Tyler Lockett Fantasy Football Outlook 2022 (Expect Play to Decline Without Russell Wilson)

Tyler Lockett Fantasy Football Outlook 2022 (Expect Play to Decline Without Russell Wilson)

Updated:

The Seattle Seahawks' Tyler Lockett has made a name for himself as one of the more prominent boom-or-bust players in fantasy football. While he scored between 11.5 and 23.8 fantasy points on seven occasions last season, he also scored 5.7 or fewer seven times, ending the year as the WR11 in PPR formats.

Fast forward to 2022 and Lockett is due for an adjustment now that he no longer has Russell Wilson under center. With Drew Lock or Geno Smith taking over quarterback duties, can the 29-year-old speedster still play like a prominent fantasy wideout this year?

Tyler Lockett Fantasy Football Outlook

Though his fantasy totals vary, Lockett has been quite the consistent performer in recent years. He recorded his second consecutive 1,000-yard season in 2021, ending his seventh NFL campaign with 73 receptions for 1,175 yards and eight touchdowns.

As great as Lockett has been, he potentially won't be as productive without Wilson as his QB. The most games that Lock started in was 13 back in 2020 — a year where his team didn't see a single player crack 900 receiving yards. Smith has been a career backup since 2015.

No matter how you look at it, Lock and Smith are downgrades from Wilson. Nevertheless, the Seahawks are expected to be a bad team this season and could be playing from behind often. If that's the case, game scripts will likely open the door to more opportunities for the likes of Lockett and fellow WR DK Metcalf.

Still, it'd be wise to temper expectations by not expecting Lockett to be as productive compared to recent seasons unless proven otherwise.

Tyler Lockett Projections

Projections from the NFL odds on FanDuel Sportsbook aren't anything special for Lockett. He's available at +4000 (T-No. 22) to lead the league in receiving yards while also sitting in a 12-way tie for the 38th-best odds (+7500) to be the 2022 NFL receiving TDs leader.

FanDuel expects Lockett to take a step back this year, listing his projected receiving yards total at 825.5 with -112 odds on the over and under. If he averages the same 16.1 yards per reception as he did last year, it'd take about 51 catches to hit the over on this prop. Having said that, he might not average that same amount with Lock throwing the ball.

Is Tyler Lockett a Good Fantasy Football Pick?

With Wilson under center, Lockett was easily a player worth rostering. Now, the veteran wideout's upside is diminished. He can still be productive as one of the Seahawks' top-two pass-catchers, however, the lows could be more frequent.

Lockett opens the year as the WR37 on The Duel's PPR player rankings. He also carries an average draft position of 85.0 on Fantasy Pros, meaning he'll likely be off the board near the start of Round 8 in 12-team leagues.

Lockett does still have some upside, but you'd ideally have a pair of reliable wideouts on your roster before drafting him. He was already unpredictable before and now the Seahawks' lackluster offense only adds to that.

If you've drafted Lockett, then check out the best Seattle Seahawks fantasy football team names for your squad.

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Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.