X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

2022 Wide Receiver Draft Busts - Slot Receivers

Antonio Losada dives head-first into slot receiving data to find the wide receiver position's worst potential bust for 2022 fantasy football drafts.

Plunging into the world of football analytics is without question the best way to find fantasy sleepers for the coming season. Especially in the case of wide receivers, where how they are lining up on the field has a direct correlation with production.

Slot receivers don't quite offer the boom-upside an outside receiver will deliver (unless he's called Cooper Kupp). What they do excel at is running high percentage routes and catching passes in traffic. Many of the game's best slot receivers are often regarded as some of the best and most undervalued options in PPR formats.

In this column, I will try to find the position's worst potential busts based on their team's tendency to target the slot, the player's slot volume, and the situation the offense is in getting into the 2022 season. Average Draft Position will play a role as well. Let's get it going!

Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:

 

Robby Anderson, Carolina Panthers

I have to start praising Robby because of his recent "Noooo" tweet reacting to the possibility of the Panthers trading for Baker Mayfield in exchange for some draft picks. Imagine how badly Anderson dislikes poor Baker as to prefer Sam Darnold to throw him the rock next season. Oooff... but hey, it's not that Robby Anderson was helping Darnold excel at his job last year, either!

Anderson is a burner, and probably not the player you picture in your brain when you think about the term "slot receiver." I know, but I also trust the numbers (data from RotoWire) and they are telling me that Robby got 27% of the Panthers' RB/WR/TE slot snaps for himself--although it is also true that he had a 55/45 split when it came to his total snaps aligned from the slot/outside. Terrace Marshall should be the one manning the slot for Carolina--keyword: should--but that's not the case for now so here we are hating on Robby.

Anderson is coming off what clearly was the worst year of his career in 2021. After debuting his Panthers tenure with high grades in 2020 (top-20 WR, 95-1,096-3 receiving season), whatever it was Anderson did in 2021 wasn't remotely close to that year: 53-of-110 receptions, a measly 519 yards, and five TDs over 17 games. Ugh. Worst of all, almost 75% of Robby's total PPR points last year actually came on snaps in which he ran his route off the slot, so imagine how bad he was outside for that to be the case! If you have to trust a slot receiver, you definitely don't want any shares of Anderson in your team. He might be used there (and it's actually where did the most damage, as stupid as that sounds), but he's just not worth the profile that alignment demands and fits much more the boom/bust outside-receiver role. Not the worst late-round flier, but definitely a super volatile WR stuck in a muddy offense.

 

Marvin Jones, Jacksonville Jaguars

What should we make of Marvin Jones? Are we sure Marvin won't be starvin' in Jacksonville next season after the Jags added Christian Kirk to the fold? At the end of the day, Kirk manned slot-ran routes in 80% of the snaps he tool with the Cards last year, and he got a staggering 43% slot share in Arizona. The only good news for Jones is that he actually played a fewer percentage of slot snaps last season (43% of his total 978) than he did from outside positions (50%). Even then, though, the Jags handed him the most slot alignments with Laviska Shenault clocking in second down at a 24% share.

Jones has been around forever, and he played for the Jaguars in his debut season in Jacksonville last year. Truth be told, though, Jones only has one top-12 season on his resume and the Jags signed him in 2021 most probably because of his WR18 finish the year prior in his last campaign with the putrid Lions. He got more targets last season than in 2020 (120 to 115) but he caught fewer passes (73 to 76) and the yards cratered from 978 in Detroit to 832 in Jax--not to mention the obvious and expected TD-regression going from nine scores to just four playing under rookie QB Trevor Lawrence.

While Jones wasn't horrific and still found his way toward a low-end WR3 finish in PPR leagues, his average FPPG dropped to a good-not-great 10.6 mark (career lowest since his rookie season) and he only scored 58% of his total PPR points from the slot--although, as in Robby Anderson's case, he is probably not the best or most suited player for the role/alignment. There is a chance the arrival of Kirk shuffles the offense, Jones moves outside permanently, and Trevor Lawrence improves his all-around game. There is a chance, which means I don't want to have anything to do with Jones at least for the next eight months until he proves he's finally worth it (doubt it).

 

Tim Patrick, Denver Broncos

The Broncos pulled off the highest-impact transaction of the season this side of Tampa Bay bringing back Tom Brady from the death. Russell Wilson will be manning Denver's pocket from 2022 on, and that's an automatic boost for all of the Broncos' receiving corps members. That said, watch out for competition and WR/TE battles happening all across the TLOS next year with Patrick, Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, and new TE1 Albert Okwuegbunam fighting for targets.

Patrick was Denver's no. 1 slot receiver last year, running 405 of the 1,556 total slot routes schemed by the Broncos. That accounted for a reasonably high 26% slot share among TE/WR/RB in Denver. In Patrick's case isolated, he ran 48% of his total routes from the slot while putting up 75.8 PPR of his total FP in those plays. Patrick, though manning the slot quite often, was one of the worst receivers doing it in 2021: he only averaged 0.19 PPR/Slot-snap (eighth-fewest among WR with 400+ slot snaps) and racked up the sixth-lowest yardage mark with 368 receiving yards on 33 receptions on 405 slot snaps.

Of course, Patrick ran 44% of his routes from outside positions though he was worse running off the boundaries than doing so from the slot alignment. He only got 36% of his total PPR points from those outside-aligned plays compared to 48% when aligning inside. Wilson will definitely help Patrick all things considered, but the competition will be tough as neal to beat in terms of targets and actual touches, so you'd be better off looking into other options instead of getting fooled by the Broncos-Russ trap.



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!

More Draft Sleepers and Values




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Robbie Ray

Records Eight Strikeouts
Jesús Luzardo

Jesus Luzardo Continues To Pitch Well
Seiya Suzuki

Drives In Three Runs
Edwin Díaz

Edwin Diaz Strikes Out The Side
Clay Holmes

Tosses Five Scoreless Innings
Jimmy Butler III

Ruled Out On Saturday
Isaiah Stewart

Questionable For Sunday's Game
Nolan Schanuel

Makes Early Exit On Saturday
Cam Smith

Heading To The Bench
Jaylen Brown

Questionable For Game 4
Logan Evans

To Make MLB Debut On Sunday
Jarred Kelenic

Takes A Seat On Saturday
Jrue Holiday

Won't Play On Sunday

Dolphins Select Quinn Ewers In Seventh Round
Logan Gilbert

Heading To 15-Day Injured List
Emmanuel Clase

Available As Closer For Game 2
Brenden Dillon

Out On Sunday
Mitchell Robinson

Questionable For Game 4 Versus Detroit
Luke Hughes

To Remain Out On Sunday
Michael Porter Jr.

Available On Saturday Night
Aliaksei Protas

Practices Fully On Saturday
Russell Westbrook

Won't Suit Up For Game 4
Gabriel Vilardi

A Game-Time Decision For Sunday
Oskar Bäck

Oskar Back A Game-Time Call On Saturday
Ross Colton

Unavailable Saturday
Miro Heiskanen

Remains Out Saturday
Riley Leonard

Drafted By Colts Saturday

Steelers Select Will Howard In Sixth Round Of NFL Draft

Eagles Add Kyle McCord To Quarterback Room

Miami Adds Ollie Gordon II To Backfield

Chargers Add KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Oronde Gadsden II To Offense

Colts Add DJ Giddens To Backfield
Michael Busch

Sitting On Saturday Versus Southpaw
Brandon Woodruff

"Really Tired" After Latest Rehab Start
Tyler Fitzgerald

Scratched On Saturday
Lawrence Butler

Absent From Lineup On Saturday
Ezequiel Tovar

Still A Week Or So Away From Return From IL

Dallas Cowboys Draft Jaydon Blue In Fifth Round

49ers Add Jordan Watkins To Offense
Iván Herrera

Ivan Herrera Catches Bullpen Session On Saturday

Browns Trade Up To Select Shedeur Sanders In The Fifth Round
Dylan Carlson

Recalled By Baltimore
Sam Howell

Seahawks Trade Sam Howell To Vikings

Titans Continue To Address Offense, Select Elic Ayomanor
Jalen Beeks

Avoids Serious Injury

Chiefs Bolster Receiver Room With Jalen Royals
Lucas Giolito

Starting On Wednesday Vs. Toronto

Commanders Add Jaylin Lane To Wide Receiver Room

Browns Select Dylan Sampson With 126th Pick
Tyler O'Neill

Heading To The IL

Titans Use Fourth-Round Pick On Gunnar Helm
Jarquez Hunter

Rams Select Jarquez Hunter In Fourth Round

Texans Trade Up For Woody Marks

Jets Select Arian Smith In Fourth Round

Panthers Select Trevor Etienne 114th Overall

Giants Take CFP Darling Cam Skattebo
Darius Garland

Won't Suit Up For Game 3
Darius Garland

Unavailable For Pregame Warmup
Jrue Holiday

Classified As "Day-To-Day"
Jacob Markstrom

Ends Losing Spell Friday
Cole Caufield

Collects Two Points In Friday's Win
Connor McDavid

Totals Three Points In Game 3 Win
Johnathan Kovacevic

Exits Early Friday
Sam Montembeault

Suffers Lower-Body Injury Friday
Logan Thompson

Exits Loss With Injury
Brandon Hagel

Suspended For Game 3
Brandin Podziemski

Not On Injury Report For Game 3
Jimmy Butler III

Warriors Optimistic About Jimmy Butler III Playing Saturday
Jae'Sean Tate

To Remain Out Saturday
Jock Landale

Unavailable For Game 3
Terry Rozier

Out On Saturday
Jrue Holiday

Ruled Out For Friday Night's Game 3 Against Orlando
Kevin Love

To Miss Saturday's Game
Jaylen Brown

Available For Friday Night's Game 3 Against Magic
Gary Payton II

Iffy For Saturday's Action
Jayson Tatum

Officially Available On Friday For Game 3 Against Magic
Luke Kennard

Questionable For Game 4 On Saturday
Aaron Ekblad

Available To Return Saturday
Aleksander Barkov

Questionable For Saturday
Gabriel Landeskog

Set For Larger Role In Game 4
Calvin Pickard

To Start Game 3 For Oilers
Jonas Siegenthaler

To Play Limited Minutes In Game 3
Luke Hughes

Remains Out On Friday
Patrik Laine

A Game-Time Decision Friday
Carlos Prates

Looks To Remain Undefeated In The UFC
Ian Machado Garry

Set For UFC Kansas City Main Event
Zhang Mingyang

Scheduled For Co-Main Event
Anthony Smith

Set For His Final UFC Bout
David Onama

Set For Featherweight Bout
Giga Chikadze

Looks To Bounce Back
Abus Magomedov

Looks For His Third Consecutive Win
Michel Pereira

Returns To Action At UFC Kansas City
Nicolas Dalby

An Underdog At UFC Kansas City
Randy Brown

A Favorite At UFC Kansas City
Andre Muniz

Set To Open Up UFC Kansas City Main Card
Ikram Aliskerov

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Cam Davis

Looking For Better Fortunes At TPC Louisiana
Adam Svensson

Making Third Apperence At Zurich Classic
Max Greyserman

Aiming For Similar Success At TPC Louisiana
Lee Hodges

A High-Upside Player In New Orleans
PGA

Nico Echavarria Looks To Ride Off Of Elite Putting In New Orleans
Gary Woodland

A Player Worth Watching In New Orleans
Max McGreevy

Returns To The Zurich Classic Of New Orleans
Rasmus Hojgaard

In Search Of Consistency Ahead Of Zurich Classic
Sam Stevens

A Boom-Or-Bust Candidate In New Orleans
Nicolai Hojgaard

Looking To Turn Season Around At Zurich Classic
Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Looks To Sway A Hot Putter In Teams Favor At Zurich Classic
Akshay Bhatia

Looking To Bounce Back At TPC Louisiana
Carson Young

Looks To Turn Things Around At TPC Louisiana
Erik Van Rooyen

Looking For Momentum In Louisiana
Andrew Novak

Making Start At TPC Louisiana After Near Miss At Harbour Town
Ben Griffin

Making Third Career Start At Zurich Classic
Taylor Moore

Competing With A New Teammate In New Orleans
Wyndham Clark

Making Return To New Orleans
Kurt Kitayama

Teeing It Up Again In New Orleans
Collin Morikawa

Back At Zurich Classic For Fifth Time
Thomas Detry

Making Third Appearance At New Orleans Team Event
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF