NFL fantasy diamonds for 2022 - Wide receivers

Christian Kirk, Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Christian Kirk

Do I believe Christian Kirk is one of the top-20 receivers in the NFL? Not really. Do I think he’s worth 18 million dollars per year? Absolutely not. But that doesn't meam he isn’t a really nice NFL fantasy option. Smart players follow the money, especially looking at who the franchise identifies as a long-term part of their plan. Especially with so many young guys still being evaluated and veteran skill-players on one-year deals.

The Jacksonville Jaguars did also sign NFL veterans Zay Jones and Evan Engram, who will have a role in that offense. But looking at the other pieces there, Kirk is the one big addition that they’ve made and they secured him for the next four years.

We don’t know exactly what that system will look like because Doug Pederson took a year away from the NFL. He will probably be transitioning away to some degree from that RPO-heavy plan we saw under him in Philadelphia. I do still believe that will be a prominent element and they would be foolish not to take advantage of Trevor Lawrence’s skills as a deep ball thrower.

We’ve seen primary slot receivers like Nelson Agholor have plenty of success under Pederson. But Lawrence also has the confidence to make those far-hash throws, where Kirk may be the Z in trips and testing those quasi one-on-one’s with so many teams now adapting to quarters principles. He can do a lot of the stuff that Laviska Shenault was tasked with, in terms of jet sweeps, different variations of screens, glance routes, etc. (who did have 111 combined targets & carries).

Playing with a quarterback whose biggest issues came trying to decipher post-snap rotations, getting somebody who has been a great zone-beater could give Lawrence a security blanket. Kirk offers that vertical element we saw from him in Arizona.

Looking at Kirk this past NFL season, he put up career-highs with 9.5 yards per target, 16 catches of 20+ yards and 45 first downs picked up. Yes, that was playing with an uber-talented QB in Kyler Murray. But also consider that Murray rarely attacks the middle of the field, where Kirk is a major threat to snatch the ball and outrace defensive pursuits across the field.

I still very much believe in the talent that Lawrence has under center and that the coaching staff brings a lot more stability for the 2022 NFL season. Kirk was one guy that the power structure really targeted this offseason and I see a role for him to produce like an upper-tier WR3. So in that range he’s definitely a target of mine.