EARLY Must Avoid Wide Receivers in 2022 Fantasy Football

Ryan Sura

Jun 23- 10 min read

Must Avoid Fantasy Football Wide Receivers

EARLY Must Avoid Wide Receivers in 2022 Fantasy Football

Another Fantasy Football season is around the corner. Like every year, as fantasy owners get closer to their drafts, it’s always good to know which players you should avoid drafting. Even if it is only June! Here’s my take on which Fantasy Football wide receivers owners should avoid when drafting their team for the 2022 NFL season.

Some of the players that fit this mold at the WR position from a year ago are guys like Allen Robinson, Chase Claypool, and Kenny Golladay to name a few. Their Average Draft Position (ADP) led Fantasy Football owners to believe that they were going to have much better seasons than they actually did. This could have been for a number of reasons, inconsistent quarterback play, too many mouths to feed at the position, or simply just regression.

Our Wide Receiver Rankings are done, but here are a few players owners should think twice about drafting at their current ADP.

Can Tyreek Hill Slot into the Dolphins’ Offense?

2022 Consensus WR Ranking: 7
2022 ADP: 19.0 (Rounds 2-3)

Tyreek Hill is in an interesting spot coming into the 2022 NFL season. There’s a few reasons why he’s one of my Fantasy Football wide receivers to avoid this year.

For starters, there are a number of receivers that I would take before him that are currently ranked lower. Names like Mike Evans, A.J. Brown, and CeeDee Lamb are ranked at the 8, 9, and 10 spots depending on where you’re looking, which is crazy to me because they have much higher upside than Hill.

Tyreek Hill says that @Tua is a more accurate QB than @PatrickMahomes pic.twitter.com/LUbhp2n8YK

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 11, 2022

From 2020 to the 2021 season, Tyreek Hill saw his average fantasy points per game go from 21.9 to 17.4. I’m supposed to believe Hill is going to average more FPPG in an offense that features Tua Tagovailoa instead of Patrick Mahomes, a heavily featured Jaylen Waddle passing game, and a bottom 20 offensive line?

Moreover, Mahomes missed one start over the last two seasons. Tua has missed 10 starts over the last two seasons and has dealt with multiple knee injuries over his career. Where does Hill’s fantasy value go if Tua goes down and Teddy Bridgwater has to step in?

One thing that’s also interesting to note, is that Hill posted a career-low yards after the catch per reception last season at 4.3. And no, that’s not because Patrick Mahomes was throwing prayers up to him downfield. In fact, Hill’s aDot (Average Depth of Target) last season was 10.6, which was the lowest it’s been since his rookie year. The Dolphins also have one of the hardest rated schedules for Fantasy Football wide receivers heading into the season. There are much better options at WR in Rounds 2 and 3, so avoid Hill if you can.

Elijah Moore: The Fantasy Football Wide Receiver to Avoid

2022 Consensus WR Ranking: 32
2022 ADP: 78.0 (Rounds 7-8)

Another year, another set of “experts” and Fantasy Football enthusiasts are overrating the New York Jets offense. New York online sports betting markets have started to put out over/under win totals for the 2022 NFL season. BetMGM set the Jets’ win total at 5.5, so clearly oddsmakers believe New York will have another tough year.

Although Elijah Moore won’t be a major part of anyone’s Fantasy Football team (god I hope not), I still think he’s being drafted far too high and is someone I am leaving off my draft boards.

Zach Wilson has yet to show that he can be a reliable quarterback for any fantasy receiver. Moore did average 12.6 FPPG last season in PPR leagues, however, add in the talented Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall. That’s a lot of mouths to feed.

This team was middle of the pack last year in terms of throwing rate (68%), however, Michael Carter and Breece Hall have great catching ability and could be Wilson’s safety blanket in his sophomore season, especially on third downs.

I think a lot of individuals are overvaluing Moore’s value heading into this season because of his 16 FPPG over his last six contests last year. But remember, Corey Davis was out, and his only competition for targets was Jamison Crowder and Braxton Berrios.

The Jets have the hardest rated schedule for Fantasy Football wide receivers heading into the 2022 NFL season. With guys like Devonta Smith, Adam Thielen, and Hunter Renfrow in similar ADP spots, Moore should be an afterthought.

Can Treylon Burks Survive in This Titans Offense?

2022 Consensus WR Ranking: 39
2022 ADP: 98.0 (Rounds 9-10)

To be quite honest, I am staying away from every wide receiver on the Titans this season. It feels unfair to pick on the rookie Treylon Burks, but I am going to anyway.

Burks is being drafted near Rounds 9 and 10, and sometimes even higher. This Titans offense had the second-highest running rate in 2021, and Derrick Henry played just eight regular season games. With a full offseason to recover from his foot injury, Henry should be back at 100%, which means Mike Vrabel will run the ball at a very high rate again this season.

I am not drafting Derrick Henry either, and it’s mainly because of this horrid offensive line. Coming into the season, Pro Football Focus has the Titans’ offensive line ranked 27th. I have question marks about Ryan Tannehill as well, especially after finishing with 14 interceptions in 2021. Will Mike Vrabel trust Tannehill enough to give Burks the opportunity to be a valuable WR2 or even WR3? I think Vrabel has little faith in his veteran QB, especially considering he drafted Malik Willis in the third round.

There’s a lot of question marks around Treylon Burks, with his unavailability at training camp and conditioning level. I may be Ja’Marr Chase-ing on this one, but I’m avoiding Burks in my drafts.