Fantasy Football: Studs and Duds at wide receiver for 2022

Tweaking our format of analyzing the positions for the 2022 Fantasy Football season just a bit, we’re now moving over to the wide receiver position, the one that competes with running back for the most important in the game – and it might deserve the title if you’re playing in a Points Per Reception fantasy league, which boosts receivers’ value a huge lot.

It’s important to realize that the fantasy status of a wide receiver can change significantly from one year to another. There are a number of reasons for this: the player can change teams, his target share is set to diminish, or even the arrival of a new coach. That’s part of the fun as well: if the production was always the same, then the games would be won during the draft.

As in most of our series, this wide receiver article relates to Standard and PPR Fantasy Methods. If you’re a DFS Fantasy Player, then check out our DFS Fantasy Optimizer for both DraftKings and FanDuel in order to get some extra cash during the NFL season!

In this article, we’ll analyze the new situations of fantasy wide receivers and explain whether they’ll ascend to become studs in 2022 or if they’ll regress and become just dudes.

Fantasy wide receivers: 2021 studs that will be 2022 duds

Hunter Renfrow, Las Vegas Raiders

Perhaps the easiest one to point out is Renfrow, even if new head coach Josh McDaniels has already said that he’s going to remain in the slot and be a big part of the offense. Simply, you can’t expect him to produce like in 2021 when there’s Davante Adams on the outside eating a major share of his targets.

Renfrow is a very good player who’s going to help the Raiders a lot, but don’t count on him being a consistent difference-maker in your team.

Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks

Metcalf just signed a contract extension and Lockett is locked for the long-term in Seattle. But while their respective levels are still really high, you can’t count on them to be a force for your fantasy team with Geno Smith (or Drew Lock, whatever) as their quarterback. They both finished last season in the top 11 in fantasy wide receiver rankings but it’s not smart to expect the same from them.

If Pete Carroll was already prone to run the ball a lot, imagine with Russell Wilson gone? Lockett was always a boom-or-bust on a weekly basis, but he should become a bust way more in 2022. Metcalf produced in a more consistent manner but he rarely had huge games such as Lockett; everything points to a drop in production for both players.

Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers

Samuel isn’t really an unknown as we all expect him to be a superstar once again – if he’s healthy, of course. With Jimmy Garoppolo leaving the team and Trey Lance taking over, Deebo loses a little bit of yards-after-catch potential, but there’s the compensation of more deep throws and touchdowns, which can only improve his receiving performance.

Now, notice I said ‘receiving’ performance. Remember that a huge part of the 49ers’ turnaround last season was Samuel aligning as the running back – and doing a great job with it. Well, Samuel decided to holdout out of nowhere during the offseason and he repeatedly said that he wouldn’t sign a new deal with San Francisco. The reason? He didn’t want to align as a running back again because of his long-term health.

He will still be a good fantasy player, but without his running snaps, he’s ‘just’ a good fantasy player – sharing targets with the improving Brandon Aiyuk also doesn’t help his cause. His dropoff from WR2 to outside the top 20 is very possible.

Fantasy wide receivers: 2021 duds that will be 2022 studs

Allen Robinson, Los Angeles Rams

All of us know that Allen Robinson is a good receiver, but we never got a full grasp of his talent as he always played with bad quarterbacks and, for most of his career, his teams weren’t competitors.

This is all set to change now that he joined the Los Angeles Rams during the offseason. Yes, it’s easy to think that his target share will be low with Cooper Kupp there; however, just like Robert Woods and Odell Beckham Jr. were successful in that heavy passing offense led by Sean McVay, Robinson is projected to average double-digit points in this 2022 Fantasy season – he might even break the 1,000-yard barrier, which would obviously translate well into your team’s weekly lineup.

Allen Lazard, Green Bay Packers

Lazard’s production is set to take a massive step forward this season as he’ll be Aaron Rodgers’ primary option in 2022. With Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling leaving the team, Lazard is the best remaining weapon from Rodgers as he builds chemistry with perpetually injury-prone Sammy Watkins and second-round rookie Christian Watson, who’s also currently injured.

Lazard had a career-high 513 receiving yards last season, which wasn’t his best year if we’re talking about the level of play. With Adams and Valdes-Scantling both gone, he has to step up as his volume will get bigger within the offense. He might shoot up from the top 40 all the way to the top 15 with a little bit of luck.

JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kansas City Chiefs

2021 was a rough year for Smith-Schuster, who had a lot to prove with the Steelers but got hurt and played his final game for the organization in a heavy playoff loss. With the player back to health and with Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback, his fantasy status is set to skyrocket as he’s going to become Patrick’s best wide receiver – Mecole Hardman isn’t trustworthy and Justyn Ross is already out for the season.

In his sophomore season, Smith-Schuster put up a 111-1426-7 statline. With Mahomes as his quarterback, Andy Reid as his coach and his status as WR1, these are hopeful numbers for JuJu.

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