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Under-Valued Fantasy Football Receivers in 2022: Allen Lazard

Allen Lazard, Green Bay Packers

The Packers' veteran wide receiver is currently being taken in the ninth round of fantasy football drafts.

The Green Bay Packers still have Aaron Rodgers at quarterback in 2022 and for fantasy football purposes that’s great. But they don’t have Davante Adams or Marquez Valdes-Scantling which is a bit concerning. In 2021, Adams was tied for the second most targets in the NFL with 169 while Valdez-Scantling had 55. That’s 224 unaccounted for receiving opportunities that need to be filled, to some extent, by the Packers' current group of receivers.

Green Bay did add Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs via the draft and signed veteran Sammy Watkins to help account for the loss of Adams and MVS. But all three new additions are still in the process of building chemistry with Rodgers and learning the Packers' offense. Enter Allen Lazard, who is listed atop the Packers depth chart and someone fantasy football players should start focusing on.

Rodgers praised Lazard earlier in the offseason, saying he’s excited about the receiver's new role in the offense: 

He’s been our dirty work guy for most of his career here. Now he’s getting an opportunity to be a No. 1 receiver. So, I’m not worried at all about him stepping into that role. I talk to him a lot.

Lazard is entering his fifth year in the league and is coming off his best season as a pro. In 2021, he set career-highs in receptions (40), yards (513) and touchdowns (8). While those stats may be his best, fantasy football players will need a lot more out of the Packers receiver to be deemed worthy of cracking a fantasy lineup. And they just might get it.

Those 224 available targets will funnel into Lazard which will boost his 11% target share from a season ago. That type of opportunity is what fantasy football players are banking on. The best part about banking on Lazard is the fact it won’t break the bank when drafting him. According to the latest Average Draft Position data, Lazard is coming off fantasy draft boards as the 46th receiver and 113th overall. That’s somewhere in the ninth round if playing in a 12-team league. The Packers veteran is currently ranked in Tier 6 of Athlon’s receiver rankings.

Given Lazard’s current ADP, the Packers’ unaccounted-for targets, the built-in chemistry and knowledge of the offense, all make Lazard one of the premiere under-valued wide receivers in fantasy football for 2022. He’s being drafted as a WR4 but has the upside potential to perform as a WR2 and given his ninth-round price tag, that return is certainly worth the investment.