Fantasy football season is finally upon us in 2022, and trying to gauge the impact that wide receivers will have on rosters this year is one of the toughest aspects. While your league mates will likely focus their efforts on running backs, here is how to gauge which wide receivers to target.
Volume is key for fantasy football, and focusing on opportunity share and target shares for WRs is one of the most important elements to focus on this season. With household names like Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase earning first-round draft capital, searching for those upside targets can help you win your drafts.
Fantasy Football wide receivers who will gain targets in 2022
5. DJ Moore
An uptick in work for DJ Moore is caused more by his new QB than a change in WR personnel. With Baker Mayfield taking over the starting role from Sam Darnold, Moore should be able to continue his pace of 1,100+ yard seasons, a streak that currently stands at three.
The biggest aspect of Moore’s output is his lacking number of TDs – having been stuck at exactly four for each of the last three seasons, Mayfield will be a much better thrower of the ball for Moore.
Moore’s 28.4% target share last season was the fifth-highest amongst WRs, and both his targets (162) and routes run per game (33.6) rank sixth highest. So he still has the top role in the offense, but bad QB play has capped him right around that mid-WR2 mark, a level he is far more talented than.
The one metric that will see a drastic improvement this season – catchable targets – will be a huge reason why he should be able to best his WR18 (PPR) finish last season. Moore is the lone receiver on this list that should see more targets because of an improvement in QB and not because of an opening in the WR room.
A name that many have overlooked this offseason, Juju Smith-Schuster was brought in by the Chiefs to help fill the void left by the Tyreek Hill trade. While he will pair up with Marquez Valdes-Scantling and rookie Skyy Moore to complement Travis Kelce, Smith-Schuster’s slot role should help him explode this season.
A checkered injury history can temper some expectations of Smith-Schuster, but coming off the board as WR23 presents a fantastic value in the middle rounds. Behind Marquise Brown and Jerry Jeudy, but before Diontae Johnson and Brandin Cooks, Smith-Schuster is coming off the board right around that Round 4/5 turn.
Picking Smith-Schuster over a Cooks or Johnson may not be your outlook this year, but they are in similar situations, and with their current ADP situated in that RB dead zone, they offer far more value.
Patrick Mahomes will still look Kelce’s way quite often, but as long as Smith-Schuster continues to earn his QB’s trust, he will soak up a ton of targets, targets that were vacated by Hill, Byron Pringles, and others.
3. Allen Lazard
The main beneficiary of the Davante Adams trade, Allen Lazard and his WR35 ADP is criminally low, especially for a target that Aaron Rodgers knows and trusts. While he certainly will not soak up everything that was vacated by Adams, Lazard is a proven entity with an unknown ceiling, presenting some risk for rosters.
In six career games with Adams out, Lazard caught 19 passes for 302 yards and 2 TDs, including 6/146/1 against the Saints in 2020. Lazard will be stepping into his real chance at WR1 work, so there will be some growing pains.
You can be more in on Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon than Lazard this season, but getting a team’s top WR at a huge discount is hard to pass up in fantasy football.
In a very similar situation as Lazard, Darnell Mooney steps into the top receiver role in Chicago after the departure of Allen Robinson. Granted, Robinson was not necessarily the top option for the Bears, but having the closest competition go out the door will only improve his shot at being a fantasy football darling.
Mooney has been one of those names that the industry has grabbed onto this offseason, as everyone sees his potential. Having broken out in a big way in his rookie season, the Tulane product has started to establish a solid relationship with Justin Fields.
Similar to Lazard, there will likely be some growing pains in the beginning for Mooney as he earns the top CB each week in coverage. But he has a good amount of experience being Field’s go-to target, and he will be a solid option this season if you need a mid-round WR.
1. CeeDee Lamb
The big fish with an insane opportunity is Cee Dee Lamb, and with no Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup returning from an ACL tear, and rookie Jalen Tolbert as his closest competition, he is bound to explode.
Lamb was a surprising first-round selection by Dallas last season, and he turned in quite a nice rookie campaign. If you had your eyes on his last season and had him one one of your rosters, you were able to reap those benefits.
But this year is different – in his second season, he no longer has to compete for targets, he has a sound relationship with his QB, and the offensive line is beat up, which may result in more targets around the LOS.
Lamb’s talent is a known factor, and the Cowboys offense is going to be heavily reliant on his work in the passing game. As long as Dak Prescott stays upright and healthy, Lamb will outplay his current ADP (WR6, 14th overall), potentially even finishing as the fantasy football overall WR1 this season.
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