One Lions Player Who Must Be on Your Fantasy Team
The Detroit Lions will enter the 2022 season with a variety of offensive weapons.
These weapons range from new pass-catchers DJ Chark and Jameson Williams, to running backs D'Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams.
There's also tight end T.J. Hockenson, who was a Pro Bowler in 2020.
However, none of the aforementioned individuals will be the team's best fantasy option this upcoming season. Instead, it will be second-year pro Amon-Ra St. Brown, who exceeded expectations and took the Lions by storm a season ago.
St. Brown, a fourth-round pick of Detroit (No. 112 overall) in the 2021 NFL Draft, entered his rookie campaign toward the bottom of the Lions' receivers depth chart.
The USC product also didn't catch on fire right away. He recorded a total of six receptions for 43 yards and zero touchdowns through the first three weeks of the season.
However, as the injuries piled up for Detroit at receiver, namely to Tyrell Williams and Quintez Cephus, St. Brown's role in the offense grew, and he gradually became starting signal-caller Jared Goff's go-to target.
Joe Nicholson, USA TODAY Sports
St. Brown truly hit his stride in the final six games of the Lions' 2021 campaign. During that stretch, the California native caught eight or more passes in each contest. And in doing so, he broke Lions legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson’s team record for such a streak.
The standout rookie also caught a touchdown pass in five of the six games, and amassed 111 and 109 reception yards in back-to-back weeks, against the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers, respectively, to end the season.
As a whole, he hauled in 51 passes thrown his way, on 67 targets, for 560 yards and five touchdowns in those six games to conclude the ’21 campaign. It was the culmination of a year that saw St. Brown set the Lions franchise rookie record for receiving yards (912) and receptions (90) in a single season. Additionally, he recorded five touchdowns, pacing Detroit pass-catchers in all three receiving categories.
It was a special season that will be hard to replicate. And, Chark and Williams will surely cut into St. Brown's number of targets and overall production on a weekly basis.
However, don't expect the slot receiver to completely fall off the map in his second NFL season.
As I've said before, I'm projecting St. Brown to produce 69 receptions for 759 yards and four touchdowns as an encore to his rookie campaign. Sure, it's not as gaudy of numbers. But, I still believe the stat line will be good enough to make him the one Lions player you must have on your fantasy team during the 2022 season.
