[brid video=”1073252″ player=”10951″ title=”2022%20Razzball%20Fantasy%20Football%20Draft%20Kit%20WR's” duration=”146″ description=”2022 Razzball Fantasy Football Draft Kit highlighting Wide ReceiversFave: Mike Williams (:23)Flier: Chase Claypool (1:03)Fade: Tyreek Hill (1:45)” uploaddate=”2022-08-11″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/snapshot/1073252_th_1660177785.jpg” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/sd/1073252.mp4″ width=”480″ height=”270″]
Every fantasy football player has the guys they want to avoid. Some people fade these players because they’ve been emotionally hurt in the past by drafting these players (Christian McCaffrey owners), or they might just think they won’t be that good. It could be a gut feeling or it could be supported by facts, but either way, players know who they want and who they don’t want.
I have my guys that I refuse to draft in 2022, and here’s why you should stay away from them as well:
Antonio Gibson – Antonio Gibson is an interesting player this year. He rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2021 and finished as the RB10 in fantasy football. Gibson certainly wasn’t a bad player. However, the Commanders drafted RB Brian Robinson in the third round during the off-season, and Washington’s coaching staff is already raving about him. It’s already being reported that Gibson has struggled during training camp and has been seeing a lot of second-team snaps, along with working with the special teams group. Ron Riviera has said that they plan to heavily utilize Robinson to complement Gibson, which will take the football out of the hands of Gibson on a lot of plays. Additionally, Washington re-signed RB J.D McKissic who acted as a complement to Gibson on passing downs last season. The coaching staff likes McKissic as well and used him not only on passing downs but in the red zone last season as well. The lack of belief from the coaching staff, along with the risk of less volume, leads me to fade Antonio Gibson in 2022.
Josh Jacobs – Despite playing 15 games in 2021, Josh Jacobs couldn’t reach the 1,000-yard rushing mark and finished as the RB16. This was with the Raiders coaching staff who drafted Jacobs in 2019. After being forced to search for a new coaching staff, the Raiders brought in former Patriots’ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to be their next head coach. When you look at McDaniels’ time in New England, he never utilized a single running back, but instead used a committee of many players to carry the workload. I expect a similar situation in Las Vegas as well. Besides Jacobs, the Raiders backfield also consists of Kenyan Drake and 2022 fourth-round pick Zamir White, who has reportedly been very impressive in camp. With the Raiders’ addition of Davante Adams, along with players like Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller on this roster, this will be a pass-first offense. Both Drake and White are players that are absolutely going to be used in the passing game over Jacobs. Las Vegas also has a suspect offensive line, meaning even on downs that Jacobs is being used, he might not be able to find holes for himself. I believe this will be, at the very least, a committee. All this uncertainty makes me avoid Josh Jacobs this year.
Amari Cooper – This might be obvious, but don’t draft receivers who don’t have a quarterback. Amari Cooper is a great receiver, but he plays for the Browns. Granted, he is absolutely the WR1 on his team, and there are pretty much no other options. Normally, this is exactly what you would want to draft; however, Cooper joined Cleveland thinking he’d be catching passes from Deshaun Watson. Watson is now suspended for 11 games. This isn’t ideal for the Browns and more specifically, Amari Cooper. While Watson is out, the Browns have announced that Jacoby Brissett will take over the team under center. Brissett might be a talented backup and a good game manager, but he isn’t the guy you want throwing the ball to your fantasy receivers. The Browns’ game plan will be to run the ball into the ground with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, essentially taking the ball out of Brissett’s hands. With a consensus ADP of 66.7, you’re better off taking a receiver like Michael Thomas or JuJu Smith-Schuster in a similar spot.
Tyler Lockett – The Seattle Seahawks’ QB situation is a mess. A QB competition between Drew Lock and Geno Smith is not exactly what most fans would call a promising situation. When Russell Wilson was the Seahawks’ QB, he loved Tyler Lockett. He was his most reliable receiver and would target him when he was in trouble. With Russ gone, it’s clear that D.K Metcalf is the WR1 for whoever’s playing QB. The team just paid him a ton of money and Metcalf is a monster body that’s very QB friendly. Many of Lockett’s touchdowns were perfectly placed footballs from Russ that allowed Lockett to make some nice catches. It’s just not realistic to expect Lockett to have another big year with the instability under center and being the clear WR2 on this team. Lockett’s ADP of 96.3 isn’t too appealing either with other receivers like Brandon Aiyuk and Kadarius Toney available at the same price. I don’t trust Tyler Lockett this season.
