There are a handful of NFL breakout player candidates all over the AFC, especially at the wide receiver position. Which players could emerge in 2022? We are just a few weeks away from the 2022 NFL regular season kicking off and potential stars are already starting to show themselves around the AFC.
Here’s a look at seven wide receivers in the AFC that could have themselves major breakout years in 2022:
NFL breakout receiver no. 1: Rashod Bateman, Baltimore Ravens
Bateman played in 12 games last season and tallied just 46 catches for 515 receiving yards and a touchdown as a rookie but given the fact that the Baltimore Ravens ran the ball more than just about anybody, it’s no surprise he wasn’t involved more heavily in the offense.
It also didn’t help that even on a run-heavy team, he was firmly behind the likes of Mark Andrews and Hollywood Brown for target share.
This year, he’s got one of the best running quarterbacks in NFL history and one of the top tight ends in the league in front of him, but after that, Bateman now finds himself as the number one wide receiver target now that Hollywood is in Arizona.
Brown was targeted 146 times in 2021, just seven fewer times than Mark Andrews was. One would have to imagine Bateman will step right up into those targets as the new number one receiver.
He’s got a vast skill set that wasn’t utilized last year thanks to the Ravens’ scheme, but as the “next man up” in this offense, the former Golden Gopher is primed to break out in 2022.