May 30, 2022

D.J. Chark Jr. fractured his ankle in Week 4 last season but is said to be practicing without limitations so far this offseason with his new team. The 25-year-old signed a one-year, $12 million contract that includes $10 million guaranteed. Theoretically, Chark will be Jared Goff's top perimeter option, at least until Jameson Williams returns from ACL Reconstruction surgery. However, Chark has historically been a high yards per catch (YPC) kind of receiver, averaging 13.9 YPC over his young four-year career. Goff on the other hand doesn't throw very many deep balls. In fact, he had the lowest average depth of target (aDOT) amongst all starting quarterbacks last season (6.35 yards). Goff also averaged just 9.8 yards per completion in 2021. To make matters even worse for Chark, the Lions only had 16 receptions that carried more than 20 air yards. At the end of the day, it'll be Amon-Ra St. Brown, T.J. Hockenson, and D'Andre Swift eating up most of the targets, while Chark gets whatever is left until Williams returns. That's likely to be a small slice of the pie, so don't expect Chark to be a target hog by any means. In fact, he's best considered a boom or bust type guy in his first season in Detroit. Three catches for 80 yards and a score on five targets would be a good line for the former Jaguar this season as he catches passes from Goff. Unless Chark becomes an entirely different receiver, we shouldn't view him as anything more than a WR5/6-type in 2022.--Adam Koffler