fields (ADP: QB17): After Week 4, Justin Fields was a drop candidate. The Bears QB had averaged just 8.75 points, putting him behind QBs like Davis Mills and Joe Flacco. But Fields showed signs of life in Week 5 (17 points) and followed it up with another 18 point performance in Week 6. These two performances made Fields our top waiver add after Week 7. Fields finished as QB5, scoring 22+ points in 7/11 games to end the season.

Tyler Lockett (ADP: WR42, behind Hunter Renrow): This year's WR12, Lockett exceeded expectations because Geno Smith was legit. It was Lockett's 5th season in a row with 950+ yards and at least 8 TDs. Lockett now has finished above WR17 in PPR every season since 2017.

Russell Wilson (Free entertainment)

2022 Duds

These guys cost us all this season.

Kyle Pitts - Yes, injuries played a factor, but Pitts was borderline unstartable before his season ended in Week 11. The TE3 in ADP, Pitts cracked the top 12 in TE productions just three times and his average ppg ranked TE22. The 22-year-old former fourth overall pick in 2021 should be ready to go for the 2023 season after suffering a Grade 2 MCL sprain. Pitts' fantasy stock will be down next year, but he could outperform expectations if (when) Marcus Mariota is replaced.

Mark Andrews - He was drafted as the TE2 and delivered a TE3 season. Nothing to complain about, right? The problem is that the bulk of Andrews' production came in the first half of the year. By Week 6, he was averaging 19.1 in PPR and ranked behind only Travis Kelce. Since Week 6, Andrews was an average TE, rankings as TE15 with 8.4 ppg.

Diontae Johnson - Johnson had a disappointing 2022 season with 86 catches for 882 yards and no touchdowns across 17 games, his worst season since his rookie year. A high-risk pick as a WR3 in fantasy in 2023 drafts, George Pickens could unseat Johnson as WR1 in Pittsburgh.

Allen Robinson II - Has been out since Week 12 with a foot injury, but Robinson was drafted WR21, 57th overall. Before his injury, he was WR54. He only had two games with top 24 WR numbers, per Drew Loftis' article in the NYPost. Robinson should be back in LA but will be a WR7 for fantasy purposes.

Other players who weren't worth it:

BEST STORIES

While there was no Urban Meyer, the NFL still had some epic storylines.

Tracking Russell Wilson's TD-to-bathroom ratio

When the Denver Broncos traded for Russell Wilson, the Pro Bowl quarterback and his wife Ciara traded their Seattle mansion for one in Colorado, where they bought a $25 million estate. The 20,000 sq foot house comes with an indoor basketball court and pool. It also has 12 bathrooms, which was more than the number of TD passes Russ threw during most of his first season in Denver.

And here's a great article about how the Denver Broncos can realistically get rid of Russell Wilson via @CBSSports.

Jeff Saturday goes from high school to the NFL

Earlier this season, the Colts named the former six-time Pro-Bowl C and ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday as their interim head coach. Saturday's highest level of coaching: high school, where he led the program to a 20-16 record.

Some real quotes from Jim Irsay's press conference to introduce new Colts HC Jeff Saturday: "I'm glad he doesn't have any experience" — "and there was no one else available".

Trade Deadline Breaks Records

There were a record 12 trades made on the NFL trade deadline, the most ever made on any NFL trade deadline day. The deadline was better than most Thursday Night Football games this year. Prior to the deadline, Christian McCaffrey was moved to the 49ers in a blockbuster move that might've won me my fantasy league.

Waiver Wire Pickups

The best pickups that won you this the season.

Biggest hits:

From Morning Huddle Week 6:

Walker went on to finish RB19, scoring 12+ points in almost every healthy game post-week 6.

From Morning Huddle Week 2 - must adds:

From Morning Huddle deep dives Week 3

This still makes me laugh. Week 5, Morning Huddle.

From the Morning Huddle prior to the CMC trade confirmed:

We kept begging you to add Justin Fields

From our deep dives in early November:

Week 11's number 1 waiver wire pickup:

MISTAKES

These weren't our fault!! Injuries bro!!

From Morning Huddle Week 4, when we wanted Doubs to be a thing (and missed)

We'd also like to thank Nando for the introduction and Ivy for being a pleasure to work with (and the entire team at The Athletic) for the support all season. Their support made the newsletter possible and sustainable.

Lastly, we'd like to thank all of you for reading the newsletter. Joining us almost every morning, and for proving to your league mates that you're better than them.

It was a heck of a season and we can't wait to be back for the 2023 season. Keep an eye out for our April NFL draft newsletter.

PS: If you enjoyed the writing style and are interested in a newsletter covering the Origin Stories of successful entrepreneurs, athletes and other legends, Jake is working on sharing the stories of how great successes developed their superpowers before they turned 30.