Image via Getty/Kevork Djansezian
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of year again. It’s fantasy football season. Another year of heartbreaking injuries, overwhelming bye week overlaps, sneaky waiver pickups, and if you’re lucky enough, another year to earn bragging rights as the champion amongst your friend group.
At this time last year there was really no argument who was going first in nearly every single fantasy draft, it was Christian McCaffrey. After another year of battling injuries, McCaffrey is no longer the favorite and some projections might have him outside the top three. After leading the NFL in rushing last season, Jonathan Taylor is now the consensus favorite for the top pick in fantasy football. The same goes for the quarterback position as Pat Mahomes has owned the spot as the top QB pick in every draft the past few seasons but with the departure of Tyreek Hill and the Super Bowl favorites in Buffalo, Josh Allen has stolen that crown.
With all that being said, if you do end up with Christian McCaffrey, you can still have an elite team name like Run CMC. A creative team name can boost morale and eventually push you to your championship aspirations. Not really but if your team stinks, at least your brand is flourishing.
We picked the best 10 fantasy team names for the 2022 season. If you’re lucky or unlucky enough to land one of these players on your fantasy squad, these are your best options.
AB CeeDee
It’s simple but it works so well. After the first 1000-yard season of his young career, CeeDee Lamb is primed for an even bigger year with Amari Cooper’s departure to Cleveland. The Oklahoma product will be one of the top targets at the receiver position in fantasy this season. In 2021, the Dallas Cowboys offense ranked first in points per game and yards per game so you can expect their production to continue into this year and Lamb will be a big reason for that. Although you can always expect the Cowboys to find a way to ruin their season, Lamb should be a lock for big numbers this year.
Oh Saquon You See
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. “Oh Saquon You See” is a classic and it’s worth bringing back for another season but it also means one of your backs is Saquon Barkley and with how things have gone the past two seasons, that is a risk. It’s fair to say that Saquon is in a prove-it season this 2022 campaign. After tallying two straight 1000-yard seasons to start his career, Saquon has been riddled by injuries, a terrible offensive line, and inconsistent offense with a new coordinator every year. The talent is still there but entering the final year of his contract, Saquon has to prove that he can still produce at a high level.
Run CMC
As mentioned before, Christian McCaffrey is no longer a heavy favorite to be drafted first in fantasy football and in fact, you might be taking a risk drafting him at all with his injury history. If you do end up with CMC on your roster, there’s no better team name to have than Run CMC. The play on words is just perfect as quite frankly, that’s all he does in run whether it’s from the backfield or yards after catch. There’s no questioning that when he’s on the field, he will produce and give you an edge every week in fantasy but as a CMC owner for the past few years, I’ve seen my fantasy team dominate early and falter late because of CMC’s absences.
Hey Darnold!
If you’re drafting Sam Darnold to start in your league or even as a backup, then your team must be down bad. Darnold will be the backup for Week 1 as of now in Carolina with Baker Mayfield holding that spot so there wouldn’t be a reason to have him on your roster in any type of league. But if you’re in the situation where you do have to pick up Darnold on your roster this year, Hey Darnold! is as clean as it gets, playing off the famous Nickelodeon television Hey Arnold!
Fresh Prince of Helaire
If you’re in the common 10-man or 12-man league, Clyde Edwards-Helaire should not be your first running back and really shouldn’t be your second running back either. He’s typically been a back that has been overdrafted in fantasy based off the high-powered offense in Kansas City. With Tyreek Hill’s departure, fans are curious how dominant the Chiefs offense will be this season but I don’t think anyone would doubt Pat Mahomes still producing with anyone he has on the field. With all that being said, if you Edwards-Helaire lands on your roster, you have no excuse. This is the perfect name, paying homage to one of the greatest shows in the history of television.
Olave Garden
I’m not even sure if people love Olive Garden anymore like they once did but Olave Garden is still a catchy name & I’m sure NFL fans will love Chris Olave. From Alvin Kamara to Michael Thomas to Jarvis Landry and to rookie Chris Olave, the weapons in New Orleans are scary. Olave has looked impressive so far in training camp and early preseason. If you can get the best version of Jameis Winston, the Saints have all the tools to be a high-powered offense and having Olave as a WR3 is a luxury. The main issue is there’s a lot of mouths to feed on that offense but there’s no questioning Chris Olave’s ability.
Ain’t No Waller-Back Girl
Personally this Gwen Stefani reference of “Hollaback Girl” is cringeworthy but it’s a real creative play off words so I’ll allow it for the sake off this list. Anyway, Darren Waller is a lock for being one of the top 5 tight ends taken in fantasy coming into this season. Now playing alongside Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow, Waller will have less attention on him than he’s had in the past but with more weapons comes less targets and hopefully that’s not the case for the Pro Bowl tight end.
Lights, Kamara, Action
Lights, Kamara, Action is very fitting for the star running back in New Orleans. As previously mentioned, if the Saints get anything out of Jameis Winston, that offense is going to put up numbers. While Winston is the X-factor to the offensive ceiling, Kamara is the engine and foundation of the offense. It’ll be pick your poison when defending the Saints and every defense is going to do their best to try to keep Kamara out of end zone, which he has a knack for finding. Kamara’s situation is tricky as there’s a chance he does serve a short suspension for a battery case that occurred in Las Vegas this February.
McLaurin Order
This is my favorite team name on the list. Hopefully if you name your team after Terry McLaurin, he’s giving you elite production. McLaurin has put up solid numbers the past few seasons and with first round pick Jahan Dotson next to him, it may help free him up and boost the offensive production as a whole. Let’s also add context to McLaurin’s first couple years, he was playing with bottom-tier quarterback play. Now Carson Wentz is no Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen but he’s certainly an upgrade over Taylor Heinicke or at least we should hope.
DAKstreet Boys
Obviously paying homage to the Backstreet Boys, DAKstreet Boys is another classic fantasy name you can’t go wrong with. While he often gets critiqued on the season’s result, Dak Prescott anchored the Cowboys to the No. 1 offense in points and yards last season. This was also coming back from a major injury. Is this the year for Dak to enter the MVP conversation? Well for that to happen, the Cowboys will have to win but for fantasy purposes, Dak is a solid option at QB1.