DJ Moore Fantasy Football Outlook (2022)

By Andrew Erickson (FantasyPros), Thu, Sep 1st 2022, 10:27am EDT

There's no denying D.J. Moore's talent or elite usage for the Carolina Panthers. He was just one of 11 WRs to run a route on at least 90% of their team's dropbacks to go along with a top-three air yards share (36%) and seventh-ranked target rate per route run (25%).

Most wideouts that own this usage are no-doubt top-12 fantasy options, but Moore's abysmal quarterback play continues to hold him back. He only finished as the WR19 last season in half-point scoring, as his QB play was graded out as the stone worst in the NFL per PFF. The Panthers literally had the worst QB play last year across several metrics including EPA per dropback and success rate.

But with Baker Mayfield in Carolina, it's an upgrade for all parties involved.

It's not being discussed enough that before Mayfield separated his shoulder in Week 6 he ranked sixth in yards per attempt (8.5) and 7th in aDOT (9.6).

The Browns quarterback has shown the ability to support multiple fantasy weapons (not-named Odell Beckham Jr. when healthy) so Moore should be firmly at the top of the fantasy WR2 conversation during the fantasy football draft season. Jarvis Landry - as the Browns No. 1 - finished as WR19 and WR13 in half-point scoring in 2018/2019 with Mayfield at quarterback.

Mayfield also boasts the highest passing TD% of any QB Moore has ever played with, suggesting a career-high in touchdowns is well within reach for 2022.