1. Cody Calafiore

Cody won the first HOH of the season and put himself in a great situation to form alliances and secure himself in a good spot with the rest of the house. He has already formed a main alliance with Nicole F., Enzo, and Dani to secure his safety for weeks to come. He also used his power to develop enough relationships that no one will be coming for him any time soon. If he can keep this strong social and physical game going he could wind up going just as far as he did in BB16. He has strong potential to make it to jury as long as he can continue his strong social relationships.

While it may be too early to gauge his long-term prospects, it’s not impossible to foresee a deep run at this game once again. However, Cody cannot let his physical prowess take control because that will make him a huge target.

2. Enzo “Meow Meow” Palumbo

Enzo is pretty much assured to make the jury, based on where he has positioned himself in the house. He has a very strong alliance in Cody, Dani, and Nicole F.. He also has other little side alliances with other people in the house as well.

The “Meow Meow” is one of the most liked players in the game because he is extremely social, affable, amusing and willing to talk game with anyone in the house. His game winning potential is strong as long as he isn’t viewed as the bridesmaid instead of the bride.

He is a loyal, strong soldier for an alliance but with his recent veto victory, he may have a newfound challenge prowess, which may eventually lead him to finally take over an alliance as its captain.

3. Dani Briones

There are already high marks for Dani this season. She is an amazing social player and has formed strong alliances with multiple players in the house. No one (and I mean, NO ONE) is coming for her anytime soon. She has huge potential to go far in this game and is a stone cold lock to make the jury, barring a cataclysmic collapse.

Dani has always been a great player but watching her pull the wool over All-Star players’ eyes makes me feel like she is on a whole other level.

As long as she keeps her cool and doesn’t stir anything up with too much scheming and plotting, she can do very well.

4. Tyler Crispen

Tyler was my No. 1 overall draft pick for a reason: he is an amazing player. However his first week in BB22 has been pretty sloppy. He is making alliances with everyone (has he learned nothing?!?!?) that may eventually hurt him.

In addition, the fact that he let other people get into Cody’s ear this first week and let them take control is not great for Tyler’s long game. The thing that helps him is that no one is targeting him; he is in a very good spot. He is laying low but If he plays all season like this, will it be enough to survive all the way to the end while making enough moves in the house? He can’t play too low.

5 (tie). Robert “Memphis” Garrett

Memphis has been playing a very good social game by making inroads with Cody and his alliance. His game back in BB10 (in 2008) was a joy to watch and it’s refreshing to see his passion for the game still exists. He outsmarted the savvy Kaysar by revealing to Cody of the push by Kaysar for urging Memphis to win the veto to save Keesha – something Memphis has no desire to do despite his former BB10 cast mate being on the chopping block.

He is currently not anyone’s target but he is also no one’s No. 1 ally. If he wants to advance his spot, he needs to infiltrate more of Cody’s alliance. It could be dramatically important to his game if he could somehow win some power. His jury seat looks good… for now, that is.

5 (tie). Nicole Franzel

Nicole started the season on a very strong foot by making important allies and building working relationships (perhaps thanks to pregaming). As the week progressed, however, she began to unravel. She started to alienate people with her highly emotional state and her complaints about other houseguests (most notably, Janelle).

Nicole’s position got even better thanks to her new “Million Club” relationship with Ian. But it could easily turn sour for her if she ticks off the wrong person or frustrates her allies. She’ll always have the potential to shoot herself in the foot. Her jury seat looks good but, just like Memphis, that can easily change depending on who is in power.

7. Bayleigh Dayton Williams

Bayleigh has had a surprisingly impressive start to this season. She showed her true potential this past week — something we only saw glimpses of during BB20 and the most recent season of MTV’s “The Challenge”. Da’Vonne instantly connected with her. Her BB20 beef with Tyler was quickly squashed. The house’s current power players Cody, Enzo and Dani all want her by their side. What a stark difference in social positioning compared to her past reality games, all with husband Swaggy C beside her.

Bayleigh has shown an eagerness to take those relationships and conversations and strategically maneuvered herself into a strong position in the house. The $500,000 question is “can she keep it up?”

While she might not have as big a fan base as her fellow All-Stars, she may gain a larger following with game play like this.

8. Da’Vonne Rogers

Da’Vonne is well positioned. She has a solid bond with Bayleigh and a strong alliance with Cody, Enzo, and Dani. But an HOH or Veto win may be necessary to propel herself into a stronger spot in the house. Her telling Cody that Janelle desired to flip the vote to keep Keesha won’t be enough. Some of her reads have been wildly incorrect, so she’ll need to improve her standing with people socially to get a better grip on the house. But considering where she is game-wise, there are much worse spots to be in.

9. Kevin Campbell

Yes, he’s on the block but his ranking is this high because he does have some legs in this game. While he’s on the outside looking in, his threat level is quite low (despite Janelle’s repeated reminders of his deceit from BB11). He has been particularly close with Nicole Anthony but he’ll have to put in some extra work to even be considered an asset to a majority alliance. The fear is he could be a designated resident on the chopping block these next few weeks. Not an impossible scenario to envision him for jury but his chances are extremely dicey.

10. Ian Terry

Let me preface by stating that Ian is and always will be one of my favorite houseguests of all time. I highly treasure this moment of him playing again — almost improbable that he ever would.

As for the current state of things, Ian is a sketchy spot. The good news: he’s helped by his “Million Club” alliance with the only other past winner in the house, Nicole Franzel. It kept him off the block this past week, even as a possible replacement nominee. But the bad news: Franzel long-term may be a risky proposition. Her game could get too scattered and that could bring him down further than what his week eating slop as a Have Not did. Enzo doesn’t trust him, and others are very weary of the game he is trying to play. He has a long way to go to prove himself as a player that people would like to play with. But I’ll certainly be rooting him on.

11 (tie). Nicole Anthony

Like the beginning of last summer, Nicole Anthony is already in a very unfortunate spot. She has had some bad reads on the house and who to work with. She doesn’t trust Kaysar and Janelle, even though they would be amazing allies for her. Although she has had engrossing conversations with many in the house, it was her uncomfortable interaction with Nicole Franzel about stupid podcast drama (ugh!) that has increased her potential as a target.

Worst of all, she’s unaware how much trouble she is in. No one is mentioning her name as part of any suggested alliances thus far and Cody would have made her the replacement nominee if Keesha or Kevin came off the block from the veto.

Frustrating to watch and a jury spot seems unlikely.

11 (tie). Janelle Pierzina DeSanto

One of the best players to ever play the game (heck, she’s the lone houseguest to ever evict the legendary Dr. Will Kirby!). A fourth stint inside the house is a gift from the Big Brother Gods. But her current stint is already her roughest yet. She is aligned with Kaysar but extensive pregaming hasn’t resulted in any other solid bonds. She believes she has Dani and Bayleigh in her back pocket but in reality, not so. Her legendary past has become a present danger for others. While she at least recognized this somewhat by vying for the Safety Suite, Janelle’s target still might just be too big. If she finds some way to slide into jury, then we are in for an amazing season.

13. Kaysar Ridha

The man hasn’t played since the first All-Stars season in 2006 and he still leaves me in awe. But not so awesome is his unfortunate spot. Outside of Janelle, no one wants to work with him. His target is massive right now. If it weren’t for the Safety Suite competition, Kaysar could have easily been the first person out.

Socially, he is very adept and engaging in the many conversations he has had with others. He exhibits great empathy. Yet that prowess in dialogue does not translate into a successful Big Brother game for him. There is no foothold currently available. He is in a position where he or Janelle MUST win the next Head of Household competition in order to not touch the chopping block in the coming week.

14. Christmas Abbott

Sure, no one is coming for Christmas (except for maybe an annoyed Dani) but she doesn’t really have any close bonds with anyone in the house that can get her to the end of the game. The constant talking about herself has exhausted others… especially Dani. And lest not forget TMZ had documented the type of temper she can have — she is potentially one blow up away from falling out of people’s good graces. A jury spot is likely, but aside from few one-on-ones with Tyler (she needs more of those), she hasn’t yet shown much on the strategy front.

15. David Alexander

After being the first one knocked out of BB21, David came in thinking it was a good idea to tell people he didn’t know how to play the game and started asking things like, “what’s the veto?” “How many people get to play for veto?” etc. He wanted to convey being a novice in order to appear less threatening. But memo to him: these are All-Stars and they’re not being fooled. Unbeknownst to him, it’s a backfire on all cylinders. They all know he is lying and they all are super sketched out by him. He exhibited some glimpses of good game potential last season but he might just be outmatched this time around. If there’s any silver lining, he at least improved his game from last year by staying safe thru one eviction cycle. It would be an enormous achievement for him to reach jury.

16. Keesha Smith

In BB10, Keesha was a no-holds-barred firecracker. Unafraid to raise her voice or flip off the famed Big Brother bodybuilder Jessie Godderz despite celebrating her infamous 30th birthday. But the BB22 version of Keesha has been a major disappointment. Not even close to matching the passion for the game from 2008. The disastrous game play, lacking of any leverage, is made worse for hurting the positions of a Big Brother legend (Janelle) and her famous trusted ally (Kaysar).

Will she escape the hot seat? Probably not. Maybe too much time has passed that her passion for the game has fizzled out. What a shame! Frustrating nonetheless for the fan-favorite.

Each houseguest is rumored to be taking home a minimum of $40,000 so at least she’ll have that. But only a miracle (or a buyback twist) can save her.