Pass Catchers to Avoid - 2022 NFL Fantasy Football Outlook

DFS Army’s Gthom breaks down three teams’ pass catchers who should be drafted with heavy caution. This article is geared towards the primary pass catchers: WR/TE. Admittedly, all three running backs in these offenses are interesting pieces to me: Christian McCaffrey (RB, CAR), Saquon Barkley (RB, NYG) and Cordarrelle Patterson (RB, ATL).

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Nov 8, 2018; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver DJ Moore (12) runs after a catch against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

CAROLINA PANTHERS’ PASS CATCHERS

Potential Fantasy Relevant Pass Catchers:

DJ Moore
Robbie Anderson

Tommy Tremble

Carolina, for the second season, looks to be one of the cringiest places to invest your fantasy real estate. There is very little fantasy confidence in this offense. Christian McCaffrey remains a good option in 2022. Admittedly, even CMC is up for debate… especially those who have been burned by his unfortunate injuries for two consecutive years. Of course, I’m not salty or anything.

This offense is led by quarterback Sam Darnold. Quickly summarizing Darnold’s fantasy career, its bad. Honestly, Darnold won’t survive the season as the starter. A rookie quarterback, Matt Corral, and a former XFL stud, P.J. Walker, will backup Darnold. More than likely neither player will help this offense, Corral has a slim chance to do so.

Looking at the ADP of receiver D.J. Moore, he is being drafted at his projected ceiling in this offense. In the past three seasons we have witnessed Moore finish as WR18, WR22, and WR19 most recently. On Underdog Fantasy, he is currently being drafted as the WR16. I am not on board with Moore at WR16, he couldn’t achieve that mark in the last two seasons when McCaffrey missed 22 games combined.

Going past Moore in this offense means examining the WR2, WR3 and TE roles. Robbie Anderson was the clear WR2 in Carolina and he finished as the WR50 overall in fantasy. WR3 and TE certainly didn’t do anything worth noting either.

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NEW YORK GIANTS’ PASS CATCHERS

Potential Fantasy Relevant Pass Catchers:

Kenny Golladay
Kadarius Toney
Wan’Dale Robinson
Sterling Shepherd
Darius Slayton

Rocky Seals-Jones

After Carolina’s mess is the New York Giants. This is not an offense I am looking to deploy in redraft leagues, it brings on too much risk. Saquon Barkley is an interesting piece but after him it is dart-throws on who will be fantasy relevant.

This offense is highlighted by a floundering, once hopeful, quarterback prospect: Daniel Jones. Jones has battled lack of development and health issues in his first three seasons. In that time frame he has finished as the QB23, QB24 and QB27 in fantasy. There is a new coaching regime taking over this season and perhaps there is a sliver of hope for Jones’s believers in 2022.

Jones has no shortage of passing options: Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney and rookie Wan’Dale Robinson, seem most likely to receive the largest portion of targets. Golladay had a putrid 2021 season and Toney was nearly traded during the off-season. Robinson has promise but rookie receivers seem to struggle in their first year and New York is far from a success story for recent receivers. This highlights the largest problem with the pass catchers in this offense, the range of outcomes creates a lot of risk for fantasy managers. You honestly do not know where to go as a manager, not confidently.

This is also a new offensive system. For some players this is the 3rd system in four seasons. This type of change takes time for adjustments, especially when it is led by a bad quarterback.

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ATLANTA FALCONS’ PASS CATCHERS

Potential Fantasy Relevant Pass Catchers:

Drake London
Olamide Zaccheaus
Bryan Edwards

Kyle Pitts

Atlanta is projected to be a bad team in a bad division. This is another team with a struggling quarterback leading the offense. Cordarrelle Patterson is the only player I will be grabbing from Atlanta this season. Yes, I am avoiding Pitts unless I get immense value from him falling in drafts.

Starting at the quarterback outlook, it features Marcus Mariotta who does not have a fantasy history worth deep-diving into. Mariotta is another quarterback who could lose the starting job. If that comes to fruition, this team would turn to rookie Desmond Ridder. The rookie would be far from smooth sailing too. Though, it could be better than Mariotta.

Looking at Pitts further, the reason I am not interested in paying the price for him is because his ADP is already around his ceiling. Travis Kelce (TE, KC) and Mark Andrews (TE, BAL) are the only top tight ends I am looking at in 2022. Both of those guys have proved their consistency and the Atlanta QB situation makes me worry about Pitts’ reliability. If Pitts fails as a fantasy player this season and you draft him as the TE3 overall, your team will suffer. There are too many great fantasy players that you can pick at Pitts’s ADP-range who present much lower risk.

Examining the receiver position, Drake London, Olamide Zaccheaus and Bryan Edwards, will likely be the pecking order. London is a rookie who will be working with poor quarterback play, far from ideal. London will be second on the team in targets behind Pitts. Zaccheaus and Edwards will not have consistent roles for fantasy.