Fantasy Football: 2022 All-Bust Team

Every year in fantasy football, several players underperform. We call these players busts. I am going to give my predictions on players who will be the busts for the upcoming 2022 season. Please remember that these are my opinions and my reasons will be included, so all will be explained! Now let’s dive into my picks for the 2022 All-Bust Team.

Quarterback – Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins

With the recent addition of Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins offence, more will be expected from quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa. With Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Mike Gesicki being the main pass catchers in Miami, the offence has improved with the addition of Hill, however, I don’t expect Tagovailoa to take a huge jump as a fantasy football quarterback. The Dolphins quarterback threw for just 2,653 yards, 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2021. That placed him 26th at the end of season rankings. Tagovailoa missed four games last season due to injury. With all of this combined, Tagovailoa is not a quarterback that I am expecting great things from next season.

Running Back – Derrick Henry, Titans

I expect this will not be a popular selection, but hear me out! Derrick Henry is 28 years old and has just come off a serious injury.  Henry had missed just two regular-season games since coming into the league in 2016 before his pedal foot fracture in the Titans’ Week 8 win over the Colts. The injury meant he missed the rest of the regular season (nine games) however, Henry did return for the playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals, but he was largely ineffective carrying the ball 20 times for just 62 yards, averaging just 3.1 YPC. Now, I am not using that match to say that Henry will be a bust, but with his age, coming off a serious injury and with the mileage on his body, I fear that the injury that he picked up last season is the start of his body breaking down.

Running Back – Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Chiefs

To some, this will not be a surprise inclusion at all. Whilst Clyde Edwards-Helaire has shown flashes of being a reliable lead running back for the Kansas City Chiefs, he has also shown signs that fantasy football managers should be concerned about his role with the Chiefs in the long term. The recent addition of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back, Ronald Jones is bad news for Edwards-Helaire. Jones is a legitimate threat to Edwards-Helaire’s role next season. Edwards-Helaire has also had a few injuries since joining the league in 2020. He missed seven games last season, he also missed four three games in 2020. Edwards-Helaire has had his issues as a goal-line back too, something that was noted by not just Chiefs fans, but fantasy football fans too.  Early words from coach Andy Reid suggest that Jones and Edwards-Helaire will be more of a “combo” as opposed to Edwards-Helaire being the undisputed lead back with Jones just being a back-up.

This could be a similar combination that we saw the Denver Broncos utilise last season with Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams. However, unless the Chiefs become a team that uses its running backs more, either by running the ball more or throwing to the running backs more, it could well be a scenario that neither running back benefit from in fantasy football. This is more of a “wait-and-see” approach, but Edwards-Helaire is a player I am not excited about going into next season.

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Wide Receiver – Michael Thomas, Saints

Similar to Henry, I expect the inclusion of Michael Thomas to be an unpopular one, however, Thomas has given me no reason to believe that he will put up numbers that we saw pre-2020. Back in 2019, Thomas was the best wide receiver in the NFL, he caught 149 passes out of 185 targets, averaging 9.32 yards per target, 11.58 yards per catch and totalling 1725 receiving yards along with 9 touchdowns. Thomas was an absolute machine, however, things have gone downhill rapidly for the 29-year-old. Thomas has played in just 7 games since the start of the 2020 season, which brings me to my main concern – can Thomas be as productive as he was before the 2020 season? Between joining the league in 2016 and 2019, Thomas’ worst season rank was 7th in 2016 in PPR leagues. Even in standard leagues, he was a consistent top 10 wide receiver before 2020.

With very little football played over the last two seasons and Jameis Winston likely to be the quarterback next season, I am very cautious about what to expect with Michael Thomas. Winston is a gunslinger of a quarterback, which may work in Thomas’ favour, but with so many question marks around the Saints offence next season as well as Thomas himself, he is a player that I am tampering with expectations on, assuming he does indeed play in 2022.

Wide Receiver – D.K. Metcalf, Seahawks

The Seattle offence is a unit that I am not a fan of going into 2022, and unless they upgrade their quarterback, that won’t be changing anytime soon. Drew Lock is currently the starting quarterback for the Seahawks, although Coach Pete Carroll has expressed a desire to bring back free agent Geno Smith. Smith would provide direct competition for Lock, and his knowledge of the Seattle offence would give him an edge over Drew Lock. As things stand though, Lock holds the reigns, and that doesn’t fill me with confidence that any Seattle pass catcher would be a must-have asset in fantasy football. For D.K. Metcalf, Geno Smith would be the better option at quarterback. Metcalf caught 17 of 21 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns over four games with Geno Smith at quarterback last season.  If Smith does re-sign with Seattle, the best hope for Metcalf managers would be Smith beating Lock for the starting job, as clearly Metcalf and Smith have a good rapport on the field. Metcalf has been linked with a trade away from Seattle with the Chiefs being a rumoured destination for the 24-year-old. As things stand though, Drew Lock will be his quarterback, that is not something that I want to see as a Metcalf manager.

Wide Receiver – Hunter Renfrow, Raiders

Raiders wide receiver Hunter Renfrow finished as the 11th ranked wide receiver in PPR in 2021, however, I wouldn’t expect him to finish so high next season. With a lack of pass-catching options in Las Vegas, Renfrow blossomed, especially with Darren Waller missing six games, quarterback Derek Carr had a lack of options, which resulted in Renfrow’s terrific season. Coach Josh McDaniels expects Renfrow to be a big part of the offence for the Raiders next season, however, with the return of Waller and the massive addition of Davante Adams, expecting Renfrow to finish as a top 12 receiver is beyond ambitious in my opinion. Maybe labelling him as a bust can be looked at as being very harsh, but in comparison to his 2021 season, I expect his 2022 season stats to dip a fair bit compared to the 103-1038-9 stat line he produced in 2021. It would take injuries to Waller or Adams for him to have a legitimate chance of getting close to producing those types of numbers again.

Tight End – Noah Fant, Seahawks

We’re back to the Seattle Seahawks to finish off this article with Noah Fant at the tight end position. Now, Fant isn’t exactly a stud, however, he does have his admirers, and some people believe Fant could blossom in Seattle. Whilst I will admit that is a possibility, much like D.K. Metcalf, I believe that Drew Lock will cap any upside he may have. Fant does have a lot of ability, however, I don’t believe Lock will bring out the best in Fant. Whilst this may be a great opportunity for Fant to make the tight end position his own with the Seahawks, I believe a quarterback upgrade is going to be needed for Fant to blossom into a reliable fantasy football asset.

Fantasy Football: 2022 All-Breakout Team

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