Fantasy Football 2022: Wide Receiver Busts to Avoid

The wide receiver position is tricky in fantasy football.

Despite the NFL's move to an increasingly pass-happy league, the elite tier atop the position is shrinking. Targets are being spread around more, which helps the overall quantity but hurts the individual consistency.

If you guess right at receiver, it can be hugely helpful to your fantasy success. Misfires here are costly, though, so to help you avoid any potential pitfalls, just steer clear of the following three pass-catchers on draft day.

This past season, Cooper's last with the Dallas Cowboys, he was targeted just 104 times—the second-fewest of his career. That was the same number of passes thrown in the direction of tight end Dalton Schultz and 16 fewer than what went to CeeDee Lamb.

Cooper's offseason move to Cleveland means he won't get so lost in the shuffle anymore.

However, that's the lone positive amid a number of negatives.

Cooper won't be catching passes from Dak Prescott anymore, and it's not entirely clear who Cleveland will have under center. Maybe it's Deshaun Watson at some point, but maybe it isn't. In addition to the quarterback questions, Cooper also enters an offense that plays much more conservatively, so even if he's targeted more than anyone, there just won't be as many targets to go around.

Robinson should be thrilled about his offseason move to L.A. Gone are the days of trying to haul in passes thrown by Justin Fields, Andy Dalton and Nick Foles—or Blake Bortles and Mitchell Trubisky before them. Now, Robinson will be on the receiving end of balls thrown by Matthew Stafford, who has had six different seasons with over 4,000 passing yards and 25 touchdowns.

Robinson also gets dropped into a Rams offense steered by head coach Sean McVay, who can scheme receivers open in his sleep.

The problem is Robinson goes from being a clear-cut No. 1 option to now landing in the Robin role behind the Batman that is Cooper Kupp, who just turned 191 targets into 145 catches for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns.

"For all the Odell Beckham Jr. comps, bear in mind that Beckham was fantasy football's WR32 with a 33rd-ranked 17.1 percent target share during his Rams tenure, a touchdown-dependent player for our purposes," ESPN's Tristan H. Cockcroft wrote. "Robinson should have his share of productive games, but if he's going among the top 25 at his position, he's too pricey for my tastes."

There are reasons to feel bullish about Waddle, not the least of which was his record-setting rookie season. He's also had more time to create chemistry with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and both should benefit from the arrival of new head coach and play-caller Mike McDaniel.

All of it sounds good, right? There's just one problem—one 5'10", 191-pound, blazingly fast problem: Tyreek Hill.

Miami just paid a fortune to pry Hill away from the Kansas City Chiefs. The Dolphins not only sent out five draft picks in the deal, they then quickly inked Hill to a four-year, $120 million contract extension. They have every incentive to look his way early and often.

So, where does that leave Waddle? Well, not catching another 104 passes or seeing another 140 targets, that's for sure. While he might do more with the touches he receives, there just won't be enough of them to return the right value on your investment.