Five WR's You Shouldn't Forget About in 2022
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Last season turned out to be a record year for wide receivers in the NFL and in Fantasy Football. One in particular made a gigantic impact and recorded stats and fantasy points never seen before. But I shouldn’t have to tell you who that is, right?
Now that the off-season is in full swing, free agency has already made an impact to NFL teams. It won’t stop there though, those moves and signings are going to have a direct affect on who you draft and where you draft them. A lot of these moves may be taken the wrong way as well. Just because an impact, high profile player goes to a team with an already great fantasy receiver it doesn’t mean they’re dead. In fact, it very well could be on the contrary.
I’m going to go through five wide receivers that could get either lost in the shuffle, or fall in ADP but shouldn’t be forgotten. So strap in, you’ll want to remember these names come draft day.
Hunter Renfrow (Las Vegas Raiders)
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2021 brought a banner year for Hunter Renfrow. He was consistent, sturdy, and reliable. He also had a massive uptick in production as the season carried on. I bet you’re scared because Davante Adams now stands with him on the line of scrimmage. I’m here to tell you its fine. Adams is going to get his, there is no question about it. But so is Renfrow. He may specialize in the slot position, but I think last year proves that he is capable to do it all.
With Adams in town, he is going draw a ton of attention. Who is Derek Carr going to turn to? He will give some to Waller. He will dump some off to Jacobs. But the truth is he’s going to give it to the guy that helped the Raiders make it as far as they did last season. Renfrow is a fantastic asset to the Raiders, and they would be foolish to just dump him in the ditch now that Adams is in town. You don’t just throw away 1,083 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Did I also mention that he drew 124 targets? Those are going to regress no question, but how much?
I still think Renfrow will be a monster in the short passing game, and in red zone situations, last season he proved he can get in the end zone. So don’t panic, and pass on him in your draft. You take that PPR mighty mouse and run with it.
Marquise “Hollywood” Brown (Baltimore Ravens)
Dustin Bradford/Getty Images via baltimorebeatdown.com
Just because the Ravens haven’t been power houses in the AFC doesn’t mean that you should be fading on Marquise Brown. In fact, you should be doing the opposite. Brown does have a problem, but it surely isn’t the fact that he isn’t talented. The problem resides in consistent quarterback play, but I think that is also going to get better. Lamar Jackson missed five games last season. In games that Jackson missed he didn’t have a touchdown or have more than 44 yards receiving. Gross. Lamar will only continue to improve, so that is something you can’t forget about.
Brown is also getting better, consistently, every season. Yeah, he barely cracked 1,000 yards this year. But I blame a lot of that on Jackson missing time. But every season he has more yardage. He went backwards this season in touchdowns, but I again blame that on inconsistent quarterback play.
He is Baltimore’s WR1. Until Rashod Bateman breaks out of his shell that is going to continue. There is certainly an argument Mark Andrews is the WR1, but he’s technically a tight end and he can’t get all the targets every game. Basically, don’t worry. It will only get better, and I really like the potential of Brown having a legitimate breakout year in 2022.
Brandin Cooks (Houston Texans)
Michael Wyke/Associated Press via bleacherreport.com
How do people keep fading Brandin Cooks? It’s actually rather infuriating. I also kind of like it because people are too blindsided to draft him and my fantasy record appreciates that. There is a legit argument out there that Brandin Cooks is the most consistent and reliable wide receiver in the league the last eight seasons. In six of those eight seasons he has gone over 1,000 yards. Not only that, but he has done it with garbage quarterbacks and rookies. I’m not dogging Davis Mills, I actually really like him, but I’ll get to that shortly.
Cooks is so under rated and under appreciated. Not only has he been consistent in yardage, but six of the last eight seasons he has also had 100+ targets in each. He is a fantastic route runner. If you are consistently getting open, you’re going to consistently get targets. It’s simple math honestly. He is also the second to none WR1 on Houston. No one on that squad could hold Cooks’ jock to be honest.
Even after all the numbers and reports come out year after year we are still here making a case for Brandin Cooks. He’s not on flashy teams. He’s not on good teams even. But he is a damn good receiver, and one of my favorites to greatly out perform their ADP this season. Why? Davis Mills actually impressed me last year. He wasn’t even on the radar for rookie quarterbacks to perform well, let alone start. But when he played he wasn’t half bad. He might actually be a decent sleeper pick in two quarterback leagues in 2022. Him and Cooks are going to be a good pair.
Jaylen Waddle (Miami Dolphins)
Ja’Marr Chase may have stole the show this past season for rookie wide receivers, but in now way shape or form was Jaylen Waddle a slouch. Waddle put up fantastic numbers in his first year with the Dolphins and he shouldn’t be overlooked in year two.
Here is the deal, I understand that Tyreek Hill has arrived in Miami. I also understand that Hill is a monster and is going to get a ton of looks from Tua. But it doesn’t matter a bit. Waddle finished as the WR20 last season, and he is just too good of a route runner to not receive targets. Waddle was a PPR giant last season. In his rookie season he caught 104 balls on 140 targets for six touchdowns. He also tallied up 1,015 receiving yards to add to his success. That isn’t going to go away because Hill showed up. I look at it in a very similar situation as Hunter Renfrow in Las Vegas with Davante Adams.
Hill is going to be that deep and across the middle threat that defenses are going to have to deal with. Waddle will most likely be open for a few reasons. One, he is an outstanding route runner, especially in his quick routes and in the flat. Two, Hill is going to draw a ton of attention from the safeties over top. That alone should leave Waddle open underneath. There is also the big implication that Tua can’t throw the deep ball and he will be relying on Waddle’s short game. Whatever way you look at it, I think this is still a fine situation for Waddle in Miami.
Adam Thielen (Minnesota Vikings)
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Adam Thielen is an interesting situation in fantasy football, and he is going to drop in a lot of leagues drafts. Hopefully after reading this you will be smart enough to not shy away from Thielen and draft him so it benefits your fantasy team. Now I’m not telling you to go out and draft him in the 4th round, but if he is there in the 6th or 7th, and depending on how my roster looks I may just scoop him up.
Thielen had a modest season last year in fantasy for a few reasons. He ended up finishing the year as the WR27 overall, so still not a bad finish for being injured and having a superstar stud partner catching the ball. The emergence of Justin Jefferson has been a blast to watch, but you can definitely see the negative impact upon Thielen’s fantasy value. Still, he brought in 95 targets, caught 67 of them for 726 yards and 10 touchdowns. Remember when everyone said Thielen was going to take a major step backwards when it came to receiving touchdowns last year? Yeah that didn’t happen. He missed four games and still had 10 touchdowns. I’m just saying, don’t count him out.
Thielen has a very good way of getting open when it matters, especially in the red zone. I’m pretty sure if you look at his touchdown total you’ll understand. He is a fantastic route runner, and when he has to catch the ball in a tight window, he is almost always sure handed. Somehow this guy just gets open. Go watch some tape, even when he isn’t really open he is open. Clear as mud. If he can be 100% healthy at the start of 2022, I see another good season for him coming.
SKOL
- JD