FORT WORTH, Texas – The 2022 PBR World Finals begins Friday night at Dickies Arena (8 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network). It will be the final opportunity for any competitors to increase their value ahead of the 2022 PBR Team Series Draft, presented by ZipRecruiter, on May 23.
While there will likely be riders selected in the five-round draft (40 potential selections) who are not competing at the World Finals, here is my first stab at power rankings for the Top 16 riders available in the draft. This list only considers riders declared for the five-round draft and not the supplemental draft.
Therefore, two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood and 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis will not be considered for my rankings below. Expect Lockwood to go No. 1 in the supplemental draft to the Oklahoma Freedom and Davis to be selected No. 2 by the Carolina Cowboys.
Fans can watch the 2022 PBR Team Series Draft live on RidePass on Pluto TV on May 23 at 7 p.m. ET.
Now onto the rankings!
- Jose Vitor Leme (riding hand: left)
The two-time reigning World Champion may be fourth in the world standings, but his career resume speaks for itself. Leme is one of only two PBR World Champions declared for the PBR Team Series and is the highly anticipated No. 1 pick for the Austin Gamblers. Leme is 210-for-348 (60.34%) in his PBR career, with 23 event wins and 58 90-point rides on the premier series. The former semi-pro soccer player in Brazil is a pure athlete and a leader in the locker room. Leme often organizes weekly practice pen sessions at his ranch in Decatur, Texas, and he also led Team Cooper Tires to an undefeated record and championship at the Monster Energy Team Challenge in 2020.
- Kaique Pacheco (riding hand: right)
The 2018 World Champion may soon be seeing his name listed next to Leme’s as a two-time World Champion. The No. 3 rider in the world is a qualified ride machine with 284 rides under his belt on the premier series. Pacheco’s 193 rides in the last six seasons are the second-most among draft-eligible riders – Leme has 210 – even after he missed the second half of the 2019 season because of reconstructive elbow surgery on his free arm. If Leme is the 90-point ride, highlight-reel superman of the 2022 PBR Team Series Draft, then look at Pacheco as the lethal silent assassin. Pacheco is the expected No. 2 pick for Nashville Stampede, a solid 1a alongside Leme. Pacheco, who has also avoided serious injuries for most of his eight-year career, may not come across as a vocal leader. Still, his actions speak louder than his words, and he is one of the most respected and knowledgeable riders in the locker room.
- Dalton Kasel (left)
2019 Rookie of the Year Dalton Kasel is arguably one of the top young riders to build a team around in this year’s draft. 2022 has been the first opportunity for Kasel to showcase what he can do with a full, healthy season. The 23-year-old is a career-best 19-for-49 (38.78%) and became the first rider in PBR history to win three consecutive 15/15 Bucking Battles. Kasel is highly knowledgeable about bucking bulls, and he is often one of the first riders in the locker room riders go to for advice for championship-round drafts. Kasel needs to improve his consistency, which should come with coaches’ ability to match up riders with their respective bulls in team competition. Still, his career median ride score of 88.25 points on the premier series ranks up there with World Champions such as Lockwood and Leme. Kasel also played a pivotal part for Team USA at this year’s Global Cup, riding Moonlight Party for 92 points as the Americans claimed the gold medal.
- Joao Ricardo Vieira (left)
Joao Ricardo Vieira is one of 20 men in PBR history to record 300 qualified rides on the premier series, and he did that without recording his first ride in the United States until 2013 when he was 28. If you factor in another seven seasons in the PBR, Vieira, who has 355 career rides on the premier series, would have been on pace to join 2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi in the prestigious 600 rides club.
The biggest question about Vieira is how many years does the 37-year-old have left in him to be a top-tier rider? This year, Vieira could become the oldest World Champion in PBR history. One could argue that the last three seasons have been the best of his career, and he has no plans to retire.
Whoever drafts Vieira, potentially the Texas Rattlers at No. 3 overall, may not be getting a rider who will be a pillar for them for the next four years. However, Vieira could very well help build the foundation of a franchise for the younger draft picks in later rounds. Vieira, who has his veterinarian degree, often hosts Brazilian barbeques in Decatur, Texas, and he has been credited with being a strong mentor to riders, such as Mauricio Moreira.
- Dener Barbosa (left)
In the PBR Team Series competition, the format is extremely simple: the team that rides the most bulls in the 5-on-5 competition is the winner. No more worrying about round wins, bonus points and all of those other things that can sometimes get in the way of respecting a qualified ride machine like Dener Barbosa. The 2016 PBR Brazil champion has a 46% career riding average, third-best among active riders in that span, and his 142 qualified rides since 2017 are the fourth-most in the PBR.
- Daylon Swearingen (left)
It may be surprising to have the world No. 1 bull rider so low in the rankings, and there could be an argument that he should be lower or higher. The reasoning? Swearingen, like Kasel, likely has untapped potential that a coach can bring out of him. On the other side of the coin, Swearingen is currently on pace to post the lowest riding average by a PBR World Champion with his 38.46% riding average on the Unleash The Beast. Lockwood won his first world title in 2017 despite riding at a 43.75% clip, and he eventually evolved into one of the greatest of all time. Therefore, Swearingen could certainly be only scratching the surface of his abilities. The 23-year-old also deserves a ton of credit for leading the Team USA Eagles to a gold medal at this year’s Global Cup, and he has the potential to grow into a mature leader for whichever team drafts him. Could a reunion with Ross Coleman (Missouri Thunder) be a possibility?
- Luciano de Castro (left)
The 2015 PBR Brazil champion arrived in the United States in 2017 with high expectations and developed into a Top-10 bull rider in 2018 and 2019, finishing with the sixth-most and eighth-most qualified rides those two years. However, Castro then struggled tremendously with various injuries – hip, knee, groin, ribs, collapsed lungs, you name it – in the past two seasons, finishing No. 46 in the world standings in back-to-back years and admittedly losing his confidence.
Castro has finally bounced back this year, and the No. 6-ranked bull rider in the world is 19-for-44 (43.18%) with two 15/15 Bucking Battle victories. Castro has a median ride score of 86.25 points in 119 career qualified rides.
- Colten Fritzlan (right)
This may seem like a reach, but Colten Fritzlan has franchise player potential written all over him if he can get back to full health. Yes, Fritzlan came up short of qualifying for the 2022 PBR World Finals this year as he went 4-for-12 following a seven-month layoff because of reconstructive left shoulder surgery, but he also hadn’t competed in the PBR for 11 months from when the injury first occurred. To be a little rusty is certainly expected.
Fritzlan was the leading contender for Rookie of the Year last year after winning his debut event in Okeechobee, Florida, and was likely on pace to qualify for both the NFR and PBR World Finals before getting injured in the practice pen. The 22-year-old is one of the more promising younger right-handed riders in the game. The 2020 NFR bull riding event winner could fill quite the 1-2 punch with Lockwood if the Oklahoma Freedom decide to use the eighth or ninth pick instead of opting for a trade.
- Eli Vastbinder (right)
Eli Vastbinder’s claim to PBR fame was last year at the World Finals when he fought through broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder to win the 2019 Rookie of the Year by going 4-for-6, becoming just the eighth rider in PBR history to post four 90-point rides at the World Finals. However, Vastbinder cracks my Top 10 based on two things – one starts with his riding since the last time the PBR held an event in Dickies Arena. Vastbinder finished runner-up at the 2021 Iron Cowboy in Fort Worth, and that toughness was on full display as he climbed aboard seven bulls in 24 hours. Vastbinder is 34-for-73 (46.58%) since then, and he currently ranks third in the PBR with 21 qualified rides. The Statesville, North Carolina, native also assimilated into the locker room flawlessly last year after previously riding on the rodeo circuit, able to interact with riders of all ages and backgrounds with ease.
- Kyler Oliver (left)
World No. 5 Kyler Oliver is out for the PBR Finals as he continues to recover from a broken neck (C6) he sustained after landing on his head following his 91.25-point ride in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, this past April. Oliver, who is tied with Dalton Kasel and Mauricio Moreira for the second-most 90s this year (6), may miss some of the first events of the PBR Team Series, but he should be cleared for a return to competition before the end of the regular season. Before the injury, Oliver was likely a first-round pick without blinking an eye. Now it is possible the 22-year-old slips into the second round, but the potential is there for the Roy, Utah, cowboy. Oliver was amidst a breakout season this year after shutting down his 2021 campaign last February because of reconstructive left shoulder surgery. Oliver had ridden 16 of 38 bulls on the premier series this year and won the first UTB event of his career – the PBR Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden in New York City.
- Derek Kolbaba (left)
Eight-time World Finals qualifier Derek Kolbaba is still only 26 years old and should be a strong second-round pick. Kolbaba is 11th in the world standings. His 18 qualified rides this season is 10th best in the PBR, and he is on pace for a Top-10 finish in qualified rides on the UTB for the third consecutive season. Kolbaba is one of the streakier riders on tour at times, but he also has finished no lower than 13th in the world standings in the past five seasons. Durability is also not a concern for him. The Walla Walla, Washington, native has also been relatively healthy throughout his career and has competed at more than 40 events at all levels of competition in six consecutive seasons.
- Mauricio Moreira (left)
Mauricio Moreira may be the rider with the most to win or lose at the World Finals when it comes to the young 22-year-old’s draft stock. Moreira is arguably the best rising young star from Brazil at the World Finals this year, and he could be a foundation for a PBR Team for years to come. Only a few months ago, Moreira was poised to be a Top-5 draft pick and a strong World Champion contender. Since then, Moreira, who enters Fort Worth seventh in the world rankings, has seen his stock drop as teams attempt to evaluate his ongoing hip injury. Moreira was originally going to get surgery this past November following the World Finals after finishing No. 5 in the world standings, but he instead opted to delay the procedure. At first, the decision seemed wise as Moreira overcame a slow start to 2022 to rise to No. 2 in the world with his second win of the season (Glendale, Arizona). Moreira has since ridden only 2-for-12 as his injury had gotten so bad that he could not walk out of the arena under his own power. Moreira took the last month off, and a strong Finals could convince a team that he is worth the gamble, or a team may have to consider drafting him with the understanding he will need to get surgery and miss the 2022 PBR Team Series. If Moreira struggles, he could easily see his stock drop him out of the top two rounds of the draft.
- Lucas Divino (right)
Lucas Divino is 9-for-15 (60%) this year on the Unleash The Beast as he struggled to bounce back from a hip injury that he had surgery on last year, costing him four months. Divino flashed World Champion contender ability three seasons ago when he finished 2020 fourth in the PBR in qualified rides (26), riding 46.43% of his bulls that season on the UTB. Divino, 28, admitted this year how tough it has been to rebound from his hip surgery, but it appears he has recently started to turn the corner with a 3-for-3 performance in Billings, Montana, at the regular-season finale. The No. 18-ranked bull rider in the world finished the regular season with two second-place performances and a fourth in three of the last four events. Divino could have sneaky value in the draft if he is truly past his injuries.
- Austin Richardson (right)
Austin Richardson is returning at the World Finals following surgery on April 20 to repair the broken collarbone he sustained just four weeks ago in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the time, Richardson was amidst arguably the best stretch of his career when his 2022 world title hopes hit a massive speed bump. Richardson had just ridden Mike’s Effect for 87.5 points inside the BOK Center to retake the event lead from Jose Vitor Leme. Twenty-four hours earlier, he had won Round 1 with a career-best 94.5 points on YETI World Champion Bull Woopaa. All signs were pointing toward Richardson striking for a second consecutive event victory.
Richardson, 22, could have seen his draft stock surge even higher if he had won Tulsa and began pushing up the world rankings. If he returns with an impressive performance at the World Finals, it will not be surprising to see him enter the late first-round conversation of the draft.
- Mason Taylor (right)
Some have labeled Taylor a late first-round to second-round pick, and a big part of that stemmed from his 5-for-6 showing at last year’s PBR World Finals despite competing with a broken jaw. Taylor then won the season-opening event in Indianapolis and is on pace for a fourth consecutive Top-15 finish in the world standings. If Taylor, a 33.47% career UTB rider, can put together another strong Finals, he may be able to sneak into the late first round. If not, don’t be surprised to see the Carolina Cowboys consider taking Taylor in the second round to pair him with mentor and good friend Cooper Davis.
- Manoelito de Souza Jr. (left)
Souza erupted for a career-high 93.5 points aboard Blue Duck to win the last 15/15 Bucking Battle of the season in Billings and increase his draft stock. The Itamira, Brazil, native is 15-for-39 (38.476%) in 15 premier series events. Souza’s 15 rides are a career-high compared to his eight last season, and his 93.5-point ride sits next to his 92.75 points on Woopaa in Little Rock, Arkansas, as his two career 90s. The 26-year-old still is only in his second season in the United States and could continue to improve on his 35.93% riding average.
ALSO IN CONSIDERATION FOR SECOND ROUND VALUE: Chase Dougherty (L), Eduardo Aparecido (R), Boudreaux Campbell (L), Cody Jesus (L), Rafael Henrique dos Santos (R), Clayton Sellars (L), Ramon de Lima (L), Marco Eguchi (R), Cody Teel (R).
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
