17 Second-Year Running Backs & Wide Receivers to Target in Fantasy Football

Jul 19, 2022

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Sophomore Slump is a term that’s become part of our vernacular for many things such as albums, movies, television series, and what it actually originated from, collegiate studying. I’m baffled by its roots since most freshmen party too hard their first year and make an attempt to get it together by the time sophomore year comes around, but maybe at some point, it was reversed.

In the sports world and for our fantasy football purposes, this term refers to players who come into the league hot and maybe fizzle out a bit and regress in Year 2. However, this article is not about those guys and will focus on the second-year running backs and receivers we should be targeting in our 2022 drafts. Thanks to a tremendously talented 2021 draft class, there is a plethora to choose from.

Running Backs

For the second season in a row, all the talk going into last season was the depth of talent at the receiver position, which there was, but the rushers in the 2021 NFL Draft class certainly held their own in their first seasons in the league. Here are some of the RBs in the best spots to succeed heading into their sophomore NFL campaigns.

Najee Harris, RB - Steelers

I don’t really need to tell anyone to draft Najee Harris in 2022, but I can’t exactly leave him out, either. After an RB9 finish in half-PPR points per game during his rookie season, the 24-year-old is currently leaving draft boards as RB6 with an Underdog ADP of 10.6.

Harris led all backs last season with 978 snaps and an 84% snap share and was also tied with Austin Ekeler for the highest number of targets (94). The Steelers’ run blocking was not up to par in 2021, but they’ve made strides to rectify o-line issues, which only helps Harris in his sophomore campaign. Despite a change in QB, it should be more of the same for the Pittsburgh RB with limited competition for snaps in the RB room, the same coaching staff, and a year of NFL experience on his resume.