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

Five Fantasy Football Sleepers Who'll Stay Asleep in 2022

Zach Wilson - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News

Five fantasy football sleepers who will actually underperform for the 2022 NFL season. Consider avoiding these potential busts in fantasy football drafts.

Every year you hear about a multitude of fantasy football sleepers. And every year a bunch of those guys go on to do virtually nothing. By Week 5, you're looking to the waiver wire.

So today, we're going to be identifying five potential sleepers this season who are going to miss the mark. Guys who some people might be hyping up now, but who I don't see having enough value over the course of the season.

Without further ado, let's look at five sleeper candidates who'll stay asleep this season.

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

 

Dameon Pierce - RB - Houston Texans

It sounds like Dameon Pierce is the No. 1 back for the Texans:

And good for him. I'm a Texans fan. I want the team to be good. I think Pierce is a fine player and I hope he's successful with the Texans.

But if he's successful, I don't think it's in 2022, mainly because this offense is going to be bad and this defense is going to be bad, which is going to mean fewer opportunities for the running backs.

And while I've moved my expectations on Pierce up somewhat lately from "won't draft because he's the No. 2 back in a bad offense" to "will draft if he falls below his ADP because he's probably the lead back in a bad offense and that means there will be times when I'll play him during bye weeks," I ultimately just don't think he's worth the risk at whatever his ADP settles at.

 

James Cook - RB - Buffalo Bills

People seem to like James Cook. And they should because Cook was a dynamic player in college. He especially excelled as a receiver, where he used his explosiveness and his route-running skills to create mismatches. He had 27 receptions last season, with four touchdowns, plus had 113 carries for 728 yards and another seven scores.

So, if I like Cook, then why is he in this article? Because the situation he's found himself in isn't ideal.

The Bills don't target their running backs in the passing game. Last season, 15.4% of the team's targets went to the running back position, which was the fourth-lowest rate in the NFL. And of the 96 total targets for the position, 50 of them went to Devin Singletary, who is still set to have a large role on this team.

The team also signed Duke Johnson this offseason, whose value is almost entirely as a receiver at this point. All this is to say that I just don't see Cook getting the needed touches to do much in fantasy — at least not as long as Singletary is standing in his way.

 

Zach Wilson - QB - New York Jets

There are second-year QBs who I think will make a leap this year. Trevor Lawrence. Trey Lance. Even Justin Fields, though I don't feel as confident in that. There's one name being bandied about as a QB sleeper that I just don't see it with: Jets QB Zach Wilson.

Why? To put it simply, Wilson was bad last year. He completed 55.6% of his passes, which is bad enough without context but gets worse when you factor in that he was 21st in aDOT, so a lot of these incompletions were the kind of passes that shouldn't be incompletions.

You can fix a QB with deep-ball issues. Just look at Josh Allen. Can you fix a QB with accuracy issues in the other phases of the game? I'm not saying to give up on Wilson, but 2022 is likely another growing year for him as he'll continue to try to refine his game. I'm not getting my hopes up about a Wilson breakout until 2023.

 

Jauan Jennings - WR - San Francisco 49ers

This isn't the first time I've written about Jennings as a player that I'm not in on this year, though depending on when this piece is published vs. when the other thing I wrote about him is published, this could be the first time you see me talking about Jennings.

I'm out on him this year. All the way out. I just don't see it with this 49ers offense. Kyle Shanahan coaches like it's 1960. I'm shocked the Niners aren't rolling out there in a Wing-T or something. Moving full-time to Trey Lance under center should increase this trend of the 49ers running a lot. Lance has a big arm, but I don't see the Niners just letting him go out there and whip a bunch of passes to the end zone or something.

Jennings had five touchdowns last season as a rookie, but two of those came in one game. Jennings saw at least 25 snaps in each game from Week 10 on, but only two of those games featured a snap rate of 50% or better.

With Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle on the team, Jennings is at best the No. 4 option on a run-first offense. And that assumes that third-round pick Danny Gray doesn't cut into his minutes. Jennings will be a touchdown-dependent boom/bust option this year, with way more busts than booms.

 

Jamison Crowder - WR - Buffalo Bills

Another year, another chance for everyone to say "ooh, Jamison Crowder is going to be way better than his ADP." At some point, we've got to stop this.

Yes, it's true that the Bills used their slot receiver a lot last year. Cole Beasley held that role and while Beasley wasn't setting the world on fire, he did catch 82 passes and was targeted more times than he ever had been. But there's a catch. The way the Bills used the slot receiver last year meant that Beasley finished with the lowest yards per reception of his career at just 8.5. He got the targets needed to have value in full-PPR, but the actual yardage numbers weren't good enough to really give him a great ceiling.

Another issue is that while people like Crowder because he's a reliable veteran, he's also probably the No. 4 receiver in Buffalo behind Stefon Diggs, Gabriel Davis, and Isaiah McKenzie. I know Davis is also in that weird space where half of Fantasy Twitter thinks he's going to be a breakout player and half think he's going to be a bust, but I think we can at least all agree that he sees more targets than Crowder, right?

Even on the team that was second in the NFL last year in the percentage of targets that went to wide receivers, I can't get behind the fourth guy in the pecking order.



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 Fantasy Football Analysis




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

Quinshon Judkins

Could Report to Browns This Week
Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs, Trent McDuffie Not Expected to Finalize Extension
Chase Elliott

Under Playoff Pressure After 17th-Place Darlington Finish
Kyle Larson

Despite Hendrick Mediocrity, Kyle Larson Remains Pretty Safe in Playoffs
Alex Bowman

Opening-Lap Crash and Botched Pit Stop May Have Sunk Alex Bowman's Playoff Hopes
Erik Jones

Darlington Master Erik Jones Comes Up Short but Still Finishes Third
AJ Allmendinger

A.J. Allmendinger Impresses at Southern 500
Dameon Pierce

Ahead of Schedule, Ready for Season
Jordan Love

May Wear Thumb Brace During Season
Chicago Bears

Bears Head Coach Admits Offense Could Face Learning Curve
Matt Chapman

Leaves Early on Sunday, Expects to Play Monday
A.J. Brown

Says He'll Be Active For Season Opener
Luis Garcia

to Make Season Debut on Monday
Max Scherzer

Exits Due to Back Tightness
Taylor Ward

Exits Early After Collison
Braelon Allen

Says He Has a Lot Left to Prove
Sal Stewart

Reds Promoting Sal Stewart to Majors
Daniel Suarez

is A DFS Risk for Darlington Lineups?
Randy Rodríguez

Randy Rodriguez to Undergo Tommy John Surgery
Noah Gragson

Should Fantasy Managers Roster Noah Gragson for Darlington?
Ty Dillon

is an Excellent Punt Option for Darlington DFS Lineups
Bogdan Bogdanović

Bogdan Bogdanovic to Miss the Rest of EuroBasket
Denny Hamlin

Picking Up Where He Left Off At Darlington
Kyle Larson

The Sky Is The Limit for Kyle Larson at Darlington
Ryan Blaney

a Strong DFS Play at Darlington This Weekend
Tyler Reddick

Shouldn't Be Overlooked at Darlington This Weekend
Alex Bowman

An Easy Place-Differential Play in DFS This Weekend
Ty Gibbs

Could Be Strong at Darlington This Weekend
Erik Jones

Has Best Darlington Qualifying Effort Since Last Win
Zane Smith

Hopeful For Another Solid Run At Darlington
AJ Allmendinger

Still Seeking First Top-10 Finish at Darlington
Chase Elliott

Likely Won't Factor for the Win at Darlington
Joey Logano

Might Focus More on Playoff Races
Chris Buescher

Missing Playoffs Allows Chris Buescher to Potentially Go All Out at Darlington
Shane Van Gisbergen

Shane van Gisbergen Qualifies Too Well for DFS Consideration
Aroldis Chapman

Agrees to Contract Extension
Juan Soto

Homers Twice in Loss
Nick Kurtz

Avoids Serious Injury
MacKenzie Gore

Placed on 15-Day Injured List
Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Reaches 25-Homer, 25-Steal Milestone
Chris Sale

Activated on Saturday
Dansby Swanson

Homers Twice, Drives in Six in Win
Nick Kurtz

Leaves Game With Oblique Soreness
Joe Burrow

Bengals Feel Joe Burrow Just had "the Best Training Camp of his Career"
Randy Rodríguez

Tommy John Surgery Recommended for Randy Rodriguez
Corey Seager

Placed on Injured List
Jackson Chourio

to Return From Injured List on Saturday
Jordan Lawlar

Diamondbacks Set to Promote Jordan Lawlar
Dallas Mavericks

Olivier-Maxence Prosper Waived by the Mavs
Lauri Markkanen

Dominant in Win Over Great Britain
Xander Bogaerts

Suffers Foot Fracture, Set to Hit Injured List
Nikola Jović

Nikola Jovic Leads Serbia to a Win
Nikola Jokić

Nikola Jokic Shines Versus Portugal
De'Von Achane

Should be Ready for Week 1
Jose Alvarado

"Good" After Recent Fall
Alec Burleson

Lands on Injured List With Wrist Inflammation
Emmanuel Clase

Luis L. Ortiz to Remain On Leave for Rest of Season
Green Bay Packers

Packers Acquire Micah Parsons, Sign him to Four-Year Extension
Jauan Jennings

Remains Sidelined at Practice
Chris Godwin

to Miss First Month of Season, Possibly More
Quinshon Judkins

Not Considering Return to College
A.J. Brown

Returns to Practice, Expected to Play in Week 1
Jaylen Wright

Undergoes Surgery, Could be Back "Septemberish"
Tyreek Hill

on Track to Play in Week 1
Kyren Williams

to See Reduced Workload?
Jayden Reed

Dealing with Jones Fracture in Left Foot
Lauri Markkanen

Torches Sweden
Neemias Queta

Dominates in EuroBasket Opener
Kawhi Leonard

Clippers Not Allowing Kawhi Leonard to Play Back-to-Backs
Dallas Mavericks

Mavericks Looking to Trade Olivier-Maxence Prosper
Tyrese Haliburton

Expects to Return in 15 Months
Malik Nabers

Expected to be Full-Go for Week 1
Travis Hunter

Back at Practice, Will be Ready for Week 1
De'Von Achane

Not Practicing on Wednesday
Terance Mann

Confident About Having a Big Year in Brooklyn
Zaccharie Risacher

Aims to Improve Ball-Handling Skills
NBA

Pistons And Timberwolves Join Race for Malik Beasley
John Tonje

Signs Two-Way Deal With Jazz
Max Strus

to Miss 3-4 Months After Surgery

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP