Fantasy Football Mock Draft 2022, 12-team PPR: Najee Harris over Dalvin Cook?

Running through a new Fantasy Football Mock Draft for a 12-team PPR league with the No. 4 pick. A big running back decision looms in Round 1.

Whether you’re the most experienced fantasy football manager in the world that’s been doing research since the final whistle of the Super Bowl or a newbie trying to cut their teeth in the wild world, going into a fantasy football draft can feel like an extremely daunting task.

Who do I draft in this spot? I’m worried about this player, but is there too much value with this pick to pass him up? WHY IS EVERYONE YELLING?!

See, it’s stressful. But one of the best things you can do to prepare for your draft is to try and get a feel for how things might play out and a fantasy football mock draft is a great way to go about that. You can see how fellow managers are drafting and what players might be available at your pick.

So we’re going to give you that with a bit of insight as well. This fantasy football mock draft was actually completed with other managers trying to prepare and I made my picks in the 12-team PPR format for this league for which I’ll provide my reasoning with the fourth overall pick in a snake draft. Let’s dive in, starting with an internal debate in the first round.

Note: This mock draft was compiled using FantasyPros’ Draft Wizard mock draft lobby and was completed with 11 other users and me to best simulate a real-life fantasy football draft.

Fantasy Football Mock Draft for 12-team PPR league: Pick No. 4 snake draft

Fantasy Football Mock Draft Round 1

• Team 1 (1.01): Jonathan Taylor, RB, Colts
• Team 2 (1.02): Christian McCaffrey, RB, Panthers
• Team 3 (1.03): Austin Ekeler, RB, Chargers
• Team 4 (1.04): Najee Harris, RB, Steelers
• Team 5 (1.05): Justin Jefferson, WR, Vikings
• Team 6 (1.06): Dalvin Cook, RB, Vikings
• Team 7 (1.07): Cooper Kupp, WR, Rams
• Team 8 (1.08): Derrick Henry, RB, Titans
• Team 9 (1.09): Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Bengals
• Team 10 (1.10): Joe Mixon, RB, Bengals
• Team 11 (1.11): Travis Kelce, TE, Chiefs
• Team 12 (1.12): D’Andre Swift, RB, Lions

Going into this pick fully aware of the arguments against taking Najee Harris, I trusted my gut and went with the Steelers running back over either Viking, Justin Jefferson or Dalvin Cook.

Jefferson, to me, has more of an argument to be the pick here than Cook. For starters, there’s the volume that the wide receiver should get in Kevin O’Connell’s offense and we’re talking PPR. More importantly, though, Cook has already been nicked up in training camp, which has been an annoying trend for fantasy managers in recent years.

I understand the downside of Najee Harris. He averaged only 3.9 yards per carry last season and the offensive line isn’t improved all that much. At the same time, he still had 1,200 rushing yards and 74 receptions for 467 yards to finish with 10 total touchdowns.

I expect him to be a check-down option just as often given the relative hodgepodge at quarterback and to still get the volume to easily be a 1,200-yard rusher again, so I’m banking on that as the cornerstone of this roster.