Media by Associated Press – Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper takes part in drills during the NFL football team’s training camp, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)
With the NFL preseason underway and teams preparing for the regular season, now is a great time to take a look at players in position to struggle in 2022.
Some of these players are on new teams, others had breakout 2021 seasons, but all of them are primed for a letdown in 2022. This is the case for both real NFL games and stats and in your fantasy team or DFS draft prep.
Amari Cooper
Being a top wideout on the Cleveland Browns is never a fun thing; ask Odell Beckham Jr. Amari Cooper was traded by the Dallas Cowboys to Cleveland in March for a late draft pick.
Cleveland acquired Deshaun Watson in the offseason, but his status for 2022 is still up in the air. At a minimum, he will miss six games and, with the NFL appeal, could still miss the entire season. That leaves journeyman Jacoby Brissett as the backup while Josh Rosen and Josh Dobbs battle to be the third-stringer.
No matter how that shapes up, it isn’t good for Cooper’s 2022 production. Brissett, Rosen, and Dobbs are not regular NFL starters, and even if he plays ten games, Watson hasn’t thrown a pass in a NFL game in more than 20 months.
Last year, with Dak Prescott, he started 14 games and caught 68 balls for 865 yards and eight touchdowns. He actually had a better year with Andy Dalton as his primary quarterback in 2020, catching 92 balls for 1114 yards in 16 games. Look for all his numbers to be down from his 2021 production this season.
James Conner
Last year was a great bounceback season for James Conner, his first season with Arizona. The 26-year-old ran for 752 yards and caught 37 passes for 375 yards, and he scored a combined 18 touchdowns.
Those numbers will be hard to duplicate, especially the touchdown tally and the Pro Bowl selection. Conner has missed at least two games in every NFL season, and he missed six games in 2019.
Those injuries catch up to you as you get older, plus the Cardinals seemed prime to let Kyler Murray take more control of the offense in 2022.
Hunter Renfrow
Las Vegas Raiders wideout Hunter Renfrow had a monster 2021 season with 103 catches on 128 targets. He tallied 1038 yards and scored nine touchdowns to help the Raiders to the playoffs. But those numbers came as the top dog in the Raiders offense, which now he clearly is not.
The argument can be made that Renfrow drops from Derek Carr’s top option to his third option in 2022. Enter All-Pro wideout Davante Adams who hasn’t had less than 117 targets since 2015 and has caught on average 101 passes for 1239 yards in the last five years.
Also, tight end Darren Waller is healthy entering the season after having just 55 receptions in 10 games last year. Waller had 145 targets and 107 receptions in 2020, while Renfrow had 77 targets and 56 catches.
Cordarrelle Patterson
Patterson may end up being the biggest bust of all for the 2022 season. The running back, wide receiver, kick returner was used out of the backfield as the Falcons’ top ball carrier last year. He ran 153 times for 618 yards and caught 52 balls for 548 yards while scoring 11 total touchdowns.
Now at 31, Patterson has some mileage, and he’s not going to sneak by anyone on the scouting report this season. The Falcons didn’t bring in a top back as they drafted Tyler Allgeier in the fifth round and signed Damien Williams as a free agent.
However, Matt Ryan is gone at quarterback, and the offense is going to have to change with Marcus Mariota or rookie Desmond Ridder under center.
Rookie wideout Drake London and second-year tight end Kyle Pitts are likely to be the focal points of the attack. The touchdown chances may still be there for Patterson inside the red zone, but the 150 carries and 1200 total yards will be hard to duplicate.
D.K. Metcalf
Simply put, Russell Wilson isn’t coming back. Catching balls from Geno Smith and Drew Lock is a lot different than having a Super Bowl champion like Wilson leading the offense. Metcalf got the big money this off-season, and he’s worth it, but look for his numbers to drop significantly in 2022.
Metcalf caught 75 passes last year, down eight from 2020. He also had 967 yards after going over 1300 the year before. And that was only with Wilson missing a month, not being gone for the entire season.
Smith threw for just 702 yards in four games last season, and Lock ranked near the bottom of all starting quarterbacks in rating, efficiency, and completion percentage in 2020. Last year in Denver, he started just three games and had as many interceptions as touchdowns.
Whoever wins the quarterback battle in Seattle, the outcome is not good for Metcalf and his wide receiver core in 2022.
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