2022 Fantasy Football Busts (Aug. 4):
This is a list of my top 2022 fantasy football busts – players you should avoid unless they fall far in your draft. The Average Draft Position (ADP) is found on FantasyFootballCalculator.com. I was dead on with some of my busts over the past four years. My top busts for 2019 were Antonio Brown and Todd Gurley. I had some misses as well, but Brown and Gurley were two players I didn’t want to select in the top three rounds. Last year, I asked everyone to avoid Saquon Barkley and Myles Gaskin, though there were two misses.
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David Montgomery, RB, Bears. ADP: 3.06.
David Montgomery is not good enough of a player to overcome horrific blocking. That’s exactly what the Bears have. Chicago’s offensive line is arguably the league’s worst.
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Josh Jacobs, RB, Raiders. ADP: 4.06.
Fantasy Pros has Josh Jacobs being the 13th running back chosen in mock drafts, yet Jacobs has never played a full season and doesn’t have a strong offensive line in front of him. Furthermore, the old regime drafted him, and Josh McDaniels may favor a running back he personally obtained (i.e. Zamir White).
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Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Cowboys. ADP: 2.12.
Ezekiel Elliott’s production has been falling the past two years, and now he’ll be running behind an offensive line that lost two starters this offseason.
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James Conner, RB, Cardinals. ADP: 3.10.
James Conner is coming off a great fantasy season, but much of that was his huge number of touchdowns. Scoring tends to be inconsistent, so it’s likely that Conner’s production will fall off a cliff this year.
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Dawson Knox, TE, Bills. ADP: 5.11.
Speaking of scoring regression, Dawson Knox’s touchdowns went from two to three to nine. It’s likely that he won’t score as many times in 2022, so the people who are drafting him ridiculously early will be disappointed.
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Deebo Samuel, WR, 49ers. ADP: 2.06.
I love Deebo Samuel as a real-life player, but there are two reasons to dislike him as a second-round fantasy pick this year. First, the 49ers have stated that Samuel won’t receive as many carries this year. Second, Trey Lance will run much more than Jimmy Garoppolo, which means fewer targets for Samuel. In two games with Lance in 2021, Samuel caught just six total passes.
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J.K. Dobbins, RB, Ravens. ADP: 3.11.
I would like J.K. Dobbins under normal circumstances, but he’s coming off a torn ACL. This doesn’t completely diqualify Dobbins, but he may not be 100 percent in 2022. It’s troubling that John Harbaugh said Dobbins could begin the year on the PUP list. Baltimore tried to sign Melvin Gordon and then went with Mike Davis once Gordon signed with the Broncos.
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Chris Godwin, WR, Buccaneers. ADP: 5.07.
Chris Godwin will have Tom Brady throwing the ball to him after all, but he could have issues staying on the field, given that he tore his ACL late in the year.
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D.K. Metcalf, WR, Seahawks. ADP: 4.03.
I love D.K. Metcalf as much as anyone else, but he’s in a miserable position as far as his quarterback is concerned. Now that we know Metcalf won’t be traded, he’s very unappealing as a fourth-round pick.
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Diontae Johnson, WR, Steelers. ADP: 4.11.
I’d like Diontae Johnson at the end of the sixth round. The fourth frame is too rich for him, given his quarterback situation. As if it wasn’t bleak enough, reports indicate that Mitchell Trubisky is struggling in practice.
More 2022 Fantasy Football Articles:
Fantasy Football Rankings
2022 Fantasy Football Rankings:
2022 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks - 9/4 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs - 9/4 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers - 9/4 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends - 9/4 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Rankings: Kickers - 8/28 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses - 8/28 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings: Dynasty - 5/11 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Mock Drafts:
2022 Fantasy Football Mock Drafts - 8/31 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets:
2022 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 - 9/4 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 PPR - 9/4 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Half-PPR - 9/4 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 2-QB - 9/4 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Touchdown League - 9/4 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Custom - 9/4 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football: Dynasty Rankings - 9/4 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Spreadsheets - 9/4 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Articles:
2022 Fantasy Football Stock Report: OTAs, Training Camp - 9/3 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Sleepers - 8/30 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Busts - 8/30 (Walt)
2022 NFL Preseason Game Recaps - 8/29 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Stock Report: Preseason Games - 8/29 (Walt)
2022 Fantasy Football Value Picks - 5/22 (Walt)
NFL Picks - Dec. 11
2025 NFL Mock Draft - Dec. 11
NFL Power Rankings - Dec. 9
2026 NFL Mock Draft - Nov. 29
Fantasy Football Rankings - Sept. 4
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Injured/injury risk
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Potential bust
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Potential sleeper
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Rank higher in touchdown leagues
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Rank higher in PPR (points per reception) leagues
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Rank lower in PPR leagues
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