Fantasy football winners and losers in PPR formats: Packers' Aaron Jones being undervalued
By Jennifer Eakins, 4for4
Special to Yahoo Sports
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.
[Set, hut, hike! Create or join a fantasy football league now!]
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 teammate 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. His 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.
[Visit 4for4, where 92% of subscribers made the playoffs, for more]
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.
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 receptions. 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, RB - 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 total on the ground 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.
A proud alumna of the UGA Grady College of Journalism, Jennifer Eakins has been working in the sports industry for well over a decade. She has had stints with CNN Sports, the Atlanta Hawks and the Colorado Rockies. Her first fantasy football draft took place in 1996 where she selected Ricky Watters with the first overall pick, and she has been a fantasy degenerate ever since.
For six more PPR winners and losers continue reading at 4for4.com
More from 4for4.com: Zero RB targets and implications in fantasy football
Stay ahead with 4for4 Fantasy Football's accurate rankings, advanced tools and data-driven content.
